Brennan Physics Students explore Engineering

Engineering and Brennan Physics

Representatives from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Windsor engaged grade 11 and grade 12 Physics students with an expose on Engineering, and a fun competition to build wind generators. 

The top result involved a design with 6 blades, and generated a voltage of 8.1 V.

Physics Rocks
Congratulations to all of our Brennan Physics students, who once again rocked the world of Physics!

Physics Class receives Presentation from U of W Physics

University of Windsor 'Physics' inspires Brennan Students

Tuesday, May 9, 2017 our grade 11 Physics cardinals benefited from a presentation by Dr. Rehse (Head of Physics at the University of Windsor) and Aaron, one of Dr. Rehse's graduate students.

Key Points

What is Physics - Sheldon?

Physics is a way of thinking that is highly valuable in our modern world. Critical thinking and problem solving are highly developed when studying physics.

Who should take high school Physics?

Dr. Rehse was very adamant about the fact that anyone who intends to study any science (biology, chemistry, physics or computer science), engineering, or math should take both 'University Preparation' Physics courses offered in high school (grades 11 and 12 Physics). He emphasized that every science and engineering student is required to take a full year physics course in first year - in every University (not just Windsor).

Those that do take both physics in high school have a strong advantage in first year physics.

He further stressed that high school students should set themselves up of success once they arrive at university, rather than just focusing on getting there.

Where are the jobs?

While Physics is an empowering field, many students who study physics acquire a wide range of high paying jobs. Their marketability is related to their ability to solve complex problems, work in teams and utilize the important skill of 'critical thinking'.

Physics Rocks

Aaron spoke about the need to persevere with good habits, while practicing excellence. He shared his journey as a student and a teaching assistant. 

Both Dr. Rehse and Aaron are effective communicators and obviously enjoy the environment at the University of Windsor.

Addendum

Before posting this blog, the students were asked what they would place in this blog. There suggestions were already included above however, there was 1 statistic that hadn't been included:

• 95% of physics graduates obtain a job within 1 year of graduation
• 98% of physics graduate students obtain a job within 1 year of their graduation.

Physics Rocks at the Engineering competition (U of W)

12 of our Physics students proudly represented Brennan at the annual Engineering competition at the University of Windsor.
One of our teams brought home silver; during the presentation to the judges, they made no attempt to suppress their exuberance at the design and construction of their device.

The game begins, the minds sync with one another...

The work begins:

The amazing cards who rock physics, present to the judges

And finally, the implementation - the pinnacle of the competition

This team hit their target with both live shots (they stood alone).

Engineering the Perfect Cookie

Grade 9 science students learning how chemistry has practical applications.
Not only did they engineer the perfect cookie they also got to eat them :)

Grade 12 Biology

Mrs. Brunone's Grade 12 biology class dissecting kidneys.

WELCOME to 2016/2107 SCIENCE

We are kicking off the new year with 2 teams that will be competing in the Great Lakes Science Olympiad hosted by the Faculty of Science at The University of Windsor on October 14th, 2016.
These teams are composed of 4-6 grade 12 students that will compete against other high schools in the area in all science disciplines: biology, chemistry, physics and robotics.

OUr teams did well however we did not finish in the top three.  Better luck next year Brennan. 

Physics Design Competition

High School Design Competition 2016

March 29, 2016

Ryan, Carly, Kassy, Devon

When we were first given our supplies in the morning, all of us were fairly overwhelmed- how were we supposed to make a car out of all of these parts? We did begin to put parts together, and our confidence grew. We didn't really think about brainstorming because we didn't see value in it- we just wanted to try as best we could making a car. Before lunch began, we had finished building our car, but we couldn't get it to move. Our group spent the majority of lunch attempting to fix it, but to no avail. We finally decided to rebuild our entire car even though we only had about 30 minutes left. We scaled our large, unstable 4-wheeled car into a thin, aerodynamic car with 3 wheels. This design was much more stable than the previous one, and consequently, the car actually moved! From our experiences at HSDC 2016, we learned the benefits of brainstorming, and that bigger isn’t always better. All of us enjoyed our time here, and we look forward to next year’s competition.

Physics Rocks! Good habits lead to success, bad habits lead to failure.

Group Members: Kevin, Liam, Dante, Ronan

Our task for this competition was to build a motorized car that could travel 25 ft with the highest possible velocity using the materials given to us.  We immediately determined that, to achieve the highest possible velocity, we would need to have the largest gear attached to the motor, immediately followed by a small gear.  We used a design with four wheels and the motor mounted at the back.  The battery was mounted at the front to better balance the design.  Another important aspect of our design was the usage of bevel gears, which change the direction of rotation from horizontal to vertical, allowing us to adequately spin the rear axle of our design, resulting is rear wheel drive.  The major drawback we faced was that the gears did not initially properly make contact and therefore the car did not move.  We solved this problem by using a spacer to keep the lowermost gear in place and therefore maintain proper contact.  We were ecstatic to see that our design was able to move just in time for the presentation. We then presented our design the the panel of judges, explaining the various engineering principles we applied in our design, as well as our car’s capacity for zombie defence!   Overall, we really enjoyed the day, being able to experiment and toy around with various designs as well as to work as a team to overcome challenges.  Although towards the end we were incredibly doubtful that our design would move, we managed to persevere with a car that we are truly proud of.  

  

Group: Tomasz, Josh, Max, Justin

Great work by all our students. You make us proud to be Cardinals! CHIRP!!!

A special thank you to Mr. Latouf and his Grade 11 and 12 Physics classes