Mrs. Katelin Ellis, Science, decided to stray from the typical classroom atmosphere. Looking for something fun and creative to do with her Physics I class, Mrs. Ellis decided to take her class to the pool to test out the true theories of physics.

“They have seven class periods to build, design and test. So the idea was to take what they’re learning and apply it to some real-life concepts. Physics to them is not just plugging in math numbers and calculations, they’ve seen what they tried to do and they tested it, and now they’re realizing that maybe they’re not so good in their physics as they thought they were,” Mrs. Ellis said.

The boats that the students created were made purely out of cardboard and were supposed to be designed well enough to hold the weight of two students, as well as make it down the length of the pool. Some students were successful, but others realized that their idea of physics was not quite the same as their fellow students.

“I thought it was really fun, and I liked it a lot better than doing other class work like worksheets. I learned that more cardboard makes the boat more buoyant,” Sandra Gianetta (11) said.

Many students found Mrs. Ellis’s matrix period enjoyable because it was a change from the usual study hall-based matrix hours that most other classes consist of.

“The whole idea behind the matrix planning period is to do an enrichment sort of project, so we only did this during matrix time, the building of the boats,” Mrs. Ellis said.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Austin Ruthrauff (11) is one of the lifeguards for Mrs. Ellis’s class project. Mrs. Ellis’s class lined up in lanes to get ready to launch their cardboard boats.