Charlie`s article here

Spring 2013
Rippowam Cisqua School
Non Profit Org
US Postage
PAID
Permit No 6030
Bedford NY
Bulletin
Rippowam Cisqua School
P.O. Box 488, Bedford, New York 10506
Lower Campus: 914-244-1200
Upper Campus: 914-244-1250
www.rcsny.org
FULL
STEAM AHEAD
Also in this issue:
Strategic Planning Update, Alumni Profiles, Class Notes
Mission Statement
The mission of Rippowam Cisqua
School is to educate students to
become independent thinkers,
confident in their abilities and
themselves. We are committed to
a dynamic program of academics,
the arts, and athletics, and support
an engaged faculty to challenge
students to discover and explore
their talents to the fullest. Honesty,
consideration, and respect for
others are fundamental to Rippowam
Cisqua. In an atmosphere that
promotes intellectual curiosity and a
lifelong love of learning, Rippowam
Cisqua strives to instill in students a
strong sense of connection to their
community and to the larger world.
We, as a school, recognize the
common humanity of all people
and teach understanding and respect
for the differences among us.
A few of the many reasons to support
The RCS Annual Fund
The Annual Fund is the School’s
most important ongoing fundraising activity.
Like most independent schools, tuition revenues at RCS do not cover the entire cost of
running the School. Tuition provides approximately 84% of the annual operating budget with
the Annual Fund supplying 7%. The School relies on this source of income in order to meet
the essential needs of students and faculty. This year, the difference between tuition revenues
and total operating expenses amounts to approximately $5,100 per child.
Our Annual Fund goal this year is $1,200,000 and 100% community participation. Each year,
we achieve remarkable results, thanks to the incredible efforts of our volunteers and the generosity
of our community. If you would like to make a gift, please take a moment to fill out the enclosed
pledge envelope and send it back to us with your contribution.
If you have questions about the Annual Fund, please contact
Eldira Curis at 914-244-1292 or edlira_curis@rcsny.org
55
Cover Story
Full
Ahead
STEAM. The word conveys the power and the
By: Charlie Duveen,
8th Grade Physics Teacher
pulse of the industrial revolution. From the kettle on
your stove to the engine room of the Titanic, steam has
been at the center of western civilization from the late
1700s, right up to the end of World War II. Gigantic
steam driven engines transported goods and people
across continents and over oceans, seas, and navigable
rivers; but, more recently, the very same word, in
educational circles, has become an acronym for a
combination of five related subjects – Science,
Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics –
all intertwined in the application of technical fields.
Previously, programs of this sort were called STEM,
a progressive approach that, for decades, introduced
young people to engineering and science. Art was not
considered to be remotely part of the mix, but the
recent addition of artistic creativity was long overdue.
Somewhere along the way, someone figured out that if
your science and math based programs leave out the
creative, artistic mindset, you might be squashing the
very ingredient that has driven American ingenuity.
6
Cover Story: Full Steam Ahead continued…
At Rippowam Cisqua, we had been
STEAMing along quite well when
the acronym STEAM entered the
pedagogical scene. Although it
applies to much of our curriculum
in grades PreK-9, the focus of this
article is on what students do in our
eighth grade physics class at the
Upper Campus. We’ll look at how
the program integrates these five
areas, and how much of that work
reflects a diverse set of skills that
students have learned at RCS.
Using STEAM, let’s
design a nuclear powered
research submarine
Since 2001, our physics curriculum has
included an engineering project that spans
five months. This project incorporates the
entire mix: the science of physical objects
and the transformations between forms of
energy; the online programs for word
processing, electronic spreadsheets, and
presentations, as well as research tools
and communications; the art of sketching,
drawing, and presenting; and finally,
enough mathematics operations and
algorithms to make your head spin.
Sometimes this engineering project
involves designing, building, and testing an
aerospace launch and retrieval system.
This year, however, our three eighth grade
classes are designing a nuclear powered
research submarine.
“How can 14 year old students design a
highly technical ocean-going vessel like
a submarine?” you might ask.
The answer is, it’s not easy, and if you ask
any of our students, you will hear a barrage
of recounted tribulations concerning
convoluted spreadsheet calculations,
heated debates over which type of nuclear
reactor is safest, some agonizing decisions
about the efficiency of a Brayton cycle
engine room, or the method of deploying
deep submergence vehicles.
Working to a twelve-page “contract
document,” each class sets up a separate
engineering company and a project
organization with a management team
coordinating five departments: hull design,
nuclear, propulsion, electrical distribution,
and deep submergence vehicle (DSV).
The three classes compete for the best
design, which is decided in the spring
by a panel of naval architects and marine
engineers. Since this submarine “is designed
to non-military commercial specs and must
carry twenty scientists doing underwater
ocean research for periods of up to nine
weeks,” each team has its hands full.
Why a submarine?
Students often ask why a nuclear sub?
There are a few things about a nuclear
submarine that are particularly intriguing
for students of physics. One is that
nuclear energy is going through a
transition from unsafe designs to much
more effective and safer designs. Since
1980, we have almost doubled the carbon
dumped into the earth’s atmosphere, and
nuclear energy is a part of the mix that
will save the planet. We need our
students to understand the technical
aspects of this complex form of energy as
they will help form the next generation
that will solve our energy problems.
The second reason is that a submarine is
a rather simple shape, and the equations
to find the hull resistance and powering
are fairly simple too, much simpler than
designing a surface ship like a tanker
or container ship where you have to
consider wave-making and windage. Can
you imagine how messy those equations
would be?
The third reason is that none of our eighth
graders have ever designed a nuclear sub,
which, as you can surmise, is a real
challenge. Eighth graders are ready for this.
One just has to show them that they are.
“This is the craziest thing I have ever
had to do! This is hard.”
All of this makes it an ideal challenge
for our eighth graders, whose capabilities
are quite developed by the time they
reach the classroom in September. They
come with various talents – some artistic,
some in research, some in theatrical
performance, some with computer savvy
skills, others who excel in mathematical
acumen, and some who are good leaders.
That mix of expertise is what makes any
venture as monumental as designing a
submarine, an achievable goal.
7
So let’s look at the STEAM model
and point out a few of the highlights
in each of the major areas …
SCIENCE - a targeted physics curriculum
One of the primary goals of our eighth
grade physics course is to show each
student how physical objects in the
universe behave. Once we do this, they
can apply their understanding and
strengths in the context of a long term
engineering project.
We complete some basic concepts: forces,
velocity, acceleration, work, and energy.
Then we look at some special forces:
Archimedes’ Principle of the buoyant
force, then Newton’s laws of motion and
his universal law of gravitation. On the
way, we add a few mathematical gyrations
working with scientific notation and,
with those skills under our belts, we are
pretty much ready for anything. We study
the periodic table of elements and the
model of the atom. These come in handy
when we look at the fission process of
splitting the atomic nucleus. There are
other applications like the Lithium
Fluoride molten salt reactor design or the
lead-bismuth in a liquid metal coolant
reactor. Even nickel or zirconium alloys
have new meaning because we have
memorized these elements on the
periodic table.
Forms of energy are, of course, at the
very heart of the submarine’s propulsion
plant, so we spend a good amount of time
with the physics of energy: chemical,
electrical, mechanical, thermal, nuclear,
and electromagnetic.
8
Cover Story: Full Steam Ahead continued…
The 21st Century Classroom
Processing and Inquiry
On the Upper Campus, the science curriculum focuses
on process skills—collecting data, observing data, and
analyzing data—across all scientific disciplines. This
curriculum-wide focus is rooted in the tenets of scientific
inquiry, and several elements of STEAM are incorporated
into the various units of study.
In the 5th grade astronomy unit, which functions as a
continuation of the study of the planets in 4th grade, students
gain a visual understanding of the expansion of the universe
through the intersection of science and art. Each student is
given a balloon and a permanent marker. The students draw
as many dots as they can on the non-inflated balloon, and
they draw a picture of the balloon in their science journals.
They inflate the balloon up a little bit, and then they observe
how the distance between the dots has changed. Finally, they
inflate the balloon up all the way and make further observations about the distance between the dots. After each step,
they draw a picture of the balloon in their science journals.
In Kate Daly’s 5th grade Botany unit, the study of the
physiology of plants is a hands-on experience for the
students. In the RCS Botany Lab, the students observe
the life cycle of plants, over the course of six weeks. Daly
incorporates math into this unit of study by asking the
students to measure their plants during the observation
process, and she edifies the lessons by using technological
resources, including web videos from Discovery and
brainpop.com, a website with animated curricular content.
Art and creativity have a home in the Botany unit as well.
Daly’s students demonstrate the life cycle of a plant,
either from seed to plant or flower to seed, by drawing
scientifically accurate cartoons, which are then displayed
around the School.
In April, the RCS Third Grade boarded a bus
for a local field trip to Curtis Instruments in
Mount Kisco. Curtis Instruments designs and
manufactures the electrical interface between
electric vehicles and the people operating
them. You will find their instruments in electric
cars, most golf carts and the Moon Rover
used on the Apollo missions to mention a few.
The third graders were invited to bring their
Science Fair projects, electrified scenes from
the movie, WALL-E, and explain the circuitry to
all the employees of Curtis. The students were
very proud to be invited and eagerly interacted
with Mr. Stuart Marwell, the CEO of Curtis
Instruments; his wife, Mrs. Victoria Marwell; the
engineers, and staff who asked them many
questions. The students were treated to pizza
while watching videos of robotic operations
in Puerto Rico as well as a testimony of a
Curtis wheelchair user. Then it was the
students’ chance to ask questions of the Curtis
employees. When they headed back to the bus,
students explored the workings of an electric
car with Curtis instrumentation on board.
Both the students and the Curtis employees
were inspired by this opportunity to share
a peek into the learning of a 21st century
classroom and a forward look into real world
applications of STEAM.
The trip to Curtis Instruments was organized by
Grades 3 and 4 Science Teacher Tanis Moore
as part of the third grade unit on electricity.
The third grade science curriculum, which is
taught by Ms. Moore and Science Intern Emily
Willson, focuses on problem solving in the
natural world, and it embraces the tenet that,
“Math is the language of Science.” Data that is
generated in science is organized, analyzed,
and shared using graphs and math algorithms.
In the electricity unity, students connect and
test various kinds of electrical circuits. They
electrify scenes from movies or books, and
create the characters and murals for these
scenes in their art classes. These projects
embrace creativity and collaboration, and the
students have the opportunity to share what
they’ve learned at the annual RCS Science Fair!
9
TECHNOLOGY - using computer software
Technology is the term often used to
describe the use of computers and software
in our schools, even though the broader
meaning applies to stone tools of the cave
people as well as the development of
James Watt’s steam engine. Our students
are introduced to standard programs
for word processing, spreadsheets, and
presentations at all levels.
One of the breakthroughs for us in eighth
grade physics was trying out Google Apps
as a platform for our engineering project.
Using Google Apps opens up a way we
can store all of the research our students
have completed, and it also allows us to
communicate with each other using the
School’s secure Google Apps email
account. The biggest advantage of Google
Apps is that their documents are “in the
clouds” so they can’t get lost. Even more
exciting is that an entire team can work
on the same document from many
different places at the same time. One can
be on a plane to Zurich and still create
slides for the team presentation.
Another software tool that helps in any
engineering project is Google SketchUp.
Using this program, some of the students
become adept at creating engineering
drawings that are quite impressive. The
panelists who evaluate the student design
presentations are impressed by the Google
SketchUp renderings, but they are just
as impressed by carefully made hand
drawings that the students create. In
fact, variations like that make for a very
interesting presentation.
Students Explore Animation
Technology and art came
together on the Upper Campus
this year when the 8th grade
students, led by art teacher
Marnie McLaughlin, created their
own animated films. Ms.
McLaughlin launched the project
by taking her 8th grade students
on a field trip to the Katonah
Museum of Art, where they
viewed an exhibit on the
computer-animated film, Ice
Age. At the Art Museum, the
students had the opportunity to
work on stop-motion animation
projects, which they brought
back to the Art House. The Art
Department and Technology
Department came together to
teach the students how to
create animated films using
iMovie, and the students worked
together in teams to write, direct
and shoot their projects. The
students took multiple shots of
images that they had drawn and
manipulated on dry-erase
boards, and they then added the
images into iMovie, where they
animated their stills and added
music and sound effects. The
students had a blast weaving
together technology and art!
10
Cover Story: Full Steam Ahead continued…
ENGINEERING and leadership
Every project, big or small, needs leadership to be successful. In fact,
a project’s organization can make or break its success. This leadership aspect
of the project is as important as the details of technical knowledge. So, in the
beginning of the year, each of the three classes chooses their Program Manager.
They are told, “You are picking the student among you who is smart, fair, respectful,
organized, not frazzled under pressure, and is someone you respect. This is a person
who will lead you through the most complex project you have ever encountered in
school.” They are asked to make this decision because they have been working
together for years, and they are pretty good at choosing their leader. Once this is
done, the program manager chooses the deputy program manager, that “right hand”
student who will help to lead the program.
When we get started on the project in January, there are five departments set up in
each class: Hull Design, Nuclear, Propulsion, Electrical Distribution, and Deep
Submergence Vehicle. Each of these departments includes two to four students, one
of whom acts as the first department head. That leadership job involves coordinating
the research and the presentation for the Program Status Review. The position of
department head rotates about every two weeks, so that each student is a leader more
than once during the course of the project.
By the time we finish with the entire project, these young engineers are quite proud
of the material they have mastered and the leadership they demonstrated in creating
a unique submarine.
Machines on Mars
Science on the Lower Campus is
a hands-on process. In Heather
DeBlasio’s second grade science
class, students don't just study
simple machines--they build them!
Students discuss how simple
machines make work easier, and
they begin by learning about
ramps, inclined planes, and levers.
The unit on simple machines
dovetails with the math curriculum,
and students apply the knowledge
that they learn in their measurement
unit in math class by measuring
ramps in the science lab. They go
on to study pulleys, wheels, and
axles, before demonstrating their
knowledge of simple machines at
the annual Science Fair. This year’s
theme was “A Community on
Mars,” and Ms. DeBlasio asked her
students, “If you were building a
community on Mars, what would
you need to live there?” Students
then built various simple machines
designed to make life easier and
more entertaining on Mars.
Students built a Ferris wheel
(complete with a ticket booth), a
miniature golf course (incorporating
the wedge, a simple machine useful
both on and off the fairway), a
playground with a slide and seesaw, and various ramps for vehicles
on Mars. The objects were all built
using recycled materials, and
students embraced creativity,
artistic expression, and teamwork
by working collaboratively to build
and decorate the objects.
STEAM shows that creativity has
a home in the science lab and,
for the students on the Lower
Campus, art and science each
complement the other.
11
ART
So where’s the art in all of this? One of
the best parts of any design is trying to
give it life by rendering some form of
special drawing or modeling. It is the artist
who gives us a window into the mind’s
eye. The artist gives us the creation to
feel, touch, and see long before it will ever
be built. We can decide on the dimensions
of a submarine – its length, beam, and
draft – but what does that really look like?
Is it a pipe in the water or does it appear
like a shark? We can shape the conning
tower, we can plan the bow planes, the
stern planes, and the rudders, but what
hydrodynamic form have we created?
Only the artist can show us. Only that
sketch or drawing can galvanize our
imagination and allow us to critique how
our measurements really look and feel.
Every one of our students is an artist.
With unflinching courage, they will sit in
groups explaining concepts by scribbling a
ragged sketch on a blank piece of paper.
We are not looking for perfection. We just
want a way of expressing the physical –
how does it look? Art in this way is simply
a communication tool, like writing, but
now directed at how objects fit together.
“I can’t really draw this, I’m not a good
artist,” she says as the sketchy rendering
takes form. In response, “Is it a plan view,
looking from the top, or are we seeing an
elevation view from the side? Is this a cross
section, cut in half, or are we seeing the
outside skin of the vessel?” By the time
we are finished, we have created several
iterations of the same part of the ship, and
soon we are sketching to scale, where
the proportions are more correct. The
length-to-beam ratio starts to have
meaning as the object is rendered too fat,
Theater as art
Theater is another art form that is so important
in our engineering design project. Not so much
for its drama or comic relief, but more for its
ability to communicate to an audience what is
important. When our students arrive in eighth
grade, they have already been on stage in some
form, whether it is coordinating the backstage
props, working the lights, or singing the lead
song in the musical. Performance is an integral
part of life at RCS at all grade levels. So when
our students are asked to make a presentation
about the reactor’s inherent safety features, it’s just another performance. Granted,
we have more technical material, and now the student is writing his or her own
script for each presentation slide, but they are ready for this daunting challenge.
The audience is no longer friends and family, but instead, a panel of professional
engineers and people who work in the shipping industry.
too thin, or pretty close to our image of
the real thing. Our art is, without fail, the
center of numerous conversations, be it a
schematic diagram, a process flow chart,
or an interior compartment in two,
and sometimes three, dimensions.
Nowhere is there more need of art than
in any technical venture like designing a
submarine. Creation has its own beauty,
and so often we want to capture it in a
visual form. This may be more obvious
when we look at multi-colored billowing
clouds, a pastoral scene with buffalo
racing across the plains, or the Thomas
Benton paintings of rural America. All of
these depictions have their scientific
explanations and even their evolutionary
engineering but, unless the artist captures
it on a canvas, in a photograph, or in a
sculpture, we will only see it by memory
and then only if we were there as a
witness. The artist helps us to see and feel
our massive submarine, long before our
calculations are finalized. This is what is
missing in the STEM program. The
visual, tactile aspect of the technical
world is one reason art is such an integral
part of our curriculum, but not only art as
studio renderings.
12
Cover Story: Full Steam Ahead continued…
MATHEMATICS
The idea of underwater travel is not so
difficult to imagine, but the mathematics
involved is a real bear. Take, for instance,
the calculations we must carry out to
determine the hull resistance or drag on
the submarine as it moves through the
water. If we can find that resistive force at
the submarine’s maximum speed, we can
tell how much power the propeller needs
to push the vessel. The math algorithm we
use is the same one employed by naval
architects and, from it, we can arrive at
the power of the sub’s main engines and
the thermal output of her nuclear reactor.
The first equation looks like this:
Rhull = .5 Cf ! A v2
Here Cf is the coefficient of friction caused
by the outer surface of the hull, ! is the
density of seawater, A is the surface area
of the submarine and v is its maximum
velocity in the water. After all of the
physics and math we covered in the first
trimester, those factors are not so difficult.
You might ask, “How do we arrive at an
approximate surface area of a submarine?”
The answer is pretty simple. We turn it
into three regular shapes: a hemispheric
nose, a cylinder for the main body, and a
cone for the tapered tail end. We have
formulas for the area of all of these shapes,
and when we add them together, we get a
pretty good approximation to use in our
resistance calculations.
The tricky factor is Cf , the coefficient of
friction. To find that variable, we have to
first calculate Reynolds’ number, which
depends on the length of the vessel, the
maximum velocity, and – get this – the
kinematic viscosity of sea water. This
requires some magic manipulations using
scientific notation and a logarithmic
function to boot. Yikes! Have I lost you
yet? My eighth graders get this right!
All of these lead to the power
calculations that allow us to speak with
engineers in the industry to determine
size and weight of the ship’s propulsion
equipment. We ask them, for example,
“Just how big will that five megawatt
nuclear reactor be?” and with this
information, we can figure out if the
reactor will fit into our hull. The layers
of equations get so complex that, once
we do the math operations by hand, we
want to put all of these parameters and
equations into an electronic spreadsheet.
This way the students can determine how
changes in the hull design will affect the
engine room equipment.
Math is a powerful tool and all of my
students come into eighth grade physics
with the math skills to tackle this
important algorithm. Even though
scientific notation is introduced in the
seventh grade, we need to practice using
those operations until we have mastered
them. This allows my students to not only
make accurate calculations, but to also
troubleshoot their own spreadsheets.
13
learning process and in so many areas of
development, that each child can move
forward and find his or her strengths that
eventually define them. They gain a
confidence in their ability to tackle many
things. We also work on weaknesses that
one day may turn out to be strengths. It
is that engine rolling down the tracks
powered by STEAM, and a whole lot
more, that we love to see in action
every day.
All ahead, flank – a sea story
Every now and then I sit with my
students and tell them a story. Here is
one for you:
8th Grade Physics Teacher Charlie Duveen on Grandparents Day
What lies ahead?
Robots anyone?
Some exciting new developments usher
in our focus on STEAM. We are taking
a look at revising interest in computer
programming, where the application of
engineering robots meets the art of
programming. Much of this new focus
on the rudiments of technology, and
machines that obey commands, is a
revolution in electronic component
design. These circuits have been around
for decades. The revolutionary part is
their cheap availability and the freeware
that unleashes the power of these palm
sized circuit boards. Arduino is a company
that makes these programmable circuit
boards, now available so cheaply that
anyone can afford them. These powerful
computer cards that used to cost hundreds
of dollars are now available for around
$20, and they use a simplified version of
C++ programming software also available
online for free. This makes it easy and
exciting to introduce programming to
young people. The lure for many of our
young thinkers is the robotics control.
It’s like magic, but really it is science,
technology, engineering, art, and math all
rolled up into one desktop project. The
same electronics that control the launch
sequence of a modern rocket engine can
control a homemade robot. Only the
imagination is the limit.
Through the expertise of two enthusiastic
RCS parents, Slim Zouaoui and Michael
Beakes, we have started a pilot program
on the Upper Campus to integrate this
exciting technological jump into our
Allied Art period during the school day.
It is a humble start, riding on the wave of
a few enthusiastic students. What better
way to catapult into the future?
Mapping the curriculum
Another area that will support STEAM
at RCS is our initiative to map the
curriculum. Using an online mapping
program, Rubicon Atlas, we are in the
process of placing our curriculum into a
database. This will help us to view the
links we are making to different areas in
our curriculum. It will help us to do a
better job of finding new and imaginative
ways for injecting life and meaning into
what our young people learn, and isn’t
that the road to the brighter future that
we want for them?
This is one of the many reasons why RCS
is such an interesting place to teach.
Teachers are all so integrated into the
flow of learning, at each stage of the
At one point in my life I was standing
watch on the bridge as officer of the deck
on USS LEAHY CG16. We were headed
into port after two weeks at sea playing
war games off the coast of San Diego. We
were running parallel to some other ships
that were also heading home for the
weekend. I wanted to get into port ahead
of the other ships so we could tie up and
go on liberty. Our 1200 pound steam plant
was designed to give us 25+ knots and I
called down to the engine room and spoke
to the engineering officer of the watch. It’s
always good to communicate with the
engine room before such a maneuver.
“Engine room. Bridge. Can you go to flank
speed if I need it? This way we can get
into port ahead of the other ships and tie
up earlier.” Murphy, the engineering
officer of the watch got on the phone.
“We sure can, Chuck. Give me the bell
and we’ll respond.” On the bridge, I called
out, “All ahead, flank.” The lee helmsman
repeated the command, and set the engine
order telegraph for a flank bell. The
quartermaster entered the order into the
ship’s log, and our massive cruiser picked
up speed like a greyhound out of the gates.
We surged ahead of the pack, taking the
lead, and slowed just as we entered the
harbor channel. Our ship docked within
the hour.
It’s somewhat like that with STEAM. At
RCS, the engine room is quite ready. All
ahead, flank.