Blogs from Poland, Maine, United States, North America
Maine Narrow Guage Railroad Co. & Museum
Published: July 25th 2010North America » United States » Maine » Poland
July 19th 2010
Railroads of this type connected Maine with the rest of the world from the late 19th century until just prior to the second world war. They carried passengers and all types of freight. This museum was opened in 1993 and has been operating continuously since then. The small train makes a tour of the harbor area and is powered by a diesel engine. There are three types of cars where one may sit. One is a regular passenger car, another is an open-type car, and the last is a caboose. The conductors are knowledgable about trains and entertain the tourists with stories about them. The engine goes one way for a short distance and has to be disconnected and brought back around on another track and reconnected to the rest of the train. During this time, ... read more
A Teachable Moment...(of high velocity and sudden stops) AKA How to make a Pumpkin Pie using gravity and a medival siege machine.
Published: October 25th 2008North America » United States » Maine » Poland
October 24th 2008
Enter the Pumpkin Chucker Here was a learning opportunity if there ever was one. At Poland Regional High School we had a half day and decided to combine many different learning areas (Math, Physics, History) in one fun filled event of Pumpkin' Chunkin' glory. Jonathan Doughty, a very energetic and awesome science teacher at PRHS has a good friend who constructed a large trebuchet and was willing to transport it out to the school! Through out the whole day we had students measuring projectile distances, time from launch to landing, and the masses of pumpkins and watermelons. There were exercises in mathematical modeling ballistics to find the initial velocity of the projectiles and their highest point. All and all it was a bombastic ballistic bonanza and it was made possible by teachers... read more
