Under the Microscope: An Update from CNSI

Countywide junior high school students participate in LEAPS competition

April 20, 2007

Junior high school students from all over Santa Barbara County descended upon UC Santa Barbara today to participate in the Annual Science Fair. CNSI's LEAPS (Let's Explore Applied Physical Science) graduate fellows took this opportunity to reach out to these young students to engage them in hands-on science at the new California NanoSystems Institute building.

The junior high school students were tasked with constructing a boat out of a 6"x6" piece of tin foil. The competition was to see how many pennies each boat would support while still floating in a pool of water. Students from several junior high schools constructed boats in a wide range of designs, some making use of optional materials that included popsicle sticks and cardboard.

The winning design was a square boat made solely of tin foil created by Amanda Carter from Santa Barbara Junior High School. The boat held an amazing 437 pennies.