Roller Coaster
by Curt Wyman
|
|
Austin High School Curt Wyman Student Teacher Fall, 2005 Parents of 2nd Period Physics Students Dear Parent, I am a student teacher from the University of Texas and I will be
teaching you child’s physics course for the second six week period this fall. I am honored to have the privilege to
teach your child. I will do my
very best to assure that he or she receives a good foundation in the physics
basics that are taught during this time. If you need to reach me for any reason, you can call me at school at
777-7777 or at home in the evenings and on weekends at 888-8888. Please don’t call after 10:00pm. You can reach me by email at CWyman@austin.rr.com. The school office has these numbers.
During this six week period, the students will build a model roller
coaster working in teams of three.
Roller coasters provide excellent examples of applications of the
physics laws of motion concepts that we will be studying. Friday’s class period will be devoted to project work, but there
will also be a substantial amount of out of class work required for this
project. It is hoped that they
can work during study halls and after school, but some evening or weekend
work may be required. There will be weekly milestone requirements for the project. If the students get behind in their
project work, the out of class time can become overbearing and
stressful. It would be helpful
if you could check on progress to help me help them stay on schedule. Each student will be required to buy a bound or spiral notebook with
8.5 x 11 inch quadruled paper (graph paper) for the project. A sponsor has donated $100 per
student team for the roller coaster materials. That should be plenty, but it’s possible that your child
may decide to spend more. Please
discuss a budget for this with them. This project culminates in a competition in which one team will be
chosen to travel to California to represent Austin High in a national
competition. I hope your child
is on the winning team! About
half of the cost of the trip will be paid for by sponsors. Parents of the winners may have to
pay up to $500 for the trip.
When the time comes, if your child has won and this is a problem, let me
know and we will see about additional sponsor money. The grade for the project will include the performance of the roller
coaster model during the competition and a written report and
presentation. These grades for
the project will count for fifty percent of their grade for the second six
weeks. The balance of the grade
will be from the homework, the weekly tests, and classroom participation. A four page summary of the project schedule and requirements is
attached. Please review these with your child and sign below so that I know
that you have seen this letter and the summary material. Thank you for
your time and interest. Sincerely, Curt Wyman Physics Teacher ________________________________________________________ (please detach and return by your child) I have read and understand the requirements of the Designing a
Roller Coaster project. Student's Name: (please print)_______________________________ Student's Signature _____________________ Date ______________ Parent's Name: (please print)________________________________ Parent's Signature _______________________ Date _____________ |
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
|
