Huntington High School Advanced Placement Physics students didn’t want to let the remains of a good snow storm go to waste, so the teenagers went sledding all in the name of classroom education.
The two AP classes enjoyed the great outdoors on consecutive days so that both cohorts could partake in the fun learning experience. It was all done in the name of science according to one of the participants.
Veteran teacher Stacey Byrnes brought her classes outside for and anything but typical lab experience. The teenagers gathered at the top of a hill near the Coach Cuppernull tennis court complex and that’s when the lesson and the fun began in earnest.
Students were remarkably engaged in the session, which participants will always remember. The teenagers welcomed the hands-on learning opportunity.
“I think the lab manages to cover almost every topic we have studied up to this point in the curriculum,” Ms. Byrnes said. “We’re not letting COVID-19 take the fun out of learning. It was a low friction day on the mountain and our potential energy converted into kinetic energy perfectly. The velocity they picked up at the bottom of the hill put smiles on the faces of all my students. It was definitely a physics lesson that none of my students will soon forget.”
Students were required to make all sorts of calculations, write equations and theorems, compare the co-efficient of kinetic friction and engage in plenty of other higher end mathematical and scientific exercises and conclusions.
A fan of labs that incorporate hands-on learning, Ms. Byrnes graduated Rutgers University (Cook College and the College of Engineering) with a five year dual Bachelor of Science degree in environmental engineering. She worked as an engineer and received a Professional Engineering license in civil engineering before returning to school for Master of Education degree at Dowling College, which she earned in 2002. She has been working at Huntington High School ever since.
