Academic Talent Search (ATS)

Every year during our Summer Science & Technology Day Program, students take part in a number of activities. This year, activities included a web design contest, a bottle rocket launch, a bridge building competition, and a model airplane competition.

	Web Page Students design their pages in the web design class. They base their page on the activities and topics covered during the program, as well as some of their personal interests. The web pages are then judged by our staff for design and content, and the best three are published here.

	Bottle Rockets Students are given a two-liter soda bottle, some cardboard, string, tape, and some plastic bags with which they construct a rocket with a parachute and a fly-away cone at the top. The rockets are partially filled with water, placed on a platform with a rubber stopper, and then filled with compressed are. The stopper is removed, the water and compressed air rush out, and the rocket is propelled upward. With any luck, the cone flies away, the parachute opens, and the rocket glides gently to the ground without tangling in any nearby trees. Rockets were judged on how long they stayed in the air.

	Bridge Building Students construct bridges out of balsa wood and glue. Bridges are tested by spanning them between to filing cabinets and then attaching a bucket and adding weights. The bridges are judged by their weight divided by the amount of weight (load) they can hold. The bridge with the smallest ratio wins.

	Model Airplanes Students construct model airplanes out of balsa wood and rubber bands. The airplanes are launched and judged by which plane flies the farthest.