
Thanks
to
a
grant
from
Toshiba,
students
in
Michael
Stewart's
physics
class
at
Unity
Reed
High
School
will
have
access
to
wireless,
accurate,
and
easy-to-use
technologies
that
will
open
new
opportunities
for
learning
about
science,
and
physics
in
particular.
Stewart
teaches
physics,
chemistry,
biology,
and
earth
sciences
at
Unity
Reed
High.
His
Toshiba
American
Foundation
award
will
provide
$5,000
to
upgrade
the
school's
physics
lab
with
tools
and
equipment
that
will
help
create
tangible,
accessible,
and
engaging
lessons
on
things
such
as
energy,
motion,
and
force.
Stewart
is
certain
that
having
access
to
reliable
technology
will
open
doors
for
student
invention,
help
bridge
gaps
in
student
understanding,
and
broaden
the
appeal
of
physics
to
commonly
under-represented
groups
of
students,
including
women
and
minorities.
His
aim
is
to
change
the
image
of
physics
as
abstract,
hard
to
understand,
and
unavailable
to
those
who
don't
fit
the
current
scientific
model.
He
looks
forward
to
incorporating
inquiry-based,
student-centered
projects
to
his
physics
unit
that
let
students
be
creative,
test
theories,
and
apply
course
concepts
in
new
ways.
By
the
end
of
October,
Stewart
anticipates
delivery
of
64
pounds
of
technology;
equipment
with
names
such
as
pully
attachment,
force
plate,
thermocouple,
and
encoder
fan
cart.
Each
item
connects
by
Bluetooth
to
the
student's
laptops.
"It's
literally
a
fan
on
a
cart,"
says
Stewart,
in
explaining
how
the
encoder
fan
cart
works.
"We
can
do
things
to
impact
what
it
does
by
changing
speed,
using
weights
that,
depending
how
heavy,
will
change
the
momentum.
We
can
impact
friction
by
moving
it
across
different
surfaces.
For
a
lesson
in
energy,
I
am
having
students
build
mouse
trap
cars,
which
harnesses
the
energy
of
a
mouse
trap
to
propel
a
student-made
car.
In
subsequent
units,
such
as
rotational
motion
or
rigid
systems,
students
will
adapt
their
cars
to
maximize
some
factor,
such
as
acceleration
or
torque."
With
the
equipment
order
submitted
this
week,
Stewart
organized
a
celebration
that
brought
Superintendent
of
Schools
Dr.
LaTanya
D.
McDade,
Principal
Richard
Nichols,
and
other
science
educators
to
his
classroom,
where
they
joined
students
in
a
ceremony
and
discussion
about
how
setting
career
goals
and
focusing
on
your
education
will
help
you
achieve
big
dreams.
Stewart
hopes
to
maximize
the
kinds
of
learning
and
leadership
opportunities
available
to
students.
In
a
letter
he
wrote
and
read
to
them
during
the
ceremony,
he
encouraged
them
to
take
all
they
can
from
this
to
expand
their
learning;
to
turn
every
challenge
into
an
opportunity.
In
her
message
of
congratulations,
Dr.
McDade
echoed
his
words.
"This
is
a
huge
opportunity.
It
is
an
honor.
I
hope
that
you
learn
everything
that
you
can,
take
everything
away
from
this
experience.
I
do
not
know
where
I
would
be
today,
had
I
not
gotten
the
kind
of
education
that
prepared
me
to
live
out
my
own
dreams
and
aspirations.
I
hope
that
you
see
in
me
the
example
of
what
you
can
do
with
an
education
in
the
future."