Engineering students propel spheres

The students were slingshotting spheres down the length of the 400 hallway as the teacher was heard egging them on. Each small group chanted and cheered as their “team” shot further and further.

Dr. Jacob Day’s first period, concepts of engineering, shot trebuchets Feb. 11.

“The kids assembled them from kits I had ordered as part of the curriculum,” Day said. “It took them three days to finish. We had started off learning the history and where they had originated.”

Research was an important part according to Day, without the knowledge of the machine students would not have understood why they were building them.

“We wanted to test out the accuracy of where the ball went,” freshman Ethan Lindsay said.

This project allowed students to work together and create a team mentality that would help with their success.

“We had been assigned into groups of three at random,” freshman Shain Brown said. “It was easy to work with everyone for the most part. We had a manual, but some of us wanted to find our own way to do it. My partner Blake Fleece wanted to redo it and build it in his own way.”

Day’s objective for his class is to provide students with an overview of engineering. His students are supposed to end the year with an idea of what engineering is and whether or not they would like to pursue it as a career.

“I enjoy working with engineering although the groups are sometimes difficult,” Brown said. “I always learn something new.”