Last Wednesday our CanSat team reported to the upper school on their experience at the European CanSat competition in Norway. They presented a Power Point explaining their mission and results from the launch. Additionally, they shared a video that outlines their competition experience. Please refer to the attached 11-minute video on the Flying Dutchcan CanSat team's competition in Norway!
AISR CanSat Mission Go! A big deal for AISR Flying Dutchcan Team!!!
02-11-2011
The AISR IB science team, The Flying Dutchcan, has entered the 2nd European CanSat competition organized by the European Space Agency (ESA)
in collaboration with the Norwegian Center for Space-related Education
(NAROM). They submitted a project proposal for the preliminary phase
of designing and building a can-size satellite which was accepted “out
of many excellent proposals” (www.cansat.eu ) along with thirteen other European teams.
Following
acceptance of their proposal, participants have six months to complete
the design, building, and testing of their CanSat. The AISR students
have decided to complete, in addition to the required primary mission
of collecting temperature and pressure readings, the secondary mission
of simultaneously measuring light intensity and altitude. By analyzing
their data the students plan to determine optimal altitude ranges for
urban rooftop gardening and for solar power collection. See the
abstract they submitted with their proposal for more detailed
information.
In April 2012 The Flying Dutchcan team will
travel to Norway to launch their CanSat to a height of 1 km in an
Intruder rocket. They will compete against numerous other European
high school student teams for a first place spot in the competition as
determined by their team work, community outreach efforts, and ability
to complete their missions. Check out the ESA CanSat website and click
on “Teams selected for the 2012 competition” to see our team listed
amongst the winners: www.cansat.eu
THE ABSTRACT
We will design a CanSat that, on descent, will measure temperature,
pressure, light intensity, and altitude. As society becomes more and
more urbanized there is the need to continue to build not only out but
also up. With the continued loss of agricultural and ground space,
innovative ways of using the rooftops of our buildings will be
employed. As societies move their gardening and perhaps solar power
sources up to the roof tops, the question will arise what the optimal
altitude will be. Since the CanSats are launched to an altitude of 1
km (currently the height of the world’s tallest building), it will be
beneficial to use the CanSat to determine optimal heights for
agriculture and solar power collection devices based on their need for
light intensity. An additional benefit of such data could be assessing
UV light irregularities at different global locations, indicating
breaches of the ozone later.
For younger space scientists - please look at:
Chemistry – our life, our future
At first glance, the year 2011 may sound like any other year. However, it is the year of huge celebrations for the world of chemistry. First of all, the 2011 is the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Madame Marie Curie – the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize – in recognition of her services to the advancement of chemistry by the discovery of the elements radium and polonium, by the isolation of radium and the study of the nature and compounds of this remarkable element. This alone is great opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women to science.
Secondly, the year 2011 is the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011); a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. We here at AISR have joined the celebrations. The goals of IYC2011 are to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, to encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry. Students in different ages have contributed to this celebration by different creative projects and displays.
Grade 7 participated with a collaborative Science and English project and created Element Baby Books about the discovery of various elements and MS Art with Mrs. van Leijden participated by designing posters. The Element Baby Books and the posters were displayed at AISR. HS Chemistry contributed with element presentations in class, creative video projects, personal projects and Questions and Answers project.
Chemistry is everywhere and so is the IYC 2011! Many companies, institutes, schools and individuals have joined the celebration by creating innovative products, programs and workshops. Spread the word, spread the knowledge – join us for the celebration!
Following
acceptance of their proposal, participants have six months to complete
the design, building, and testing of their CanSat. The AISR students
have decided to complete, in addition to the required primary mission
of collecting temperature and pressure readings, the secondary mission
of simultaneously measuring light intensity and altitude. By analyzing
their data the students plan to determine optimal altitude ranges for
urban rooftop gardening and for solar power collection. See the
abstract they submitted with their proposal for more detailed
information. 
