What happens when you hit a golf ball into a... Part 4

Goldfish

What happens when you hit a golf ball into a... Part 3

Cantaloupe

Gumball Machine

Jello

What happens when you hit a golf ball into a... Part 2

Cranberry Sauce

Birthday Cake

Piggy Bank

Speed vs. Safety

Would you rather be fast or strong?

Check out some of the videos from Consumer Reports crash testing.

Safety Sells

All vehicles are safer these days, but Consumer Reports has crunched the crash-test numbers to find the best. The biggest safety factor, though, is still the person at the wheel.
You're wandering through the maze of a car dealership parking lot when all of a sudden it hits you: The car you've hunted for months is sitting right in front of you. It's the right color and has all the extras. It's perfect. You take it for a test spin. You love it and you've got to have it.But have you stopped to consider its safety rating? Is it really the best car for you or is it just a cleverly disguised death trap?

Let's face it, many drivers think safe means boring. But it's not boring to insurance companies, which base their rates, in part, on the safety of the cars and their occupants. Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice-president of the Highway Loss Data Institute, says insurance companies factor accident records of vehicles when setting premiums. However, crash-test results are useful to the insurance industry if there's not a lot of real-life accident data on the newer models of vehicles. Vehicles that do well in crash tests generally perform well in the real world, he says.

Who gets the insurance discounts?

Newer vehicles generally cost more to insure than older ones. But consumers can get discounts on the newer models if the vehicles have the latest safety features.
What's more, manufacturers increasingly are aware that safety can boost their bottom lines.
"Safety sells," says David Champion, director of automobile testing at Consumer Reports magazine. " More and more companies are using good crash-test results as an advertising ploy to get a leg up on the competition." And David Zuby, vice president of the vehicle research center at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety agrees, "Most manufacturers realize consumers want crash protection."

Safety by design

There are two major factors at play: prevention, or how well the vehicle is designed to prevent an accident, and crashworthiness, how well the vehicle performs in a crash.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a government agency, performs full-frontal crashes and side-impact collisions and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which is sponsored by the insurance industry, tests vehicles in an offset-frontal crash, a more common type. Consumer Reports magazine uses the test results of these two agencies to compare 85 vehicles in terms of accident avoidance, crash protection and overall safety. Higher overall scores go to the models that have done well in accident avoidance and crash protection and can improve your chance of avoiding or surviving a crash.

As for avoiding accidents in the first place, the magazine looks at braking performance on both dry and wet pavement, the effectiveness of the anti-lock braking system, emergency handling, acceleration, driving position, visibility and even seat comfort. A vehicle that accelerates quickly makes it easier to merge safely into traffic. Driving position can affect comfort and your ability to see the road clearly, and visibility increases your awareness of road conditions and other vehicles. Seat comfort plays a role, also. A driver who is tired or uncomfortable may concentrate less on the road.

The top factor: Who's behind the wheel, Daniel Pund, associate editor for Car and Driver magazine, says there's no such thing as a totally safe car.

There's no question that cars are better designed these days to handle crashes. "Tires also are much better today than they were 30 years ago, which means better handling, he says. Seat belts are also better designed so that the belt itself does not injure an occupant and still protects you from hitting the windshield. In the end, no matter how safe the vehicle is, the way it's driven can have a lot to do with whether you'll suffer a serious injury. "The safest car in the world is one that never leaves the garage," says Champion. "How safe a vehicle is depends a lot on the way it's driven."

Safety sells, and so do eco-friendly, fuel-efficient cars.  Which one do you think is more important?

Eco-Racer is a fun game that allows you to race eco-friendly cars.

Sports Engineering

Sports is big business in the United States and around the world. In the U.S. alone, the sporting goods industry is valued at $50 billion annually, and it's heavily dependent on the development of new products that enhance performance and increase safety. Engineering breakthroughs have had a significant impact on a wide range of sporting equipment—from bindings on skis to golf clubs, baseball bats, race cars, exercise equipment, and much more. In addition, an understanding engineering and physics principles has also contributed to dramatic improvements in technique in many sports. These improvements have, in turn, made sports more exciting by helping athletes break through performance barriers to set new records.

What is sports engineering?

Simply put, sports engineering is the application of engineering principles to:

a) design and optimize the equipment and/or facilities athletes use;
b) analyze and improve athletic techniques and performance; and
c) reduce injuries through improved techniques or equipment.

Sports engineering is built around principles of mechanical engineering, fluid/aerodynamics, and biomechanical engineering. Virtually every sport has benefited from engineering enhancements.

1. Can you give an example of how engineering has changed sports?

2. Consider how sports would change if balls had different levels of bounciness. Pick a sport, and describe how three different levels of bounciness would impact the sport, its players, other equipment, and even the environment in which the sport is played.

Why do golf balls have dimples?

Both of these pictures show how dimples on a golf ball create turbulence in the air flow, which reduces the wake behind the ball. This reduces the drag allowing the ball the be hit a lot further than a golf ball without dimples.

The mathematics behind the effects the size, depth, and number of dimples on a golf ball have not been calculated yet.

1. Do you think a golf ball with a fewer amount of larger dimples or a golf ball with more smaller dimples would go further? Why?

2. Do you think a golf ball would fly further with deep or shallow dimples? Explain your answer.

What happens when you hit a golf ball into a...

Watermelon

Milk

Lava Lamp

Product Disassembly and Reverse Engineering

On the Apollo 13 spacecraft, a small tank of liquid oxygen exploded, damaging the craft.  The astronauts lost oxygen and electric power.  Engineers at NASA had to help three astronauts make repairs to the air filter and get back to Earth using only the items they had on board.  Below is the clip from the movie, "Apollo 13" that featured this reverse engineering process.

Pasteurization FAQ

Louis Pasteur

Frequently Asked Questions about Pasteurization

Don’t you need to boil water to pasteurize it and make it safe to drink?
No, it is only necessary to heat water to 65° C to pasteurize it.

What is the difference between sterilization and pasteurization?
Sterilization kills all of the organisms in the water, while pasteurization kills only those organisms that can cause harm to humans.

What common disease organisms are killed by pasteurizing water?
Giardia, cryptosporidium, entamoeba, the eggs of worms, cholera, shigella, salmonella bacteria and those that cause typhoid, the enterotoxogenic strains of E. Coli, Hepatitis A, and also rotavirus which is a major cause of disease in children are all killed or inactivated at 65°C.

Do you have any questions about pasteurization that you want to ask? Post your questions in the comments section and we'll try to find the answer.

Bridge Building

Have you mastered West Point Bridge Builder?  Want a new challenge that is really fun?  Try Cargo Bridge!

Looking for another fun bridge building game?  Try BridgeCraft!

Can you Build the Bridge and get the train across safely?

More Than a Tower?

Who was Gustave Eiffel?  We all know that he designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris (pictured above), but did you know that he also designed many other bridges and structures throughout the world?

Eiffel is credited with designing over 50 of the world's greatest bridges, churches, towers, monuments, and other structures.  Some of his most notable works are the Eiffel Bridge in Caminha, Portugal (pictured above), the Truong Tien Bridge in Vietnam (pictured below), and the inside of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

The Statue of Liberty (pictured above) was a gift from France to the United States. Eiffel's design for the interior structural elements of the statue allowed for the statue to become a reality. The statue showed the friendship and respect that was shared between France and the United States. The Statue of Liberty quickly became a national symbol of freedom in the United States and gave citizens a sense of pride. The statue became a great tourist attraction and brought many people to New York, boosting the economy.

Eiffel also was involved in the French effort to build the Panama Canal.  His elevated, lock-based canal design was chosen.  However, the project was mismanaged and was never realized.  The American effort to construct the Panama Canal used new lock designs.

This is a picture of the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal.

Before Eiffel's death in 1923, he researched and developed new ideas through practical use of the Eiffel Tower.  The tower enabled him to make advancements in aerodynamics, meteorology, and radio-broadcasting.  He built a wind tunnel at the base of the tower for his aerodynamic research, had meteorological equipment placed in various locations on the tower, and suggested to the military to have radio equipment installed on the top of the tower.  Within the following years the tower would continue to serve as a permanent radio tower and eventually used for television broadcasting.

Tallest Towers

Empire State Building - New York, NewYork

What is the first building that comes to mind when someone asks you what the tallest building in the world is? Most people would say the Empire State Building. Actually, it was the tallest building in the world from 1931-1972 and is currently the 15th tallest building in the world at 1,250 feet.

When you build your "tallest towers" you have to account for compression, tension, gravity, and other forces, while also considering how best to use all of your materials.  These are the same principles that engineers have to think about when building a real skyscraper.  Here is a list of some of the tallest structures in the world. 

Burj Khalifa - Dubai, United Arab Emirates

At 2,717 feet, The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world.

The CN Tower - Toronto, Canada

The CN Tower is the tallest concrete tower in the world.  CN stands for Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower.  The 1,815 foot tall building is a signature icon of Toronto's skyline.

The Willis Tower - Chicago, Illinois

At 1,451 feet tall, the Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the 7th tallest building in the world.

The Petronas Towers -  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

At 1,483 feet tall, the Petronas Towers are the tallest twin towers in the world.  They are the 5th tallest structure in the world.

The Gateway Arch - St. Louis, Missouri

The Gateway Arch stands 630 feet tall and is the tallest monument in the world.  Constructed in 1967, the Arch has come to symbolize St. Louis as a "Gateway" between the east and western United States.

Kingda Ka - Jackson, New Jersey

Located at Six Flags amusement park, the Kingda Ka reaches 456 feet in the sky making it the tallest roller coaster in the world.  It also is the fastest roller coaster in the world with a top speed of 128 mph.  It reaches its top speed in 3.5 seconds. 

1.  Take a look at the list and the find them in Google Earth.  Then put a push pin on each of the buildings.
2.  With Google Earth you see pictures of the outside of these buildings.  Click here to get a tour of the inside of some of the tallest buildings in the world.

3..  In your application menu, click on the Career and Technology Education tab, then try to build a bridge using the West Point Bridge Builder. 

4.  Want a challenge?  I've never seen anyone complete a bridge that works using this Bridge Builder program.
Update (5/3/10): Michael M. just became the first student to ever beat it.  Who's next?
Update (5/7/10): Brooks G. was the 2nd person to beat it.  Anyone else?

Now let's test out more of your tower building skills...

Try Huje Tower or Huje Tower 2 (pictured above) or Moonlights (pictured below)

Create a Graph

We've used Excel to make spreadsheets and graphs.  Want another easy way to make a quick graph.  Try using Create a Graph.  These online graphs can be embedded into a blog, website, or saved as a JPEG for use in a powerpoint or word document.

Click here to start using Create a Graph

Honda Cog - The Ultimate Rube!

Check out this awesome commercial called "The Honda Cog!"

Don't think it was possible?  Click here to see the commercial explained by Snopes.

1. How do you think Rube Goldberg's cartoons influenced the making of this commercial?
2. Why do you think Honda would spend all that time and money to make a commercial like this?
3. Why do you think they never aired it in the United States?

Rube Goldberg

Who is Rube Goldberg?

Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, sculptor, and author.

Reuben Lucius Goldberg (Rube Goldberg) was born in San Francisco. His father, a practical man, insisted he go to college to become an engineer. After graduating from University of California Berkeley, Rube went to work as an engineer with the City of San Francisco Water and Sewers Department.

He continued drawing, and after six months convinced his father that he had to work as an artist. He soon got a job as an office boy in the sports department of a San Francisco newspaper. He kept submitting drawings and cartoons to his editor, until he was finally published. An

outstanding success, he moved from San Francisco to New York drawing daily cartoons for the Evening Mail. A founding member of the National Cartoonist Society, a political cartoonist and a Pulitzer Prize winner, Rube was a beloved national figure as well as an often-quoted radio and television personality during his sixty-year professional career.

Through his "INVENTIONS", Rube Goldberg discovered difficult ways to achieve easy results. His cartoons were, as he said, symbols of man's capacity for exerting maximum effort to accomplish minimal results. Rube believed that there were two ways to do things: the simple way and the hard way, and that a surprisingly number of people preferred doing things the hard way.

What is a Rube Goldberg Invention?

A Rube Goldberg contraption takes a simple task and makes it extraordinarily complicated.  They often included an elaborate set of arms, wheels, gears, handles, cups, and rods, put in motion by balls, canary cages, pails, boots, bathtubs, paddles, and live animals. He had solutions for How To Get The Cotton Out Of An Aspirin Bottle, imagined a Self-Operating Napkin, and created a Simple Alarm Clock – to name just a few of his hilariously depicted drawings.

Creme That Egg!

What is a Rube-toon?

A Rube-toon is a cartoon drawing of a Rube Goldberg contraption.  Rube Goldberg used these comics to poke fun at people who choose to do things the hard way by taking something simple and making it complex.  They are similar to political cartoons in this way.

This is a Rube Goldberg style cartoon or "Rube-toon." See if you can follow the steps.

I have recently seen clips from "Robots" and the opening scene from "Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit" that are clearly influenced by Rube Goldberg and his cartoons. Both sequences are pretty cool. For those of you who are closer to my age, you might remember Rube influenced sequences from "Back to the Future," "Indiana Jones," or the breakfast machine from "Pee Wee's Big Adventure."

Can you name a movie that has a Rube Goldberg style machine in it?

Can you make the changes necessary to help fix the Rube Goldberg-style machine in Goldburger to Go? (pictured below) 

Try completing all 30 levels of Dynamic Systems. (pictured below)

Do you want another Rube Goldberg challenge?  Try Dynamic Systems 2.  (pictured below)

 

Try to build science-related contraptions in Power Play. (pictured below)

Want another fun Rube-Goldberg style challenge?  Try to create contraptions using the Magic Pen. (pictured below)

Have you mastered Magic Pen?  Try Magic Pen 2. (pictured below)

Do you think you can create The Successful Experiment? (pictured below)

Try a Rube Goldberg style mouse trap game with Tom's Trap-O-Matic. (pictured below)

Did you know that Phineas and Ferb like Rube Goldberg contraptions?  Well, it's true.  You can check it out for yourself by playing their Ultimate Chain Reaction! (pictured below)

Even More Rube!

Rube Goldberg Machine on Mythbusters

(Holiday Edition)

A different look at the Mythbusters Rube Goldberg Machine

A Rube That Goes Through The Whole House!

Rube Goldberg With Lots Of Fire!

A Computer Animated Rube

Pool Table Rube Goldberg

Amazing Rube Goldberg-style Music Video

Nintendo Rube Goldberg

Can you name all 6 games in the Nintendo Rube Goldberg video?  I used to own each of these games for my NES in the 1980's.  I'll give a pawllar to any student who can name them correctly.

Check Out These Rube-toons Made by Mr. Haines' Students

by Henry R.

by Max T.




by Drew C.

Do you have "the knack?"

Compound Machines

Compound Machines

A compound machine consists of two or more simple machines put together.  In fact, most machines are compound machines.  Their mechanical advantage is far greater, so compound machines can do more difficult jobs than simple machines alone.  Some examples are a bicycle and a pair of scissors.

  

Click here to go to the Robot's tool shed to learn more about compound machines.

Click here to help the Robot solve the Odd Machine (pictured below).

Have you ever built a Fantastic Contraption before?  Only an expert can beat all 21 levels (without cheating)of this fun game that uses compound machines.

Are you ready for the next challenge?  Try Fantastic Contraption 2 (pictured above) or Fantastic Contraption: Prius Edition (pictured below).

Are you wishing for another game that is similar to Fantastic Contraption?  Try Imagicle! (pictured below)

Did you know that Rollercoasters are compound machines?

Can you beat all 4 levels in Roller Coaster Designer?