The Winds Of Change Blow On Science Day
By Ronnie Blair, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
May 17–NEW PORT RICHEY — The wind speed was practically nil outside Bayonet Point Middle School on Friday, so science teacher Ellen Maracotta and her students turned the hallway outside their classroom into a sort of low-tech wind tunnel.
The seventh-graders were involved in a lesson titled “The Wind in My Sails” as a way to mark the first official Science Day in Florida.
Science Day had special meaning at Bayonet Point Middle.
Maracotta, with assistance from science teacher Kimberly Rys, not only wrote the lesson her students were doing, but it was also the winning entry for seventh grade in a statewide contest sponsored by the Florida Department of Education.
The state encouraged middle schools all across Florida to use the lesson plan on Science Day. There also were winning lessons for second grade, fifth grade and high school.
Maracotta was excited to learn her idea was getting statewide recognition.
“I’m flattered,” she said.
Using Maracotta’s lesson plan, the Bayonet Point students, in an effort to demonstrate the conversion of wind energy to mechanical energy, created sail carts — made of small blocks of balsa wood equipped with wheels and sails.
Lacking a suitable breeze outdoors, they set up a fan and raced their vehicles down the hall.
The students worked in teams of three. When they built their sail carts, the students experimented with different materials for the sails. They tried plastic and cloth. Jose Mancilla, 14, said his team’s original plan was to use Popsicle sticks, but that proved too heavy.
Jose and his group settled on a coffee-filter sail, which proved effective, although the cart kept veering to the right because of an axle problem.
One of the more successful carts was designed by the team of Nadine Hofmeister, 13, Divya Gandhi, 12, and Taylor Forth, 12.
They also chose a coffee-filter sail after testing other designs.
“This one worked the best,” Divya said. “We decided we didn’t want it too big. It would be too heavy and go too slowly.”
Maracotta said her lesson plan originally called for boxes instead of balsa wood, but Delbert Hamrick, who teaches a technology class, had the balsa-wood blocks and shared them with the science students.
Wind energy was the theme for the state’s first Science Day.
The Department of Education reported that 16 lesson plans were written and submitted by Florida teachers to be considered for the state Science Day lessons.
Four were chosen to represent lesson plans for the high school, middle school and elementary school levels.
The other lesson-plan winners were:
— Grade 2: Janet M. Acerra, Forest Lakes Elementary School, Pinellas County, “Let’s Look at Air!”
— Grade 5: Michelle Ferro, West Melbourne School for Science; Nancy Rehwoldt, Surfside Elementary; and Wendy Shelden, Ralph Williams Elementary School, Brevard County; “Playground Heat!”
— High School: Jennifer Cribbs, Deland High School, Volusia County, “We Got Trouble, Right Here in ‘Your Town!’”
Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.
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