Dalton News

Souper Bowl 2017 - For Science and Service

Super Bowl Sunday usually means sports, food and fun, but unfortunately, not everyone can share in the festivities. Many people do not have any food at all. The Second Annual Souper Bowl Roll at First Program addressed this issue by mixing philanthropy with a little bit of science. We asked students to take up a collection for the New York Common Pantry, but with a bit of a twist!

Story by FP Science Teacher Hope Donovan
On February 1, many students brought in soup cans and headed to Lobby 51 before going to their Houses. First, they made a prediction about how far they believed their can would roll. They rolled their cans down a ramp to test their prediction while the Science team recorded the data. Some went far, some went only a few centimeters, and many curved to the side and hit the wall (and, sometimes, spectator’s feet)! Teachers then asked students to think about why their can traveled the way it did and encouraged them to examine their can and to observe the rolls of other students.
 
On the next day, students had the opportunity to better their previous roll by bringing in a second can. Their teachers asked them why they thought this can would give them a better roll. Was it lighter? Heavier? Bigger? Smaller? And why did they think that was important? The students rolled their second can after making a well-considered prediction. The Science team asked if it was a better roll, worse roll, or the same and what they thought happened.

No Science project is finished without analyzing the data. Some classes have already begun sorting our cans and graphing the results. So far, we have 17 cans of chicken soup, 22 cans of tomato soup, 34 cans of chicken noodle soup, 27 cans of beans, 13 cans of fruit, 3 cans of broth, 15 cans of stew, 8 cans of vegetables, 17 cans of vegetable soup, 3 cans of cream of mushroom, and 4 odd cans. Different classes will continue to analyze data, including class participation and why certain cans went farther than others.

Thanks to our student’s enthusiastic generosity the Souper Bowl Roll has collected 163 cans of soup in two days for the New York Common Pantry. Great job, First Program!
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