Sunday, June 12, 2011

Summer Stock Sunday


Robin, at Around the Island, has challenged us to post photos that remind us of summer each Sunday. She's not looking for professional quality photos (although hers are), just something fun.

Daughter and I took a bike ride yesterday to geocache in a new park, Arrowbrook. We've driven by this place many times on the way to a favorite pizza place, and never registered that it was an "official" park (dedicated in Nov 2010, so pretty new). It was a puzzle cache and we were successful at the first 3 puzzles, but it was blasted hot so we came home to think about the others. We saw lots of dragonflies and damselflies, and learned about the butterflies that live there. Apparently the water portion of the park has been developed as an "Enhanced Extension Basin," a device that soaks up what would have been run-off from developed areas and releases it back into the watershed at a more sedate pace, consistent with a more healthy environment. Who knew?



and to demonstrate that we are ALMOST FINALLY out of school,
here is the Rube Goldberg project for Physics that
represented her final A or B. (A if it worked, B if it was complete, but didn't)
Assignment, to design and build a working contraption 
a la Goldberg using a number of simple machines.



They had to include a pulley, lever and fulcrum, inclined plane, and wedge.

The way this one works:

The string on a pulley releases a hammer which hits the base of
a launching point, flinging the marble into a funnel.
The marble whirls around the funnel, drops down to nudge a
car, which goes down the ramp, hitting
a lever which knocks over a block.
The block releases the balloon, which as it rises,
makes the connection for the two circuits,
and the light goes on!

9 comments:

aspiritofsimplicity said...

my youngest will be graduating high school this Friday night so no more school projects. That park is beautiful. How nice that they are able to do that.

SouthLakesMom said...

hip-chick, Congratulations on the long haul almost done! That's a huge accomplishment for the parents!

She's my oldest and I have one coming behind just starting HS. For him, the difficulty will be restraining him from using explosives!

Leora said...

Love the contraption! My eldest took physics this year, but he said they mostly did math. My middle one is my filmmaker. Bet he'd like building something like that and filming it.

Wonderful waterlilies.

Carletta said...

Cool project!
When I taught school simple machines was first learned in third grade.
What a beautiful park. I love the second image. It's nice that is close enough to ride to. If I were younger and I had better knees I think I'd like to geocache. :)

Robin said...

What a beautiful little oasis that park is, and congratulations to your daughter on a job well done, that is quite a contraption.

-----------------------------------
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SouthLakesMom said...

Leora, Carletta and Robin, contraption is certainly the word for it!

It was funny to hear and see the intense team discussions as they tried to use everything in the family junk drawers!

Anonymous said...

Lovely waterlilies on that pond!

Sara at Come Away With Me said...

What lovely waterlilies. I especially like the lavender ones that grow into such a graceful mound above the surface of the water.

Tania said...

Beautiful flowers, the waterlilies have not come her yet. And grats to you daughter!
Happy week to you