Project Summary:
Our final project was creating an informational display about the Rio Salado River with a 3-D terrain model showing different time periods of the river.  The idea was sparked by watching a video presentation that included archival photographs of the Salt River prior to the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt dam.  Students used GPS units to plot points during a field trip to the river.  These points were used to approximate the slope between points and design a scale for the display.  Based on our GPS points and mathematical slope calculations, we decided that a 1:500 scale for the terrain would best suit our needs.  Students glued foam boards down to a plywood base prepared by the interns.  The foam boards were arranged based on our slope calculations and filled in with paper maché and plaster.  The plaster was painted with texture and sprayed with a watery glue solution for attaching a fine dust of modeling flock and dirt.  Lichen was added to create vegetation.  The river was made using an acrylic resin used in flower arrangements with glued on pebbles.  Students researched the background information for the poster on the internet and used the information to augment the model.

Highlights for the year:
Over the course of the semester Science Club focused on geography and geology.  We conducted classes on mapping and cartographic representation of the physical world.  Classes also included experiments with the properties of metals and ores, fossils, volcanoes, glaciers, camouflage and adaptation, extinct and endangered species, and an introduction to nautical engineering.  We conducted two field trips to the Rio Salado park.  During the first trip, students used GPS units to plot points for our slope calculations.  These points were imported into Google Earth to demonstrate how slope is represented through a coordinate system and on an aerial photograph.  The second field trip focused on examining the affects of erosion and water interaction.