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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2016)
SIUSLAW NEWS SCHOOL NEWSLETTER ❚ JANUARY 2016 SCHOOL ZONE A Monthly Newsletter for the Siuslaw and Mapleton Schools and Florence Community PTA SMS 8th-graders to visit Ellis Island at FEC Monday T Life’s a ride with amusement park physics Science students research Laws of Motion SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTOS hanks to an arrangement with SEAcoast Entertainment Association, Siuslaw Middle School students will experience a live performance about immigration in the early 20th century, titled “The New American,” by Rachel Atkins of Living Voices. Three performances are scheduled to accommodate all the students. Living Voices is a non- profit educational group that presents solo perform- ers and integrates audience interaction to teach histo- ry. Oftentimes they use COURTESY PHOTO archival film as their Rachel Atkins as stage’s backdrop. Bridget Fitzgerald SEAcoast is the in “The New American” Florence-area nonprofit that brings high-caliber arts and entertainment to the Florence Events Center and contracts with entertainers to do community outreach for schools and senior liv- ing communities. “For me, working with Living Voices is one of the high points for our concert season. They are bringing a dramatic, artistic element to enhance the students’ year-long studies about immigration,” said Rachel Pearson, SEA’s edu- cation outreach coordinator. “They turn history into a moving, personal journey to help young audiences understand and access the past,” said Pearson. “The project will further the students’ studies this year on the his- tory of immigration, and allow for an informed discussion and comparison of historical immi- gration to the issues of immigration today.” This will be the second year Living Voices has come to Siuslaw Middle School to augment its history curriculum. “The New American” is an imaginative story beginning in 1912 rural Ireland, where students meet Bridget Rose Fitzgerald. The Fitzgeralds barely manage to hold onto their farm in bad times. Her father sends Bridget to America in hopes she will be able to send back enough money to save their home. Bridget is placed in steerage on a steamship headed for New York. At Ellis Island, she is tagged and numbered along with thousands of immigrants crammed into a huge, noisy facility. After a barrage of tests and a long list of con- fusing and embarrassing questions, Bridget is passed through and taken to Manhattan where she begins work at a sweatshop. After many challenges, and after studying and passing the citizenship exam, Bridget fully embraces her new homeland. Through it all, students will learn what American liberty and opportunity mean to peo- ple around the world. “During the production, students will become so engaged in the dramatic telling of Bridget’s personal story, they won’t realize all the lessons they’re absorbing about history, cultural differ- ences, character development and the immigra- tion process,” says Pearson. Eighth-grade social studies teacher Heather Wiggins was provided a teacher’s guide for pre- and post-performance instruction to assist stu- dents in gaining a greater understanding of the process of immigration and assimilation of the early 20th century, and then to draw parallels between then and now. Included are hands-on activities to reinforce new concepts through a mix of writing, art, presentation, and discussion on topics emanat- ing from the presentation. For more information about SEAcoast Entertainment Association and the remaining performances of their 2015-2016 concert series, visit www.SeacoastEA.org. Teens ride the Pharaoh’s Fury at a recent Rhododendron Festival, where Newton’s Laws of Motion reign supreme. W hat do bumper cars, Pharaoh’s Fury and roller coasters have in common? Physics! And, of course, they can all be found at amusement parks. Eighth grade science stu- dents recently finished up a unit where they applied their understanding of Newton’s Laws of Motion and the energy of motion through a variety of amuse- ment park ride simulations. First, students simulated pendulum rides, like Pharaoh’s Fury, which many have ridden during Rhody Days’ carnivals. Students performed two different tests on pendu- lums. One was to deter- mine whether or not string length made a difference on how fast a pendulum swings. The other was to determine whether or not additional mass made a difference on how fast a pendulum swings. Students concluded a shorter string (or rod) makes the pendulum swing faster, but that adding mass to the pen- dulum string did not have an effect on the pendulum’s swings. Next, students simu- lated bumper car rides COURTESY PHOTO by causing marble colli- sions at varying speeds Alexis Wells’ eighth grade students create roller coasters dur- and angles. ing a lesson on amusement park physics. Students demonstrated piece of track to another. Students designed their the conservation of Students realized during roller coasters to include an momentum by transferring initial hill, a loop and addi- the design and test phase momentum from one mar- that the initial hill had to be tional hill, while ensuring ble to another much like that their marble made it all the very tallest in order for bumper cars bumping into the marble to have enough the way to the end of the each other. potential energy to make it track. They observed how the along the entire length of Students made tracks marbles moved when hit at the track. using half pieces of foam different angles and While we couldn’t take a pipe insulation, which easi- inferred how their bodies might move if they were in ly twisted and bent to form field trip to an amusement loops and hills. park, students can’t wait a bumper car collision. for the Rhody Days carni- Some students added Finally, students used the val to see more physics in additional loops and even concepts of kinetic and action. —Submitted by created gaps where their potential energy to create Alexis Wells marble jumped from one marble run roller coasters. CYAN MAGENTA YELLoW BLACK P h ys i cs i n A ct io n SEAcoast brings “The New American” to 3 shows
