Destroying the Death Star
|
General Dodonna: Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes.
Wedge Antilles: That's impossible! Even for a computer. Luke Skywalker: It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home, they're not much bigger than two meters. ~ Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope |
|
Executive Summary:
In all fields of science, obtaining accurate and precise results is critical to doing good work. In chemistry, this is particularly true. Simply knowing the result of an experiment is not enough, we need to know how well we know that result, and have a procedure to continue learning more. Fortunately, the scientific method provides a great method for accomplishing this. We will be exploring the tools needed to do good science, and do our part to help the Rebel Alliance, by designing “torpedoes” that are accurate and precise enough to destroy the “Death Star”.
Essential Questions:
How can we use science to make an awesome paper airplane?
Final Product:
At projects end, you will have a letter written to Mon Mothma of the Rebel High Command, arguing with evidence what the best airplane design will be based on the data you have collected.
Timeline (this will certainly change)
8/26-27: Design initial airplanes, project launch.
8/28: Keeping a notebook, sample videos, design airplanes.
8/31: Background reading on paper airplane design, design planes.
9/1-3: Collecting Data, How to work with data, accuracy vs. precision.
9/4: First draft of letter with data and critiques.
9/8-10: Second draft, critiques, final draft and artistic presentation.
9/11: Final draft of letters submitted!
In all fields of science, obtaining accurate and precise results is critical to doing good work. In chemistry, this is particularly true. Simply knowing the result of an experiment is not enough, we need to know how well we know that result, and have a procedure to continue learning more. Fortunately, the scientific method provides a great method for accomplishing this. We will be exploring the tools needed to do good science, and do our part to help the Rebel Alliance, by designing “torpedoes” that are accurate and precise enough to destroy the “Death Star”.
Essential Questions:
How can we use science to make an awesome paper airplane?
Final Product:
At projects end, you will have a letter written to Mon Mothma of the Rebel High Command, arguing with evidence what the best airplane design will be based on the data you have collected.
Timeline (this will certainly change)
8/26-27: Design initial airplanes, project launch.
8/28: Keeping a notebook, sample videos, design airplanes.
8/31: Background reading on paper airplane design, design planes.
9/1-3: Collecting Data, How to work with data, accuracy vs. precision.
9/4: First draft of letter with data and critiques.
9/8-10: Second draft, critiques, final draft and artistic presentation.
9/11: Final draft of letters submitted!
paper_airplane_aerodynamics.odt | |
File Size: | 31 kb |
File Type: | odt |
sample_letter_copy.pdf | |
File Size: | 1408 kb |
File Type: |
Need help with graphing your data? Matt's sample spreadsheet can be seen at this link: https://docs.google.com/a/hightechhigh.org/spreadsheets/d/19Hu8V5g9D8skfW5p-g_IrY-p7wvTyD1peb48hLKDu7E/edit?usp=sharing
Also, for graphing your bar-plots with error bars, you can use an account at https://plot.ly/
Also, for graphing your bar-plots with error bars, you can use an account at https://plot.ly/