Coyotes, May 4

What do Ms. Jessie's baby shower and potato cannons have in common? Why, May the 4th, that's what! Thank you for celebrating Jessie's baby with us!

The potato cannon brought on another level of projectiles; those powered with combustion. Without explicitly writing down the math or the physics, your Coyote learned a lot through trouble shooting and discussions! Ask your Coyote the following questions to see what they gleaned!

• what angle is best for shooting far? What angle is best for shooting high?

• how was the combustion chamber sealed at both ends? (where we put the gas)

• what gas did we use? what was the 'heat source' that set it off?

• what can we do if the potato won't launch? what might be going wrong? (think 'leaks', and heat)

• with time, were we able to predict where the potato would go? how, or why not?

There are a few questions that came up that would be good for us to research!

• how did the BBQ lighter work without 'power'? Note: the lighter was attached to the outside of the cannon by wrapping the stripped end of each wire to a screw head. The screws were screwed and glued into the pipe of the combustion chamber, on either side, and almost met in the middle on the inside (there was a small gap where we saw the spark leap across).

• what were the pipes attached with?

• would it work if the pipes were shorter?

• did the potato have to pushed down to right next to the combustion chamber for it to work?

There was also playdough making, beading, and a weaving with a y-shaped stick, which we hope to continue next week. Happy researching!