e-Week Part 2

Article in the Poughkeepsie Journal

Friday, February 22, 2008
Egg drops enthrall would-be engineers

By Alice Hunt
Poughkeepsie Journal

BEACON - Eggs were dropped and ingenuity applied Thursday as seventh- and eighth-graders from Rombout Middle School tried their hands at engineering.

Two IBM engineers visited the Synergistics science enrichment classrooms of Glenn Morris and Alison DeSpada Wednesday and Thursday as part of the school's National Engineering Week recognition.

In Morris' class, ****** and Vincent Vazquez, industrial engineers from IBM's Fishkill site, discussed their roles at IBM and what an engineer does. Then they tested the students in a simulated engineering project.

"An engineer would be able to use the principles you learn in science and apply them to a product," ****** explained.

The students then participated in an egg drop, where they used ordinary materials to create an object to hold and protect a raw chicken egg from a 10-foot drop.

"We're going to see if your egg survives," ******** said. "It's like a spaceship - Apollo re-entering the atmosphere. If your egg yolk goes everywhere, you didn't do a good job. The astronaut wouldn't make it."

Costs also a factor
That wasn't the only challenge. The materials - newspaper, construction paper, marshmallows, wooden barbecue skewers and tape - had costs assigned to them. Students also had to keep the project within a budget.

The children broke into three groups of four and began brainstorming.

The group with Mark Hart, Robert Oberle, Michael Nobile and Edwardo Gonzales started with a cone design but realized the design wouldn't work.

"If it tilts, it's gone," Hart said, showing the other three how some parts of the cone would not be padded. The boys then switched to trying to make a cube, padding it with torn-up marshmallows and newspaper.

A group dubbed The Rocket Scientists had a similar design.

"Put the egg in the center of the newspaper, surround it with marshmallows taped into more newspaper," Dionte Wil-liams told Cristian Wassweider.

"We need more tape," Alijah Wilds said, while Ashleigh Arena folded black construction paper into a box to further cradle the egg.

In the end, The Rocket Scientists prevailed, with the only project that did not break, and the least-expensive design.

The project is a fun way of showing students how deadlines, budget and timelines must be considered when working on an engineering project, Vazquez said.

"This replicates a real-life engineering project," he said.

Reach Alice Hunt at Hunta@poughkeepsiejournal.com or 845-437-4819.

E-Week 2008

So it's Engineers Week or E-Week for short. This time period (actually stretched out over a month) is devoted to educating young people about careers in engineering. I volunteered last year so I decided to participate again in 2008.

So yesterday morning around 9 AM I drove out to Rombout Middle School which is located in Beacon and met up with my co-worker and co-educator for the day. We checked in with the security guard and met our host teacher, Mr. Morris. He actually reminded me a lot of a professor I had in college who taught a history of jazz class. Mr. Morris is a science teacher of some sort.

So around 9:50 AM the first class rolled in. Demographically most classes were 70/30 male/female with about 1/3 "minorities" - I'm classifying anyone who isn't "white" (not counting Hispanics as white) as a minority.

Mr. Morris first gave a brief summary of our purpose and his expectations for the class. Then my co-educator and I introduced ourselves, told the class a bit about our jobs and what engineering is in general. Then we moved on to describe our activity which was an egg drop. I actually did a similar activity when I was in middle school Science Olympiad called naked egg drop where we built a container to drop a raw egg into.

However today the activity was a standard egg drop meaning we had to build a container around an egg and drop the whole enclosure from a height of 10 feet onto a hard surface. The materials provided were:

- newspaper
- marshmallows
- wooden skewers
- construction paper
- scotch tape
- raw egg

Each material had an associated cost and maximum number allowed. The total budget for the project wasn't to exceed $200 in imaginary money. For instance each marshmallow cost $20.

The students were told to get into teams of 2-5 members, start by brainstorming a design, sketching it and out and costing it. Once they showed they had a design that was under budget we allocated the materials for the build phase.

During the entire activity my co-educator and I scuttled around the room from group to group asking them if they had questions or required any sort of assistance. It was apparent that some students were quite reserved and sat on the sidelines rather than actively participate in the project.

However 95% of the students were quite enthusiastic about it and hashed out some pretty radical designs. The standard design simply wrapped the egg in layers of newspaper and surrounded the egg in marshmallows. The whole package was then secured with scotch tape. Some more radical designs involved parachutes, wooden skewers acting like stilts, or ripping the marshmallows in half and sticking the pieces directly to the egg. The latter idea actually resembles the airbags on the martian rover landing pods.

After the builds were done Mr. Morris took each pod, climbed to the top of a ladder and held the pod against the ceiling to a height of 10 feet. He then asked the team how much their design cost and what materials were used. Then the class gave a count down...5...4...3....2...1...drop. In most designs it wasn't evident immediately if the egg had survived the fall. Most students tried to guess based on the sound the capsule made upon contacting the floor. Often times it would appear the egg survived but after cutting open the pod we'd see the ominous goo staining the newspaper. The students would groan 'Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww' and then toss their failed creation into the garbage. Sometimes in more exposed designs the egg would literally explode scattering the yolk on the protective garbage bag. Some kids would really freak out over the sight of the egg. One girl almost had a panic attack and was screaming 'EEEEEWW...egg yolk...EEWW EEWW EWW!' A few designs did work and for classes with multiple successes the lowest cost pod won.

Overall the kids were all very enthusiastic and energetic about the process. They all gathered round the drop site and counted down. Some had questions about engineering, others seemed to just enjoy the process of designing, building, and testing. We wrapped up the class by talking a bit more about engineering as a career, fielded any questions, and handed out prizes - e-Week cups that changed color when different temperature liquids were poured in them and keychain carabeeners with LED light.

It was quite a fun and rewarding experience but there were some things I noticed about teaching. It became a challenge to remember what I had already said when teaching classes back-to-back-to-back, etc. Also I could feel myself losing enthusiasm after doing the same exact activity so many times. I can only wonder if real teachers feel this drain if they teach 6 periods of the same class and teach the same class every year.

I do enjoy working with the kids though and I imagine that's the main source of energy and inspiration the teachers use to get them through the day. That and plenty of coffee.

The Patriots and Cheating

So right now a big item in the news is Senator Arlen Specter speaking with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about the Patriots' "Spygate" scandal. For those of you who aren't familiar, the gist of it is that the Patriots illegally videotaped their opponents in order to gain insight into what plays they were running or what signals they used to communicate during football games. This is a violation of NFL rules.

Anyway, Specter said Goodell confirmed that Belichick had been videotaping since 2000. This of course coincides with the Patriots first Super Bowl victory. Since then they have won 2 additional titles. Of course this casts a shadow of doubt over the Patriots' success in the 2000s. The question is posed 'Are the Patriots 3 Super Bowl wins' tainted by this videotaping activity?

I'm not a Patriots fan and I do have some anti-Patriots bias just based on the fact that I hate them for beating the Steelers several times in the playoffs but I'm going to try and be objective as possible.

Here are two main points that need clarification:
- What is the full explanation of the 'no videotaping' rule?
- When did videotaping the other team become illegal?

I don't know the answers to the above two questions so I'm going to make some assumptions to work with. Let's assume 'no videotaping' is absolute. Under no circumstance are you (a staff member or player of a NFL team) permitted to videotape another team. This means you can't videotape them practicing, in the locker room, during a game, doing a walkthrough or at any instance where the team is convened. Even if you are a spectator you may not videotape the team because you are a member of another team's staff.

If the rule really is absolute it would be amazing because Bill Belichick who many call a 'genius' has repeatedly stated he 'misinterpreted' the rule. If it's as simple as 'no videotaping other teams, period.' how could you misinterpret that?

Let's assume this no videotaping rule has been effect since 1999.

Note: if the videotaping rule was not in effect until 2007 then it is absolutely irrelevant that the Patriots taped opponents from 2000-2006. If there was no rule prohibiting it there was nothing illegal about them engaging in the behavior.

But for our case we'll assume the rule was in effect before the Patriots began taping.

A lot of Patriots fans or defenders use similar rebuttals or excuses to justify the videotaping so I'll list some common ones and give my response to them.

- Everyone else was doing it.
If it was against the rules the fact that other people broke the rule does not change the fact that you broke the rule to begin with. It does not lessen the extent to which you broke the rule. The number of people breaking the rule only reflects either the inability for the rule to be enforced or the lack of respect for the rule.

It wasn't that big of an advantage for the Patriots to tape their opponents -or- The Patriots would have beat them anyway, they stink.
The Patriots were caught for their taping of the lowly New York Jets. Would they have beaten the Jets without the taping, most likely, however this is irrelevant. Just because victory is assured doesn't mean you can circumvent the rules of fair play. The quality of the opponent has nothing to do with the acceptability of breaking a rule. About the advantage - there's really no way to determine if taping provided an advantage or not but once again that point is irrelevant. If you taped the team and immediately burned the evidence you still broke the rule! It doesn't matter if you gained any useful knowledge.

Think of it like this. You have a vocabulary test where you have to give the definition of 10 words. You get stuck on a word so you pull out your cheat sheet...damn, your word isn't on the cheat sheet! It was useless! So does that mean it didn't count as cheating since it didn't help you? I rest my case.

Senators should be worrying about more important issues than cheating in football.
You know, you're probably right. Football in the grand scheme of things isn't that important. But once again, this is a deflection, not a validation. You broke the rule regardless of the whistleblower's work priorities.

You can say the same thing about the police. They probably would best spend their time preventing murders and rapes instead of writing you speeding tickets. However, this fact doesn't change the fact that you were driving 87 in a 65 zone.

You guys are just Patriot haters, you are just jealous!
I admit I hate the Patriots, but what I feel about the team doesn't affect its behaviors. The Patriots made a conscious effort to break the rule without the influence of any of us fans. Frankly, I'm not so jealous of a team that broke league rules during its period of great success. I have no way of knowing how much of the success was due to earnest efforts and how much was gained through unscrupulous methods.

Here's one I hear about the Steelers:
The Steelers in the 70s used steroids.
That may be true, but the question is...was it illegal back then? I don't believe it was so as I stated earlier in this post - it's a total non-issue.

So I've done a lot of blathering and it really comes down to a fairly black-or-white issue.

Let's state it like this.

Rule X: You may not do Y.

You did Y. Therefore you broke Rule X.

Simple as that.

Celebrity Basketball

So tonight at 6:30 I had the first playoff game of my winter basketball league. Our team has done terribly. I believe our record is 0-10 or 0-11. Anyway, we're winless and although we've had some close games we haven't been able to capture the elusive victory. So tonight I knew we had a full squad...8 guys so at least we'd be able to sub in and out. One part of our team's struggle had been to get enough people week in and week out but today that wasn't a problem. Instead our opposition was short-handed. They were missing their point guard and only had 5 people. Granted one of their 5 guys I doubt played in the league (he probably was a ringer brought in from a higher division) but still this was a huge advantage for our team.

We were able to keep a bit of a lead throughout the first half and went to half-time up 9. In the 2nd half I believe the other team got a bit more tired...and their offense was basically 2 people. One long black guy was getting in the lane at will and sometimes dishing to a taller fatter white guy who could score inside easily. But aside from that they had no offense. Our team ended up winning by double digits. I didn't play very well...I took 3 shots, was fouled on 2 and went to the line where I only hit 1/2 FTs both times. I got a few rebounds, made a few assists, but also had a few turnovers. I was playing man defense on their point guard so that really limited my opportunity to get rebounds and blocks.

It's funny, it turns out the guy I was guarding is none other than Rick Zolzer. Now I'm sure no one except for me knows who that is. Basically he comes in and does the sports report on 101.5 WPDH which is the main radio station I listen to. In fact I heard him this morning before I left for work.

Now later in the day I'm guarding him in basketball. I could tell it was him from his voice but it definitely wasn't spot on - the radio mics must make you sound a bit different.

Anyway, this guy used to be the PA announcer for the New Jersey Nets.

Here's his Wikipedia page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Zolzer

Just an odd experience to meet a local celebrity like that. But I'm more happy that our team that went 0-fer in the regular season picked up its first win in the playoffs.

Let's see if we can make like the Giants and go on an improbable run to the championship.

Super Bowl XLII

Last night I attended a party to watch the Super Bowl. I'm a fan of the NFL but with no Steelers participating in the game I had little interest other than watching to see the hated Patriots lose.

I already hated the Patriots just because they have beat the Steelers in the playoffs a few times. However, constantly hearing about Bill Belichick's supposed genius and Tom Brady's latest baby-momma is enough to make anyone develop a hate of the team. Oh yeah and throw in the whole Spy-gate scandal where the Patriots were caught cheating.

And of course this year the Patriots go through the regular season undefeated (16-0) and ESPN is flooded with stories asking 'Are the Patriots the best team ever?' and 'Is Tom Brady the best quarterback ever' and all sorts of other articles praising this team that WAS CAUGHT CHEATING without really taking that offense seriously.

Belichick in general is a very shady and unlikeable character as well. He's evasive, a poor sport, and not very classy at all. He's refused to shake hands with opposing coaches, runs up the score when leading by 30+ in the 4th quarter, doesn't answer questions about injuries, dresses like a hobo, talks in mono-tone, etc etc

Anyway, the Giants were huge underdogs in this game...I believe the Pats were favored to win by 12. I don't like the Giants but I certainly have nothing against the team. I've kinda felt sorry for Eli too since he's been scrutinized for his inconsistent play given he was the first overall pick in 2004 - and was surrounded by the drama involving his unwillingness to play for San Diego.

So it's good to see him mature and solidify the QB draft class of 2004. Now Rivers is the only one of the 3 QBs not to have a SB ring.

I only hope that Moss leaves the Pats in free agency as well as Asante Samuel. It would sicken me to see the Pats steal another prime player for pennies like they did with Moss.

The Giants have a beastly d-line and I hope teams learn to play the Pats more like the Giants did. Taking a chance with the receivers and blitzing to hit Brady. Brady is no god. ANY QB can look amazing given loads of time to throw. NE has a great o-line but simple math...bringing more people than they have back to block works most of the time.

I hope the Steelers can re-tool their defense to bring heat like the Giants. They'll probably stay in the 3-4 for next season but they need to play Woodley over Haggans. They also need Aaron Smith back and Casey Hampton back in shape. The Steelers d-line scared noone this year.

This has been a really disjointed post, oh well.