SAFELY LAND THE PACKAGE!
Engineers and geoscientists play an important part in protecting the public, including designing items to be used in natural disasters. There can be times when first responders cannot reach people by land to deliver food, water, or medicine, and instead they need to drop it from the air. Engineers design the package delivery systems to make sure that things arrive safely and aren’t damaged in the process. They have to think about forces like gravity, wind, air resistance and drag.
YOUR MISSION:
Create a parachute that will safely deliver a package from a height of 2m. Your package should have an open top and land upright without having the contents spill out.
GUIDELINES:
Create a video showcasing the design and function of your package parachute. Tell us about what obstacles you faced when you began building and how you improved your design and overcame these obstacles. This shows us your design thinking skills.
Upload this video to YouTube and email the link to stem@apegnb.com with the subject line: Package Parachute. In the email include the link to the video, as well as your name, age, and school.
You should use objects you can find around the house to create your parachute (some examples are below).
We recommend that the distance between the parachute and your cup or box is no longer than 20cm. The contents of your package should be light, like a ping pong ball or marshmallow.
EXAMPLE MATERIALS:
You can use these or any other types of paper and tape you find around your house to work with
- Paper cup
- Cardboard
- Straws
- Elastics
- String
- Plastic bags
- Scrap Fabric
- Tape