In November, the activity for the Auburn P-TECH students was to make a catapult out of pencils, rubber bands, and a plastic spoon. The goal was to be able to hit the bullseye at the farthest distance away from the target. P-TECH students and their mentors set to work on developing their own idea of what a catapult should look like, determining how much tension the catapult needs to get the projectile to the target, and exacting each catapult’s accuracy. The students had to choose their projectiles from a mix of pennies, dimes, and quarters. After a few tries the students and their mentors were successfully hitting the bullseye. The challenging part came when students and mentors started to increase the distance of the projectile and the teams had to adjust the accuracy of the catapult. Some students found it was a lot easier to increase the projectile’s velocity than the accuracy. This was a great learning lesson in physics using levers and pulley systems in addition to trying out new ideas to increase projectile velocity. Congratulations Auburn P-Tech and their mentors.
On November 16th, P-TECH, local businesses, and Auburn High School teamed up for a Science Career Fair. In an effort to help Auburn high school achieve a smashing success, PEB reached out to local businesses and individuals to support Auburn’s Science Career Fair. Some of the businesses that participated in the fair included: Lockheed Martin; The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry; GE Inspection Technologies; Beardsley Design; Nucor Steal; WestRock; and Mike Beardsley (Archeologist). Students were given the opportunity to talk with professionals, explore career fields, and learn how science is used in everyday applications. The response at the event was very positive “We had a great time and we applaud the event!” remarked John Percival of GE Inspection Technologies. Thank you everybody who participated.