Barbie takes a bungee dive, FA students use math to keep doll safe

By Stuart Hedstrom
Staff Writer

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Barbie has gone to high school, as Algebra I students in Ryan Nickerson’s class at Foxcroft Academy were tasked with working in small groups to use their knowledge of linear functions to calculate how many attached rubber bands are needed to drop a doll from the top of a second-story stairwell to get as close to the ground below as possible while avoiding contact. Nickerson had the lesson as part of the curriculum in his grade 8 math lessons across town at SeDoMoCha Middle School the previous five years.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

BARBIE GOES TO HIGH SCHOOL — Emelia Grant, left, and Heather Burgess and Foxcroft Academy math teacher Ryan Nickerson watch as Grant and Burgess’ (who also had Julia Brasslett in their group) Barbie comes close to hitting the bottom step during a Barbie bungee jump on Dec. 4. Nickerson’s Algebra I students were tasked with calculating how many elastics would be needed to get Barbie as close to the ground from a two-story drop as possible without making contact, using linear functions to make their predictions. The bungee jump had been a part of Nickerson’s curriculum when he taught grade 8 at SeDoMoCha Middle School during the previous five years.

“In eighth grade we used proportions. Now that we are in high school they are using linear functions to make their predictions,” Nickerson said earlier in the month, mentioning that he had many of the students the year before in middle school. “They conducted test jumps yesterday and we used an app on the iPad to make the predictions, ideally it should be more accurate this year. They are going to see how close they can get without smacking her head.”

In the classroom the students began their final preparations, clustered in groups of three or four.

“Today what you need to do in class, before we do the jumps, is scatterplot to find the line of best fit,” Nickerson told his pupils. “Step three is to make your prediction for the actual jump, and step four is to answer the critical thinking questions as a group.”

The first 20 minutes of the afternoon class were spent on going through the steps Nickerson outlined. “Use your slope and your intercept to make your prediction,” he told his students.

Nickerson said the lesson has the students making their calculations in centimeters, as they do not often use the metric system. He said the groups conducted 50 test jumps and then used the scatterplot app “for the line of best fit to make a prediction.” Nickerson added that, unlike SeDoMoCha, where all four of his classes took part in the Barbie bungee jump, just this semester’s Algebra I class took the plunge and the lesson is planned for Algebra I next semester.

With calculations finalized to the best of the students’ abilities, they headed over to the stairwell for the jumps. Each group had several opportunities to see how near or far they could get to the bottom steps, with a spotter positioned below. Following the first jumps, each group had the opportunity to make any necessary adjustments for final, ideally, more accurate plunge for their doll.

“I think our test jumps went really well so our prediction was close,” said freshman Julia Brasslett, who worked with fellow first-years Heather Burgess and Emelia Grant. “I liked it better this year because it seemed more accurate, the app helped a lot,” she said, as Brasslett and Burgess both had Nickerson in eighth grade but the bungee jump was brand new for Grant.

The three students’ had their Barbie’s hair graze a step, but the doll was unharmed — unlike a few groups whose Barbies hit. They calculated that 28 tan rubber bands were needed, and took one away for their final jump.

“The app obviously made it pretty handy for us. They were much closer this year,” Nickerson said. 

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

TAKING THE PLUNGE — Yuchen Fu, left, and Noah Contreras along with Foxcroft Academy Algebra I teacher Ryan Nickerson look to the bottom of the stairwell as the two students — whose group included Jon Feix — drop their doll in the Barbie bungee jump. The class used a scatterplot iPad app to help determine the ideal number of connected rubber bands to make for a thrilling but safe bungee cord for their dolls.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS — Foxcroft Academy Algebra I students, from left, Chandler Dow, Josh Whittemore and Matthieu Honorowski (with Jon Feix in the background) get a bungee cord ready for their Barbie’s bungee jump. Before the big plunge, the groups conducted several dozen test jumps and plotted this data.