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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Ava Dasari, Canfield High School senior physics student, showed off her group’s interactive Just Dance mobile for the school’s annual Mobile Mania Day Nov. 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School senior physics student Maura Kennedy proudly displayed her group’s “Up” mobile, complete with colorful balloons, on Mobile Mania Day Nov. 2.
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Canfield High School senior physics student Samantha Carney and her group turned to social media for their inspiration in creating their interactive Snapchat mobile for the school’s annual Mobile Mania Day on Nov. 2.
By ABBY SLANKER
The presidential election was not the only election on the minds of Canfield High School students, faculty, staff and parents. The school’s annual Mobile Mania took place on Nov. 2, in the physics lab, with more than 1,000 votes cast for the mobiles.
Mobile Mania is the third of eight events for senior students in physics teacher Stephen Hlaudy’s Physics Olympics.
“Students must build a mobile that freely hangs from the ceiling and has both translational and rotational equilibrium. That’s a fancy physics way of saying it is balanced,” Hlaudy said.
The mobile entries must have a recognizable theme and proof page illustrating the mathematic quality of work. They also must have three rods and five objects which are balanced.
The mobiles receive votes in the following categories: prettiest mobile, ugliest mobile, best balanced mobile, funniest mobile, most creative theme and Best of Show.
The event is participated in by two physics classes with 50 students divided into 18 teams.
According to Hlaudy, the physics students look forward to the event and it has become a Canfield High School tradition.
“The kids really look forward to this. They ask me about it at beginning of the school year to make sure we are still going to do it. It started as a lab more than 20 years ago and I have watched it grow considerably over the years, and it has now become a CHS tradition. This is the 22nd year. The students go all out, trying to earn enough votes to win the event,” Hlaudy said.
Senior physics students Samantha Carney, Ava Dasari and Maura Kennedy all agreed the event is fun, and it’s a lot of work, but in the end it’s all worth it. And they all hope to win.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but the end result is worth it,” said Dasari, who with her group created a Just Dance interactive mobile.
Carney’s group also created an interactive mobile with Snapchat filters.
“Making a mobile is a lot of work and can be frustrating at times, but it’s really fun and nice to see it hanging when it’s all done,” Carney said.
Kennedy said to see her “Up” mobile actually hanging in the lab is very cool.
“We wanted to catch people’s attention by adding balloons to the mobile, just like the balloons on the house in the movie “Up.” Making a mobile is fun, but can be a little frustrating, but to see it hanging here today is very cool,” Kennedy said.
Hlaudy said the event is fun for the students, but they also learn a lot from the experience.
“This is something the kids actually do. They are not just hearing about it or writing about it or listening to me talk about it. They can actually feel it. This is the most popular event of the Physics Olympics. The one the kids are most excited about,” Hlaudy said.
The winners are not only awarded with bragging rights, but they also get their names added to the physics classroom wall, joining winners from years past.