24 Wolves: Log Houses

More of a technology investigation than scientific, our first commission put us onto the business of resisting destruction,
not causing it.

So, we set about designing models of log houses that would resist rockfall!

Finally, we put all of the designs to the test in a mock rock slide:

24 Wolves: Investigating Wrecking Balls

At 24 Wolves, we aim to keep up to date. We wanted to make sure our wrecking balls did maximum destruction, so we investigated what would help using models.

First, our investigation teams tested what made the most difference, with each team testing a different variable: ball material, release height, string length, position of impact (i.e. top, middle, bottom), string material, and ball mass.

Our second stage was to gather as much data as possible about release height, as this seemed to make the most significant... impact. So, we set up identical stations and measured the "push" on our buildings from increasing heights of release.

Introducing: 24 Wolves!

24 Wolves is our Mantle of the Expert company. Mantle of the Expert is a drama-based, integrated approach to inquiry where students assume the roles of experts in a field. It is kind of like a game where we develop a fictitious company, receive commissions, and act upon them. It is through this that we will facilitate most of our Science, Writing, Maths, and Technology for this term.

What Room 17 has come up with is a Construction/Demolition company. Through democratic processes, we have settled on the name "24 Wolves" (representing the 24 members of our company), a company logo, and a company credo.

To see the history and documentation for our company, visit our 24 Wolves page from the main blog. Ongoing 24 Wolves activity will be posted on the Home page.

Science Stuff

This term, Room 17 has been examining the effects of Surface Tension and Chemical Reactions. We have also started an extended inquiry into the design of mangonels (catapults) in an effort to test and refine what makes the most powerful machine.

How many drops of H2O can you fit on a flat magnet? Can you float a metal staple on water?

Mangonel Trials:

• Every group first made a standard mangonel - 15 twists on a 20cm string, poles 6.5cm apart.
• After we discussed the efficacy of the mangonel, each group formed a hypothesis about which one thing we could change to make a difference - with an eye towards maximum throw distance. The trial list included:
• More twists
• Adjusting string height on the poles
• Adjusting height of mangonel from the ground
• Exploring a variety of angle stops for the arm.
• Throwing multiple projectiles at once.
• Conclusions were reached from data analysis:
• More twists had little effect on throw distance and may have actually made it worse.
• Higher string means greater throw distance.
• Higher mangonel means greater throw distance.
• An angle stop 5cm from the mangonel base provided the greatest throw distance. This was a roughly 60 degree angle of arm relative to mangonel base.

The white circles are labels for each type of trial, e.g "adding extra twists".

Space Travellers!

We had the privilege of a short trip to Stardome to learn about how the tilt of the Earth causes our seasons. We watched a short movie and then explored the displays. Our host also had a question and answer session and an informative description of the seasons.

Playing with the concave mirror.

Exploring the Learning Zone

Serious learning faces.

Science in the Year of Light

Puriri team is investigating Light, Shadow and Reflection as a science topic. So far, we have observed shadows of revolving 3D objects, shadow puppets, and our own shadows from the sun.

Here, we are exploring triangular prisms, convex mirrors (bulges outward), and concave mirrors (bulges inward). The sun wasn't quite bright enough to see really obvious results, but we still noticed the differences between the mirrors.

We gave up on the sun and moved inside to the projector.

We have achieved Rainbow (a spectrum at least)!