Dr. Penrose's "Name It, Claim It": AP Physics Teacher Fred Souder
There are incredible lessons, projects, and opportunities for students throughout Lansing High School. To share these initiatives, Dr. Penrose sends an all-staff email with pictures of an assignment, project, or activity and titles it "Name It, Claim It." The teacher responsible then replies to all staff to briefly explain what the unit is, what they are doing, and any reactions. The email allows teachers to visit other teachers' classrooms virtually and start conversations about student learning, cross-curricular activities, and differentiation.
The November 20th "Name It, Claim It" highlighted AP Physics Teacher Fred Souder's lesson:
This is AP Physics 2, doing a unit on fluid dynamics.
Their problem was to determine how long it would take a tank to drain if a circular hole was punched in it.
Since the rate of flow out of the hole is dependent on the water height, they needed to set up a differential equation relating the change in volume at the top (area times an incremental change in height) to the change in volume out of the hole (flow rate times incremental change in time). They can then integrate both sides of this equation to solve for time.
It is remarkable that we have students who can tackle problems of this difficulty; kudos to the math department. In the past, in KC and Blue Valley, I have only seen students with these skills every few years at best.
STRATEGIC PLAN: Define a Successful Graduate - Prepare students for post-secondary success.