Physics students at Mundelein High apply learning to crash simulator

Mundelein High School District 120 submission

Physics students at Mundelein High School spent the day March 20 putting the skills they learned in class to the test as they worked with a crash simulator. The apparatus was made possible through funds from the Mundelein High School Community Education and Alumni Foundation.

The project, led by physics instructors Dr. Michael Hickey, Mark Michalski and Matt Farmer, involved a number of skills to enhance student learning in the physics curriculum. The project had many stages from inception to execution.

First, physics staff purchased a force detector that, together with a processing unit, supplied force vs. time graphs for analysis. Next, the classes designed and built a wheeled cart with a compatible inclined roadway large enough to be viewed by the whole class yet small enough for storage and portability.

Finally, students designed and built bumpers for the car, which was rolled down the roadway to collide with the force detector. Students retrieved data of the impact for analysis and evaluation of the bumper performance.

According to Hickey, the project allows students to design a project, solve a problem and test the performance of their solution.

"The data generated by the collisions must be interpreted by the students, connected with the theory and be present coherently in a writing piece," Hickey said. "It provides a motivational activity to explore all the relevant concepts," he said.

The project took about seven weeks from the start and concludes with the experiments and written documentation. The project is repeated with new students in other terms during the school year.