Are you a pain-crazed thrill seeker? Well, Bungee Jump-ing is a great way for a breathtaking experience! To have the most miraculous exploit in your life, you want this jump to go as low as possible. However, to go as low as possible, you want to be guarded as well. In accelerated algebra classes, we are doing a project that involves bungee jumping. In this project, students will find out how long their bungee cord should be to make the most exciting, yet secure, bungee jumping adventure, and testing their cords by using… Barbie dolls as their subjects. In Mr. Smith’s and Ms. Daniel’s classes, students were divided into six groups, each having their own materials to begin the project. The materials required were rubber bands, Barbie dolls, and a meter stick. First, we measured the height of the Bar-bie with a certain amount of rubber bands, and then tested it with the meter stick numerous times. Using what we learned, we re-cord the data to make a mathematical equation. Using the equa-tion, we made a graph to represent the data. Once we had our graph, we found out how many rubber bands we need for the bungee cord, making sure that Barbie did not hit her head on the way down. After a few days of experimenting, we finally analyzed which group’s cord could go the furthest down without touching the ground. In Mr. Smith’s class, we went outside and taped me-ter sticks to the outside of the gym wall. Here, we were able to see the distance of Barbie’s fall. The following people: Ryan You, Nina Nguyen, and Andy Tran won the first test. Their Barbie jumped to 105 cm above the ground. Jaylam Thach, Kaitlyn Thach, and Fatema Hossain won the re-test. Their Barbie fell to 15 cm off the ground. In Ms .Daniel’s class, they tested from the gym rafters. Alpha Mai, Kenny Mai, Nhien Deinh, Grace Bless-inger, and Semara Harris won their test. Their Barbie’s height was 4.7 cm from the ground. To sum it all up, we used different techniques and meth-ods, which led us to having different results. How many rubber bands do you think the winning groups had?

Bungee Barbie: An Accelerated Algebra Project

By: Angelica Le & Celia Gisone

I N S I D E

T H I S I S S U E :

Bungee

Barbie

1

The Camden

Harvest

Festival

2

To the

Planetarium!

2

Phifer Press D E C E M B E R V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

D A T E S T O

R E M E M B E R :

• December 13th:

Parent/Teacher

Conferences

(6-8 PM)

• December 19th:

Band/Chorus

Concert (6-8)

• December 20-

21st: Half Days

• Decmber 22–

January 1st:

Winter Break

P A G E 2

“Education is not the

filling of a pail, but the

lighting of a fire.”

- William Yeats

To the Planetarium!

The Camden Harvest Festival

On the evening of November 21, 2018, Ms. Lawrence, a teacher at Howard M. Phifer Middle School, and a group of student volunteers from Homeroom R10 went to Camden, NJ to help assist with a harvest festival. The harvest festival provides Camden residents with a nutri-tious dinner for their families. To receive a nutritious dinner you need to provide your ID and reg-istration as proof that you are a resident of Camden. Ms. Lawrence and the student volunteers were of great help in making sure the harvest festal ran smoothly. The volunteers received a cer-tificate for their service in providing a healthy meal. Additionally, the volunteers were gifted a Thanksgiving basket to enjoy with their own families. All in all, the camden harvest festival was a

On Tuesday, October 23rd and Thursday, October 25th, the 6th grade class went to the Edelman Planetarium at Rowan University. Once we arrived at Rowan University, we took a tour of the college and then went to see a show in the planetarium.

During the tour we visited the Recreation Center and the Chamberlain Student Center. In the Recreation Center we saw the workout gym, basketball court, indoor track, and have a room where you can racquetball or volleyball. For sports, Rowan has three different levels. If you are one of the top athletes, then you play for the teams you see on television. The other teams are just for fun. Inside the Chamberlain Student Center the students can sit down and do their home-work, grab a bite to eat, or just sit and talk with other students.

At the Chamberlain Student Center, Rowan’s Ambassadors (our tour guides) were very detailed on how to order food. Instead of leaving your dorm, walking to the cafeteria, selecting your food, waiting for it to be prepared, you can simply download an app and order what you want. The app will tell you when the food is ready so you can head over to the Student Center to pick it up. Another fun feature is that one day a week the students can go the the Student Center and watch a movie right before it comes out in theaters. And they provide popcorn, too! All of the activities at Rowan University comes with your paid tuition.

When we finished our tour of Rowan University we then went to the Edelman Planetar-ium. Once we were seated comfortably in our seats, they opened the show with a little entertain-ing clip starting cartoon planets. Next, we took a ride on a virtual roller coaster. It made you feel like you were really on it. Then they were talking about the different planets. We learned that you could not stand on Saturn's rings and that the planet itself was made up of gas, too. We also learned that the sun isn’t the biggest star. There are much, much larger stars out there. They then asked us questions about the planets and stars, which led to final planetary show about planet Earth. The planetarium was very entertaining and educational.

By: Christina Lisboa

By: Mary Bull