Activities/Field Trips

Activities

Fossil Hunting
Submitted by Kenneth Poppe

Last summer I took a small group of MESA kids to this small “mom and pop” fossil quarry in western Wyoming. Their land borders the famed “fossil Butte National Monument” in the legendary geologic formation called the Green River Basin. There are three other commercial fossil operations bordering the monument where the general public can fossil hunt, but the others are much more restrictive in where you can look, how much you can explore, and what you can keep. Also, they are about three times as expensive to hunt in their quarries that I would call “picked over.”

The Putnam’s operation is only four years old, highly personalized, and very encouraging and educational with school-age kids. We had a fantastic experience there, with everyone bringing home samples that were easily priced at over $100 in commercial stores. George and Leanna also provided scientific handouts on common species found in the 50-55 million year old strata of their ranch, as well as preservation and display techniques to turn your samples into showroom exhibits. Very cool! Contact Kenneth Poppe: Poppe_Kenneth@stvrain.k12.co.us

Cardboard Boat
Submitted by Ben Brown, Loveland High School

Recently my club did an event that was a lot of fun and I wanted to share it with you and other advisors. We made cardboard boats. They were made out of cardboard and duct tape and had to be human powered by the person in the boat. We reserved the swimming pool and the goal was to go as far as you could before sinking. Prior to the event we got sponsors to pledge money for every meter that the boat would go (25 meter max.) and the kids were able to get quite a few sponsors.

About a month before the event I went to the appliance store and brought in cardboard and went to Sam's Club to buy duct tape. I bought old electric knifes at used type stores to cut the cardboard. The students broke into teams of 3-5 and began designing and building at MESA meetings. Some worked extra days after school. They named and decorated their boats.

When it was time for the big day we had a lifeguard on hand and notified the school television crew and they filmed and interviewed the MESA kids. It was a lot of fun to see them on TV yesterday. Some boats made it about 15 meters, one they could not stay on and one could go forever. It was a lot of fun and I would be glad to add info. If anyone is interested, we are thinking of trying cardboard sleds next year

Colorado Bridge Building Competition

The annual Model Bridge Building Contest is a statewide program aimed at providing interaction and communication among practicing engineers, high school students, and other professionals. Its underlying objectives are to enhance the appeal of engineering careers to high school students, begin establishing their relationships with the professional community, and improve the prospects that such careers will be mutually beneficial to both society and the individual. Click here for more information >>

Science Bowl

Competition overview, rules, scoring procedure, dates, times and practice questions.

Bridge Building Software
Software from West Point

Click here for more information >>

University of Colorado Solar Decathlon

The Solar Decathlon is an intercollegiate competition to design, build and operate a home powered completely by solar energy. Click here for more information >>

Field Trips