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Physics class holds shoot out for breast cancer

Posted on Nov 01, 2006

Under the direction of Science Department Chair Theresa Napolitano, the Lauralton Hall AP Physics class recently participated in a project that not only taught the students a lot about physics, but also raised much needed funds for a most worthy cause--breast cancer research.

Class members designed and constructed three “contraptions” to serve as artificial free throw shooters. “Basketballs” were thrown in an attempt to make the most baskets in five attempts each. The basketball court was mathematically reduced in proportion to the change in the size of the ball being shot. The basket was placed on a tarp that was sectioned into multiple squares with five different squares making up the pattern on the tarp. The squares were assigned to the five competing groups--freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, faculty/staff/parents.

The launch took place on October 31. Tickets were sold for $1 each and grouped by the category of purchaser…freshman, sophomore, junior, senior or faculty/staff/parent. After each shot the square that was hit by the ball indicated the group for which a winning ticket would be pulled. There were 15 winners for the competition with prizes including gift certificates to Chili’s, Applebee’s, Wendy’s, Bob’s, Toys “R” Us, Dunkin Donuts, Panera and Borders.

Funds raised..more than $2200...will be donated to the Breast Cancer Alliance in Greenwich, Connecticut in celebration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast Cancer has touched the lives of many members of the community through family and friends and this is a small activity in which we can participate to do our part to help find a cure.

The local press has this to say about Lauralton's Shoot Out for Breast Cancer:

Reprinted from the New Haven Register, November 1, 2006, by Julia Cooper, Register Correspondent:

Physics students have fun for a cause

Students from Lauralton Hall’s Advanced Placement physics class spent Tuesday practicing their free-throw shooting skills. Unlike the game of real basketball, though, the group of seniors and juniors had to create their own artificial free-throw shooters that could accurately shoot a basketball much smaller than the one used by the NBA.

"They were given a ball and had to figure out the proportions based on that," said physics teacher Theresa Napolitano. "It was a matter of schematics and then they were able to launch it."

Napolitano’s class began work on their free-throw shooters in the middle of September. The 18 students were divided into three teams of six girls to complete the research and development of the apparatus. Napolitano said they had to construct the shooter themselves and complete various trials with the shooter before the final demonstration.

"This kind of project allows the actual application of physics outside of the textbook," Napolitano said.

While the girls learned how to apply the principles of physics to a working model, the project also helped do something more: raise money for breast cancer.

Napolitano said the project, aptly named Shoot Out Breast Cancer 2006, helped to raise more than $1,500. The money raised will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Group as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

To raise the money, students sold raffle tickets for $1 each. Local businesses including Chili’s, Bob’s Stores, Borders and others donated 15 total prizes for the raffle the day of the shoot-out. The winner of each prize was determined by where the basketball landed after each team’s free throw. Each team took five shots at the basket.

"Everyone has been touched by breast cancer in some way," said Napolitano. "I think this being an all-girls school makes them understand even more."

Kate LaBella, 17, is a senior at Lauralton. She said while the project was a fun learning experience, the idea of raising money and awareness is important, too.

"I think supporting breast cancer research is a fabulous thing," she said. "You can put your knowledge into good use in the community, and we just get more support every year."

Senior classmate Elise Domyan, 17, agreed.

"It was a lot of fun, but kind of hard, too," she said. "It’s really neat mixing something fun like this with something important like breast cancer research."

The AP physics class at Lauralton completes a project to raise money for breast cancer research every year.

Reprinted ©2006CONNECTICUT POST (Used with permission), by Dirk Perrefort, November 1, 2006:

Physics students put charity in motion

MILFORD - Students at Lauralton Hall used their brainpower and the forces of nature Tuesday to raise money for breast cancer research. Three teams from the all-girls Catholic school's advanced-placement physics class used what they learned during the last few months to design a machine that could make free throw baskets with a miniature basketball. The teams used equipment such as counterweights and springs to propel the ball forward and into, hopefully, the basket, according to Theresa Napolitano, the physics teacher at the school.

"It puts the students' knowledge of the forces of motion into practical use," Napolitano said. "Last year it was punting footballs and the year before that it was chucking pumpkins. It's combining the knowledge of physics with a good cause. Many of the students here have been affected in some way by breast cancer."

Tiles were placed underneath the basketball net of various colors that represented each class from the school. Students who purchased raffle tickets then had a chance to win a gift certificate donated by a local business if their name was pulled after the ball landed on their class' color. The students raised about $1,500 for breast cancer research through the event, Napolitano said.

Colleen Clark, 16, said the machine created by her team consistently made baskets prior to the event Tuesday, but failed to make any baskets during the big day.

"It was a good way to incorporate the physics lessons we learned into a real-life situation and see how it works," she said. "It was a great that we also got to raise money for a good cause at the same time."

Audrey Ready, 16, said she's looking forward to the next physics project, which includes building a miniature roller coaster that students will then attempt to "sell" to engineers with Playland in Rye, N.Y. The coaster has to include a loop, a banked turn and other features, she said.

"I can't wait for that one," Ready said. "It should be a lot of fun."



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