his fall, Xaverian seniors
traveled into Boston for
the day to participate in a
seminar on engineering
at Northeastern University, an
experience that was bookended
this spring when grade 7 students
had their opportunity to attend. On
November 30, Mr. Jim McPhillips ’86
brought seniors from his AP Physics
and Intro to Engineering classes to
Northeastern’s STEM Center for
Education. “The focus of the day
was exposing high school students
to multiple engineering disciplines
by means of interactive labs and
activities,” Mr. McPhillips explained.
“I really enjoyed seeing the
school, for one,” said participant
Justin Sayah ’19. “My favorite part,
though, was the central nervous
system presentation. A programmer
and a biology professor explained
and discussed how stem cells divide
and how tumorous cells can envelop
your whole system. I found that to
be very cool.”
The second part of the day
included a presentation on batteries.
A Northeastern professor explained
the composition of batteries and
then cut them open so the students
could explore the components
inside. In another section, seniors
took part in a challenge to see if they
could build a small structure that
could withstand the stress produced
by an earthquake simulator. Later
in the school year, seniors in Intro
to Engineering expanded on their
learning on this subject back at
Xaverian, building bridges to
withstand hundreds of pounds of
pressure. They tested their models
BUILDING BRIDGES
in the Domenic Lalli Strength and
Conditioning Center.
“It is so important that we
provide these hands-on, real-
world learning opportunities for
our students, both in science and
throughout the curriculum,” said
Dr. Jacob Conca ’94, Principal.
“Our Class of 2024 enjoyed a
similar experience this spring
with their own day of learning at
Northeastern.”
Under the direction of Francis
Xavier Division science teacher,
Mr. Sean Gunning ’11, all grade 7
students spent a day at Northeastern
on April 9 during which they, too,
learned about engineering and
were able to test their hands at real-
world applications. Students rotated
through three main stations: an
overfishing simulation, snap circuits,
and a shake table. With overfishing,
modern political, biological, and
economic connections were drawn
to show just how tough it can be to
juggle the many aspects of feeding
everybody. For the snap circuits,
students overviewed energy flow and
energy sources (a unit they study in
the seventh grade curriculum), as
well as circuit types, before getting
a chance to build their own circuits
to light a bulb, spin a fan, or play a
speaker. Finally, the shake table was
the highlight of the day. Students
not only built a structure to test its
strength against earthquake forces,
but also were given the chance to
stand on the table themselves to see
if they could withstand the shake
test...a perfectly fun ending to a
seventh grade day of learning.
By Hunter Broadbent ’19 and Joshua Mould ’19, Communications Corps
WITH NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
Seniors in Intro to Engineering test the strength of their structures
6 www.xbhs.com