Basic CO2 Dragster Designs

"Doanster" named for the infamous Tech Teacher Sub Mr. Doane
who was an creator or the rounded CO2 Cartridge area.

Front Shell

7th Grade Calendar ~ 4th Quarter

Technology Department's New Hydroponic System

AeroFlow 60 ~ Aeroponic/Hydroponic System

The new system was purchased and donated by the

2016/2017 Ray Middle School's Yearbook Club

Thank you to Ms. Kerr, Mrs. Klasen & the Yearbook Club!

Techponics Club members Anna, Logan, Riley and Ayla displaying the

beautiful heads of hydroponic lettuce grown with the AeroFlow 60 "Aeroponics" system.

D.S. RAY MIDDLE SCHOOL - Technology Lab

The Top 100 Fastest CO2 Cars

Updated on June 20th ~ 2018

Coolest CO2 Car Designs 2014/15 (thus far!)

Who in the 1st Quarter classes will be added to this video?

Baker/Durgee Garden Club operating the BONZAI Hydroponic System

Cuting the Top View with the Band Saw

Here is a video of a top view of a CO2 Car being cut with a band saw. This is proof why it was important to have drawn the SIXTH STEP before you started to draw the side & top view of your car design.

Griffin Seifritz is the D.S. Ray Middle School ALL TIME RACE CHAMPION!

Griffin Seifritz's Forked Side Slot CO2 Car (22.1 grams) broke the ALL TIME RACE TIME RECORD held by Jason Brower since June 2010.

Students Design & Race Maglev Train Systems made from Legos

What is Technology Education?

Technology education is the study of the human-made world. We teach the process of designing and engineering solutions where students learn in a hands-on/minds-on environment of invention and innovation. 
From the New York State Technology & Engineering Educators' Association ~ NYSTEEA (Fall 2013)

Technology in the News (Weekly Assignment)

At the end of each week each student must locate, read and write about a news article that relates to a technology. The news article can come from the following: newspapers, magazines, or from the Internet. The general idea is to find an article that is about a machine, tool or device that either has a positive or negative effect on humans. The student must document where the article came from (name of newspaper, magazine or web site), list the title of the article and then write a brief description of the article that is at least four sentences (one paragraph).

Students will be paid $10 "Tech Bucks" for an article that is about a technology related topic from either the internet or newspaper/magazine print media and $15 for an article that is about local ~ NY State ~ technology related topics (from either the internet or print media). Students can do EXTRA tech articles. They will be paid $10 per for an local (NY State) technology related article and the write up and $5 for any other technology related article. The write ups must be done on regular lined paper that is stapled to the article printout or clipping.

There is also a bonus "Going Beyond ~ What's the Argument About?" opportunity for 7th Grade Technology Students! They must find an article that lists the author's name AND they must complete a series of questions (see the examples below) on what they thought was the author's  argument claim in the specific article. We are looking for an understanding of what the author is trying to inform the reader. If the student successfully completes this, we pay them $10 extra! 

Sample of what can be written for the "Going Beyond"

Recommended web site links that are good sources for "Tech Articles"
• CNN.com
• Time for Kids
• Boston.com Technology
• How Stuff Works
• Popular Science
• New York Times Technology
• Yahoo Technology News

What NOT to use as a "Tech in the News" article:
• No articles shorter than four paragraphs.
• No advertisements! If it has the cost of a device... it's an advertisement
• No Public Service Announcements about a technical or engineering organization meetings.
• Make sure that the articles is related to technology (Machine, tool or device); not about animals or stars.

System Diagram for Technology

One of the cores of our standards in Technology Education in the Middle School is teaching the students how to solve technical problems using a basic system diagram. A systematic flow chart approach to solving problems is a method that is used by many engineers and systems operators. The students explore the elements of the System Diagram for Technology through a PowerPoint slide show.

They will then apply what they have learned by developing five Input Statements regarding their CO2 Car System. They will go through all the Process steps involved with the creation of their car. We require that they list and name all of the tools, machines and materials/resources needed to finish their project. The actual results or Output of their car are constantly monitored by a variety of methods and devices. The students use triple beam balances, a wind tunnel and will get race time feedback from a computer control race track, The Rupracht Raceway. Lastly, the students will be required to assess their CO2 Car's results and compare them with their desired results/input and be able to express how, if given a chance, they could adjust or make their car better, thus matching their desired results!

Our new Aquaponic System

Mr. Lepine spent two days of Aquaponic Training at AQUA VITA FARMS
http://www.aquavitafarms.com/index.php

We purchased our Aquaponic System from CROP KING Inc.
http://www.cropking.com/aquaponics.shtml

We got our Tilapia fish came from SUNY Cobleskill
http://www.cobleskill.edu/academics/schools/agriculture-and-natural-resources/fisheries-wildlife/fisheries-and-aquaculture/Aquaponics-Project.asp


The Informational Signage along the Aquaponic Growing Bed was designed and produced by SUNY Oswego Student Teacher Miss Erica Querns (Spring 2013)
http://www.oswego.edu/academics/majors_list/technologyeducation.html

GoPro camera goes into the fish tank!

Hello Tilapia ~ Up Close and Personal!

Ryan Brown displays his CO2 Car Design

0.019 seconds from a Record Breaking Race Time!

Student Will Grindle speaks about his car design

Students learning on their own!

Technology students use the instructional videos to
learn at their own pace. Mr. Lepine & Ms. Wallace produce these instructional digital videos using "iMovie" on the iMac computers.

All about Hydroponic Bonzai Wheel System

Check out our baby Australian Red Clawed Crawdads

We're raising "Australian Redclawed Crawdads!

This year we are raising "Australian Red Clawed Crawdads" to be part of our Aquaponic System. They are certainly interesting creatures... very combative and we had to put in short sections of PVC pipes to protect them from each other!

Katie Herbs & Loretta DeCook tending the Bonzai Wheel (Hydroponic Lettuce)

The New LEGO High Speed Rail Track & Train

Connor's High Speed Rail Train made from Legos

Local Automotive Shop (Hudson & Mowins) PV Cells

Strawberry Fields - Hydroponic Strawberry Farm

The "Hydroponic/Aquaponic" team purchased one of Doug Eldred's
Hydroponic Systems for our Technology Lab. He explains how this
system works and how successful using hydroponics is with growing Strawberries.

Social Studies & Technology Collaborate

Greatest CO2 Car Crashes of the 3rd Quarter

Connor Ross & Nate Slade's CO2 Car

Below is footage from a couple of years ago that I just discovered! During the 2010~11 school year, Nate Slade & Connor Ross joined together to make a CO2 Car. They bought the block with their extra "Tech Money" and came in during their study halls to create a "Top 20" car. After this video was shot, Nate actually made another car of which is now #2 on the All Time List... just behind our Grand Champion, Jayson Brower!

Mr. Jon Clayson (Pioneer High School ~ Agricultural Education)
explains how the system works

Weighing the Tilapia

Commercial from our Techponics Club

Solar Lego Car in Motion!

Assembly of the Lego Maglev Track

Lego Activites - Solar Car & Maglev

Our "Solar Lego Vehicle"project has proven to be a very fun, but a very challenging activity for most students. In this activity, the students work in teams of two and must explore the area of solar electricity. With the use of photovoltaic solar panels and the Lego Simple Machine kits, the students will construct a very basic electric car. They then will peform a series of experiments on the trade off between a regular electric D.C. motor that is in their Simple Machine kit and the "geared down" solar electric D.C. motor.

The remainder of the six day long activity the team will design and construct a functional solar car using the Lego Simple Machine Kit, Solar Motor, and the Photovoltiac Panel. By the sixth day the car must be able to travel down the track under the 6 flood lamps on a low light condition (Dusk/Dawn setting) to receive full credit.

Here are some cool Solar Electricity and Solar Car Websites:

• Solar Power
• History of Solar Cars
• Wikipedia ~ All about Solar Cars
• Evergreen Electric Vehicles
• ZAP Electric Cars on the Today Show!
  

This past school year a new activity, LEGO MAGLEV, was introduced to our Technology Students! We have designed and created a totally new and original Maglev Track that has two rows of very powerful ceramic magnets which are located on either side of a track made up of Lego Bricks. Our students are really enjoying the Lego Maglev activity and have found it both fun and challenging. We currently in the process of completing the fifty foot track that we have placed in the middle of our existing CO2 Track. We are more than halfway finished with this and look to complete the track before the end of the 2nd Quarter. This will allow the students to race their Maglev trains at full speed for a long distance.

This new project was first supported by a grant from McDonald's® Restaurants via a 2007 Mac Grant. This grant was made possible by the MacDonald's Operators Association of Central New York and Northern Pennsylvania. We would like to thank McDonald's for providing the students of Ray Middle School with a new and exciting project!

Thank you to Ray Middle School PTA for providing the funds to begin the construction of our 50' Lego Maglev Track. Another big thank you goes out to the NYSTEA (New York State Technology
Teachers Association) for awarding us with this year's NYSTEA Mini-Grant which will provided funding materials so that the Maglev Line will go the entire length of our "Rupracht Raceway" CO2 Car Track. We were also awarded a second McDonald's® Restaurants 2009 Mac Grant so a timing system can be installed along with a system to power the trains down the track without battery packs. The track goes down the middle of the two CO2 car racing lanes. Check out the videos below!

Our new Lego Maglev Track on the "Rupracht Raceway"


Cool links to Maglev websites:

• How Maglevs Work
• Future Channel's Maglev Video (Excellent)
• Shanghi Maglev Train
• Japanese Maglev
• Baltimore~Washinton D.C. Maglev Project
• California Maglev Project
• Pittsburgh Maglev Project
• Alanta Maglev Project
• Blog on President Obama's interest in Maglev

CO2 Car Project

The main event for the 7th Grade Technology class is our CO2 Car Project. Most of our class instruction and exploration has been developed so that each student will design, draw and create a functional wooden car that is propelled by a carbon dioxide gas cartridge. The students will explore the principles of what it takes to make a 2x4" pine block into a high speed vehicle! Our students will apply terms such as aerodynamic value, drag, and friction as part of the design of their car. Click here to see The Technology Words of the Day slideshow. Each student will conduct an internet search on CO2 car designs and will need to complete a worksheet on a very cool and informative website called The Science of Speed.

We spend a lot of time designing and drawing the cars. The students are taught to use two-view working drawings that show the side and top view of the car. The students watch a series of short videos that we have made on technical drawing. The entire class will use the SIX STEP PROCESS that assists the students in drawing any car design. The class will use another instructional video that assists with the drawing of the dragster with a hole in front.

Another great resource is the website of the British Land Speed Vehicle http://www.bloodhoundssc.com/. The team is working to design and build a record breaking Land Speed Vehicle. This is much like a super-sized CO2 Car so check it out!

We have been taking pictures of the most unique and creative CO2 Car designs that are made each semester. Recently, I have produced a video of all of these cars in addition to a video of one of our CO2 Car Races. Maybe your design is on there or will be put on the newest version of the video. I do plan on updating the video after each semester's races. Attached to the video is an Excell spreadsheet file of our Top 100 ~ All Time Race List. Look for it within the Support Files that are attached with the video.

Hydroponic Garden Systems

Since 2000, we have been using Hydroponic Gardening as a "live" display of systems, sub-systems and bio-technology. Hydroponic gardening is the growing of plants without soil, and because we grow our plants indoors, without natural sunlight. Each school year a team of students operate the hydroponic system. We usually grow "Salina Bibb Lettuce" and the students then market and sell the lettuce to the staff and parents of Ray Middle School. The funds are used to offset the cost for the students to attend Oswegatchie Camp the next summer.

The history of our efforts with Hydroponic gardening is show through a video on my TeacherTube site. The "old" NFT system was given to us during the 2000 school year by Mr. William Stowell and his FFA Chapter from South Jefferson High School. We replaced that system in 2007 with the Bonzai Wheel. The funding to purchase this system came from the family, friends and colleages of Bob Rupracht. Bob was an Industrial Arts/Technology Teacher in Baldwinsville for 33 years. The Bonzai Wheel will operate, educate and produce lettuce in his memory.

We purchase all our hydroponic supplies (including the Bonzai Wheel) from California Hydroponics a.k.a. Hydrotek in East Syracuse, New York. You can contact Hydrotek Manager, John Butenko, in regards to purchasing any hydroponic supplies or systems (john.butenko@hydrotek.ca) Another great resource for hydroponic gardening is The Growing Edge magazine which always has information on hobby gardening and other educational uses of Hydroponics and Aquaponics.

Another interesting local use of hydroponic gardening which produces lettuce to local grocery stores is the Cornell University Floating Hydroponic Greenhouse in Ithaca, NY. Here is a very informative video about the Cornell Hydroponics that Mr. Matt Wisniewski produced in 2004 while he was a student teacher here at Ray Middle School.

Every year we have a team of students that operate both the Hydroponic systems and Aquaponic Systems. The 2009-2010 Hydroponic/Aquaponic team members are as follows, Cicely Ekross (President), Jeremy Shutz (Treasurer) and Rachel Miller (Reporter). They are doing an outstanding job and will be updating a really cool blog about their systems and their Hydroponic Lettuce sales. Please check it out: http://raymsaquaponics.blogspot.com/

Our Aquaponic System

Aquaponics is the bio-technology of growing plants with nutrient rich fish waste water. We raise Tilapia fish in a 55 gallon fish tank that pumps the tank water to a three foot long rain gutter. We use the NFT (Nutrient Flow Technique) to grow plants. In the past we have grown lettuce, basil, sweet peas, green peppers and most recently we have a had great success growing jalapeno peppers! The "dirty" water from the tank provides all the nutrients that the plants need to grow. The roots of the plants absorb the nitrates and in part clean the water and then that water is recycled back into the tank.

The fish need food and clean oxygen rich water to survive. The water must be warm; Tilapia like it best around 80 degrees Fahrenheit. We have had some success and failure with the fish which require much attention and constant monitoring. The Aquaponic System is an ideal "living" example of the Technology System Diagram that we teach each semester.


We have been working on our system for the better part of three years. After getting four tiny Tilapia from the Pioneer High School FFA Chapter (Teachers Martin Krause & Jon Clayson) we began this grand experiment! SUNY Cobleskill School of Agriculture (Dr. John Foster & Dr. George Crosby & Brent Lehman) have been a great resource and provider of Tilapia fish.

This project was also supported by a grant from McDonald's® Restaurants via a 2005 Mac Grant. This grant was made possible by the MacDonald's Operators Association of Central New York and Northern Pennsylvania. We would like to thank MacDonalds for providing the students of Ray Middle School with a new and exciting project!

Ivan plays his Accordion (Russian Bayan)

Musical instruments are most certainly an element of technology that makes everyone happy! The other day one of our students, Ivan Yumagulov, treated us to a wonderful performance playing his BAYAN! He is certainly a talented musician and making great use of an incredible technology!