Students refine engineering, math skills

Cristen Dias, a sophomore at Pajaro Valley High School, readies her mousetrap car for a distance and accuracy competition Saturday at UC Santa Cruz at the annual MESA Day preliminary competition. (Photos by Tarmo Hannula)

SANTA CRUZ — Local students rolled up their sleeves and showed their might Saturday at the annual Math Engineering Science Achievement Day preliminary competition at Jack Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz.

The one-day event drew about 450 middle and high school students from around Santa Cruz County. Math competitions included tests in algebra, trigonometry, geometry, precalculus and calculus. Hands-on physics competitions included student-created balsawood gliders and planes, mousetrap cars, egg drops, speak easy, digital 3-D models of a human eye, robotics and wood stick bridge construction.

“I built a mousetrap car this year,” Pajaro Valley High freshman Adrian Rocha said. “It only took me about 45 minutes to build, but I had to make some modifications and that took another 90 minutes or so. It’s pretty challenging. It’s tough, but at the same time it’s rewarding. You really learn a lot from being around all these people.”

For the complete article see the 03-08-2011 issue.

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