PATTON – Cambria Heights High School physics students took home the grand prize during the chain reaction apparatus competition at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh.
Six students competed for the December 10th event and spent nearly three months brainstorming and collaborating to create a device that exceeded their expectations. Her top placement is a first in the history of local programming and came after two rounds of competition.
“It was a really fun project and it was cool to put all of our thoughts together and see how everyone thought differently.” said Senior Henry Warner, one of the team members. “We really had to think outside the box.”
The challenge – which was overcome by Warner and his classmates Nathan Nihart, Junseo Park, Braden Thomas, Kaylee Thomas and Cole Weiland – was for the students to develop a Rube-Goldberg machine, a chain reaction device that did a simple task in one “too complicated” Path.
The theme for the Cambria Heights machine was “Our office,” and the students developed the project by searching their homes and school to find everyday items that might or might be storing energy.
According to the guidelines of the competition, the machine had to complete at least 20 steps, which lasted between 30 seconds and two minutes. It was also not allowed to use batteries or electricity and had to rely solely on everyday materials. The apparatus was supposed to do the ultimate job of turning a page. The students started with an old table.
“A lot of time and energy was invested” said Nihart. “Since our topic was ‘Our Office,’ we walked around our physics classroom trying to find simple office supplies that we could incorporate into our project. It was surprisingly pretty easy to include everything. “
Cambria Heights has participated in the competition for the past five years, and students said their goal was to raise the bar and improve any previous apparatus.
“They had a lot of discussions about trying to develop a machine that was much more innovative than just marbles rolling down ramps.” said Cambria Heights gifted teacher Michele Schirf, who was the consultant for the project.
The students applied learning principles from physics lessons, with an emphasis on kinetic and potential energy, stored energy, frictional forces, simple machines, spring energy and gear ratios.
In addition to the educational value the project created, one of the most valuable lessons students learned is the ability to work and collaborate as a team, according to Schirf.
“Your engineering project was so successful because they worked well together and everyone felt included and valued.” said Schirf. “As a teacher, it was really an amazing experience to sit back and watch these six students grow and mature on this project over the past two and a half months.”
In addition to first place, Cambria Heights received special awards for being the longest successful device and the most innovative.
Thanks to the win, students will have the opportunity to tour Westinghouse Electric during National Engineers Week and sit down with engineers to learn more about the industry and what an engineer does.
Cambria Heights took second and third place ahead of other major school districts such as Hempfield and Brentwood.
After years of failing the competition, Cambria Heights students took pride in seeing the district represented on such a big stage and hope they will set the tone for future competitions.
“It’s great to see what a small school like us can really do” said Nihart. “It’s really inspiring.”
The competition was sponsored by Westinghouse Electric Co., who presented students with plaques for the school. Each student also received a $ 150 Amazon gift certificate.
The author of the mirror staff, Calem Illig, is 814-946-7535.
Get the latest news and more in your inbox
Comments are closed.