From Laser Zap to a Rube Goldberg machine
More than 200 high school students from Volusia and Flagler counties will gather at Daytona State College on Friday, April 7, to compete in the college’s annual Physics Olympics. This DSC tradition gives students the opportunity to apply the principles of physics they’ve learned in the classroom in competitive, fun and inventive ways.
Students will compete in multiple activities testing their knowledge of physics, engineering and mathematics – including bridge building, egg drop, constructing a coat-hook cannon, directing a laser beam around an obstacle (Laser Zap), a paper airplane pentathlon and building a Rube Goldberg machine, to name a few.
According to this year’s event organizer, Dr. Michael Olson, associate professor with the college’s School of Biological and Physical Sciences, “The Physics Olympics is a great opportunity for us to connect with area high school students in a competition that’s designed to strengthen the mind, to demonstrate physics in applied settings and, of course, to have fun.”
Activities will run from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. in the L. Gale Lemerand Center on DSC’s Daytona Beach Campus, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd.
With few exceptions, the Physics Olympics at Daytona State has been an annual event for over 20 years, challenging students’ physics knowledge and engineering skills. For more information, call (386) 506-3808 or email [email protected].
