UBC PHYSICS OLYMPICS competitors from Caledonia Sr.
Secondary School were 2nd place winners (out of 56 teams) in
the March 16 competition. .

Caledonia Senior Secondary

students placed second overall in

this year’s Physics Olympics.
Fifty-six high school teams from
throughout the province took part
in the competition. It has been
sponsored since 1977 by the UBC
Physics Department and the Math
and Science Department of the
Faculty of Education.

Caledonia’s team of Nicole Colli-

son, Bob Cuddeford, Bao-Lanh

Diep, Jason Krause, Scott Loptson,
Jason McPhie, Roy Preyser, David
Shepherd, and David Wolfe
handled the seven events compet-
ently and creatively, according to
teacher-sponsor Allen Wootton.
The seven events were Fermi
Questions, Mystery Event, Optical
Maze, Electrical Black Box, Intu-
itive Problems, Mousetrap Bull-
dozer, and Paper Glider Challenge.
They placed first in the Fermi
Questions and third in the Paper
Glider Challenge and the Black
Box competition.

The Fermi Questions evolved
from physicist Enrico Fermi’s
fondness of questions for which

there is an answer, but ihe answer
is. difficult to measure. Typical
questions include; What thickness
of rubber is worm from a tire each
time it goes around? How much
skin area covers the body?

The Mystery Event involved
measuring an unknown mass with
a very limited amount of equip-
ment, The students had twenty
minutes to decide on a tactic and
calculate the results. .

In the Optical Maze, the students
had to hit four targets simulta-
neously with a laser beam. They
used optical devices like mirrors,
prisms, and lenses to direct the
beam at the four targets. Scoring
was based on accuracy of aim and
use of the minimum number of
optical devices.

The Electrical Black Box con-
tained a switch and resistors. These
components were connected to
four terminals on the outside of the
box. By measuring the resistance
between the terminals, the students
determined the way the resistors
were connected inside and whether
the switch was on or off.

The Intuitive Questions included
this one; Three 5 kg balls (A, B &
C) are each hit with a mallet, Balt
B is hit with a 5 kg mallet at
velocity V. Ball A is hit with a 2.5
kg matlet swinging with a velocity
of 2V. Ball C is hit with a 10 kg
mallet swinging at a velocity of
v/2. Can YOU. determine which
ball rolls the fastest, or do they alt
rol! at the same speed? -

‘The object of the Mousetrap
Bulldozer contest was to make a

Physics Olympics, Terrace places 2nd

‘bulldozer (powered by only a

Standard mousetrap) that would
push a skid loaded with mass as
far as possible. The bulldozer was
made prior to the competition.

The Paper Glider Challenge
involved releasing a paper glider at
rest from a ramp. The glider had
to fly two metres and hit a wall as
high as possible.

For more information on Physics |
Olympics, contact Allen Wootton,
Caledonia Senior Secondary at
635-6531.

pick their best seedling,"

Terrace Review — Wednesday, April 24, 1991 C5

Women in Timber are
educating themselves |
— and others

by Stephanie Wiebe |

This year’s Science Fair features

three new contests, sponsored by
the local branch of Canadian
Women in Timber. Diane Smith,
from C'WIT’s education committee,
says the contests are designed to
encourage students to learn about
forestry. "We're educating
ourselves and others, s0 we can all
make wise decisions about our
forestry resources."

The Tree-Growing contest for
Year One through Four classes (K-
Gr. 3) has sixty four classes
entered. Each student received a
tree growing kit from the Ministry
of Forests, and students planted
their Lodgepole Pine seeds in late
January. "Each class is going to
Says
Smith. A written record of the

The Tree Aging contest is for
Intermediate Years One through

Four (Gr. 4-7). The tree "cookies"

or slices of tree trunks will provide
quite a challenge, as students
determine the age of the tree by
counting the rings. "Looking at a
tree trunk is like looking at the
whole life history of the tree," says
Smith. "We have a short growing
season here, so the / Tings are
small."

A Scale Model contest is aimed
at Secondary students, and includes
a category for parent-child co-
operative entries. Smith says, "This
is the creative one." Using wood
and wood products, entries will be
scale models of logging or other
forestry practises,

. Judges for all three contests will

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TREE XPERIMENTS ~ Do THEY TRAUMATIZE OUR YOUNG >

—"

From fibre optics co
to satellite communications... vik
were meeting tomorrow. Ss
telecommunication
challenges.

- BCTel

IZ

1891-1991