GREENTOWN — Even from 30 feet up, it was obvious that Morgan Aprill, Jacqueline Johnson, Taylor Randolph and Kaitlyn Little’s “spegg shuttle” did not make a safe landing.
The girls and their classmates in Dennis Swender’s orientation to life and careers class at Eastern High School craned their necks over the side of the home bleachers in the football stadium, and could immediately tell that their “eggstronaut” did not survive the fall.
“We could tell right away,” Aprill said. “Ours just blew open and the egg went all over. It wasn’t pretty.”
Students in the class, which is required for all ninth-graders, worked in groups to construct a mock space shuttle out of recycled materials, including plastic bottles, metal cans, Styrofoam drink cups, newspaper, fast food bags and other materials.
To pass the project, the raw egg inside the shuttle must survive the fall from the top of the bleachers unbroken.
In this particular class, only one eggstronaut survived, so the designers went back to the drawing board to work out problems and try again.
Once the shuttle survives the drop, the groups must figure out how to launch their shuttle from the ground to the top of the bleachers, without touching it and without the egg breaking.
Corey Graham, Greg Huffman and Keith Lewis started the second task, as designers of the only successful shuttle.
They nestled the egg in a nest of newspaper, in a can that formerly held peas. They covered the can with a paper cup, then placed the whole thing in a Wendy’s bag.
Graham said their design took about 30 minutes to plan, and they considered five ideas.
To launch it to the top, he considered an idea to set the shuttle on one end of a skateboard, and then jump on the other side, launching it into the air.
“We’d have to stomp on it pretty hard,” he reasoned. His team abandoned that plan in favor of one involving string.
At the next table, Aprill, Johnson, Randolph and Little consider how they can re-imagine their shuttle to survive the drop. Aprill draws some possibilities on her notepad and suggests gluing carpet to the outside to absorb the blow.
Johnson thinks rubber cement could help.
“Does rubber cement bounce?” she asks, suggesting they could coat the egg in it.
Swender said the point of the exercise is not engineering — it’s learning how to work together as a team, how to keep trying to solve a problem and economics.
He sees the project as a launching pad into the class curriculum, which covers topics such as consumption, economics, recycling, writing, teamwork and persistence in problem solving.
Each team had a budget to purchase their materials. Swender required materials to be recyclable, to promote environmental consciousness.
He said it’s also important that the students figure out how to solve the problem without him giving them an answer, an important skill to have in the work force.
They’re also learning how to give specific directions, because when each team handed over their shuttles, he asked how they should be launched. If not given directions, he threw the shuttles hard, making it less likely the egg would survive.
“Hopefully they’ll get angry and learn to persist through things not going their way.”
Swender said the ability to work with people with varying opinions and ability levels also is an important life skill the students learn.
“They need to understand they don’t have to sacrifice their own beliefs and values, but they can treat people with respect and dignity, even if they don’t agree.”
Danielle Rush may be reached at (765) 454-8585 or via e-mail at danielle.rush@kokomotribune.com
Local News
Related Photos
Discussion
Eastern students learn from egg drops
- Local News
-
-
Entire U.S. 31 corridor now under contract
Every segment of the 13.1-mile, U.S. 31 Kokomo Corridor is now officially under construction.
-
Northwestern to graduate 130 seniors
Peyton Hite ended her last day in high school by going home and washing sheep.
“It’s part of living on a farm,” she said, with a laugh.
-
Drugs, cash seized, four arrested
Police from four agencies seized heroin, pills, syringes and cash, and arrested four people this week after a raid on a house on East Street, according to police reports.
-
Lafayette job fair expects Kokomo hopefuls
Organizers of a Lafayette job fair next week are reaching out to Kokomo residents looking for work.
-
Deputy prosecutor facing two charges
A Howard County deputy prosecutor will face two drunken-driving charges in connection with a traffic stop in Cicero.
-
Governor honors student
A Northwestern High School senior achieved a milestone Thursday when he became the first Indiana student ever to win both of the state’s top science awards.
-
Taylor considering staff reductions
A decline in enrollment has forced Taylor School Corp. to consider staff reductions, but the board won’t vote on the issue until next week, officials said Thursday.
-
Schools among top 20 in Indiana
Three area schools were ranked among the top 20 in Indiana this year by U.S. News and World Report.
Tri-Central Middle/High School, Eastern Junior-Senior High School and Tipton High School all made the list, which was an evaluation of 379 high schools across the state.
-
Library starts iPad rental program
Apple can’t make enough iPads to satisfy demand, but the Kokomo-Howard County Public Library now owns 15 iPad2 units.
Thursday, social media-conscious library patrons scrambled to borrow the tablet computers, on the first official day of the library’s iPad lending program.
-
Gov. names NW student 'Mr. Science' for 2012
Tyler Barnes becomes first Indiana student to be named Indiana's Top Young Scientist and Mr. Science.
- More Local News Headlines
-
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
Raw Video: Bride Who Faked Cancer Released
