Hagan Brooks '19, Nicholas Loftin '18, Trevor Youtz '18, Jack McLawhorn '18, and Luke Brazinski '18 show off creations from the Physics Lab
Homemade Creations Spur Learning in Physics Lab
Devices built by students bring science to life
Motivating a classroom of boys to build projectile launchers is the easy part for Nick Luhm. A fully-functional crossbow and air cannon constructed out of PVC pipe are some of the creations that have come out of Christ School's Physics Lab, or "Maker Space," this semester.
What does it all mean when it comes time to shoot the projectile? That is where Luhm gets to show off his teaching chops.
The projectile launchers were used to test launch velocity, while hydraulic lifts made from syringes were part of the discussion on Pascal's Principle. Honors Physics students are making small steam engines for their unit on Thermodynamics. Other devices have been used to demonstrate free fall motion.
"Almost every project or experiment is designed by the students. And every one of these groups is doing something different," Luhm said. "Students who are taking one of my classes for the first time will see that I don't give them a set of directions. I give them all the tools and equipment. I work with them, but I have them tell me how they built it, how they designed it. I want to push them to be ambitious."
AP Physics students are required to spend at least 25 percent of their class time in the lab. Under Luhm, that number is closer to 40 percent. The boys document the lab projects with video that is shared with the rest of their class.
"It's all great stuff," Luhm said. "We work on building something, then keep referring back to it. Why it was built? What does it demonstrate? That really matches up with what I like to do as a Physics team. Even if they are not doing a formal project or experiment (in the lab), often we are in there doing something that is pure data collection. The numbers aren't always pretty, but we're taking real data."
