
XFYD is thrilled to announce the conclusion of its Physics class! This fun and informative class was taught by our extremely capable teachers Jacob Andal and Cristian Ishiki, and it would not be possible without a hard-working corps of volunteers.
Our class focused around fun hands-on activities and demonstrations to bring students an incredibly diverse introduction to all fields of physics.
Students crafted and fine-tuned a Balloon Racer Car, learning about the effects of Pressure and Newton’s Laws. Newton’s third law says that everything has an equal and opposite reaction. When the balloon blows out the air backward, its opposite reaction pushes the car forward. Our teachers added onto this class with a short demonstration of Aerodynamics, showing how planes fly due to differences in pressure above and below the plane.


Students then turned their focus into Sound with a Straw Pan Flute, learning about how the properties of an object affect Pitch. Because sound is caused by vibrations, objects of different sizes will vibrate at different speeds (frequencies) and have higher/lower pitch. Shorter straws will have higher energy and high pitch, while longer straws will have lower energy and lower pitch. Our teachers also demonstrated a homemade Voicepipe, showing students the propagation of sound through different mediums.

The class took a complete turn when we moved on to making Bristlebots, fun vibrating toys that vibrate when a current is passed through. Students learned about circuits, current, and energy transfer (electrical-kinetic), creating their very own take-home Bristlebot. Students learned that energy can only flow when it has a place to come from (the positive end) and a place to go (the negative end), so the motor only powers when both wires are connected to the motor. This closed circuit allowed energy to flow through the system, creating the vibrating Bristlebots.

Finally, the class turned their attention to Physical Propeties as they had their own Shrinky Dink demonstration. Students were able to design and draw their very own design on a Shrinky-Dink sheet. Then, after putting it in the Oven, students were surprised to discover how the Shrinky Dinks compressed and shrunk into a 3D shape! Shrinky dink paper is made from polystyrene, the plastic used in the sharp, clear, clam-like plastic containers. Polystyrene molecules are originally jumbled and disorganized, but in the manufacturing process, they are heated, straightened and flattened , and cooled. However, the molecules still want to return to their original, disorganized state. When reheated in high heat, they return to their original form and shrink.

Ultimately, none of this class would have been possible without the help of our Volunteeers and with our teachers’ careful planning. We hope all our students had fun learning the diverse areas of Physics with this class. This Physics Class is part of our STEM Camp, an overarching STEM Division Program that covers everything from Chemistry and Physics to Biology and Zoology.