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PHS Participates in Solar Cup
The Rocket Project Final Portfolio Assessment “How I Learned to Stop Fearing the Unknown and Embrace a Challenge” By Reece Talley, PHS Faculty Member
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or the third year in a row, on May 13-15 at Lake Skinner, Providence High School students, led by faculty member Jeff Kubasak, participated in the 14th annual Solar Cup, which is sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
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n late April all of the 11th grade students were handed a huge challenge: to re-enact the Space Race albeit in a greatly simplified form. This is the 23rd year for the project and as usual, the classes rose to the challenge. Students formed engineering cells and then drafted formal engineering proposals complete with operational designs, financial plans, and work assignments. They then set about designing and building model rockets that would meet the proposed goals. Some chose to build multi-staged rockets such as NASA used for the moon shots, others chose to design multi-engine clusters, while others worked on boosted gliders and attempts at breaking the sound barrier. After weeks of blood, sweat, and more than a few tears, they traveled out before dawn to El Mirage Dry Lake Recreation area just north of Lake Los Angeles to flight test their designs.
Providence was among 38 teams participating in the six-county, 5,200 square-mile service area, which includes Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura counties. The Solar Cup is a year long program in which students build, equip and race 16-foot, single-seat boats powered only by the sun. The Solar Cup Program allows students to apply their skills in math, physics, engineering and communications, while learning about Southern California’s water resources, resource management, conservation, and alternative energy development. Each team constructs a 16-foot boat outfitted with a solarcollection panel. The teams compete in endurance races around a 1.6 kilometer course in the morning and afternoon on the second day of the event. On the final day, the boats’ solar panels are removed. The boats compete in 200-meter sprint races powered by solar energy stored in batteries.
Amid screams of joy, wows of wonderment, and some oohs related to CATOs (catastrophic failures in rocket jargon), a whole lot of practical learning took place. Every student out there was amazed that they were able to do what they did. Making the day especially enjoyable was that we were joined by a regionally recognized team of girls from Notre Dame Academy and their teacher Dr. Kathy Griffis. The NDA girls had just returned from the national T.A.R.C. rocketry competition. For our launch, the girls built a rocket with a strap on pen camera that captured the launch from a rocket’s eye view. It was pretty amazing.
“I am just so incredibly proud of the amazing amount of work both [Jeff] and the kids put in. It was a wonderful weekend,” reflected Susan Beckenham, Providence High School’s Technology Focus Program Director.
What makes it all the more so was the fact that PHS had done the same thing back in the 90’s, only with a super 8 movie camera and film! It just goes to show you how much technology has evolved. Pioneer Connections
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