English Component: "Overture of 1812"

http://www.last.fm/music/Pyotr+Ilyich+Tchaikovsky/_/1812+Overture

In the beginning, there is a soft melody that implies hope. Then it starts to speed up a tiny but and the music gets a bit rough and edgy. This is when the Light Brigade is actually rushing into the battle with their passion. After, the music gets very loud and all of the sudden gets quiet. This could symbolize that the Light Brigade has battled, and knows that they cannot win, no matter how hard they try. The music continues to grow rapidly again, meaning the army did not give up and they keep trying. Hope is still with them. There are many parts in the music piece where it gets gradually louder and louder and then BAM! The explosion of a cannon. then softer and softer and that lets the listener visually imagine the battle between the two armies and what the Light Brigade was feeling.

English Component: "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Tennyson (1809-1892)

Before Reading:
1. What are some examples of times when people must obey an authority figure, even though they may not want to?
An example of a time when people must obey an authority figure when they wouldn't want to would be in a dictatorship. In a dictatorship, there is one single ruler who controls everything in his/her country and everyone must obey his orders, or they'll receive some form of punishment.

2. Must military commanders enforce harsh discipline on their soldiers?
Yes, military commanders must enforce harsh discipline on their soldier. The reason is because if the soldiers aren't used to harsh discipline when there's not a war, they won't obey when there actually is a war. Also, if they are disciplined, soldiers will work more efficiently and thus, reduce casualties.

3. Is it important for a military outfit to work as a team?
Yes, teamwork in key for war. If you have no teamwork, everyone will be off someplace doing their own thing and everything would just be chaos.

4. What are the consequences if a commander is unable to keep his or her troops under control during wartime?
If a commander is unable to keep his or her troops under control, there would be a huge mess. There would be a lot more casualties if everyone was doing different things.

Read and Analyze Poem:
In "The Charge of the Light Brigade" 600 courageous men charged into battle knowing they stood little chance. Tennyson uses the phrases "Valley of Death", "Mouth of Hell", and "Jaws of Death" to show that there was no way out for the Light Brigade once they had started charging. It also emphasizes the desperateness of the soldiers as they rush into their enemies hands.
Tennyson also repeats "600" in his poem. He first says "Rode the six hundred" to emphasize that 600 men were rushing into the battle. Then he says "Then they rode back, but not the six hundred." This shows that though they retreated, not all of the 600 were there, meaning they had died.
Also, in the second stanza it says "Was there a man dismay'd? Not tho' the soldier knew Someone had blunder'd." Though it clearly doesn't say who had fallen, it probably means the commander, Lord Raglan. He had failed to control and enforce discipline on his soldiers, resulting in a great misunderstanding. Though the Light Brigade may be courageous for charging into a battle full of passion and strength, they had failed to follow their leader's instructions, which led to a disaster.

Math Component: Launch Angle

Our group decided to use 40 degrees as our launch angle. Since 45 degrees is the
theoretical perfect angle in a vacuum, we decided to pick an angle based on that. We didn't want an angle that was too high because of the gravitational pull, and we didn't want an angle that was too low because it wouldn't stay in the air very long and would just roll. So our team decided to use 40 degrees as our launch angle to avoid the wind resistance and still travel a far distance.

We used the formula: R=Vo^2sin2(o)/gravity constant to determine our angle.

Science Component: Procedure

1. Peel off the labels on the tennis ball cans.

2. Cut off the end of one of the cans (barrel).

3. Measure the sizes of the fuel chamber and barrel, and make fuel chamber 1.5 times smaller than barrel.

4. Take one of the caps and poke a few small holes into it.

5. Tape cap in between the the barrier and fuel chamber, then tape those two together.

6. Find desired angle, which was 38 degrees, and use a protractor to cut the angle into the leftover piece from tennis can. Tape it to the actual cannon.

7. Poke small hole in the back of the cannon for the ethanol to be poured into.

8. Make sure the cannon is all stable and set and we're done.

Science Component: Materials, Hypothesis, Design

Materials:

1. 2 tennis ball cans

2. a pair of scissors

3. 12 inch strip of tape

Hypothesis:

We used Boyle's and Gay Lussac's Gas Laws to predict that a smaller barrel, or volume, and a warm sunny day would produce the best outcome for shooting the Nerf ball a farther distance.

Design:

Our group decided to use internal combustion, meaning we created two separate sections, the barrel and the fuel chamber with a barrier, the cap to the tennis ball can, in between them. We used Boyle's Gas Law to make the volume of the fuel chamber small, creating more pressure. We also poked a few tiny holes into the barrier to magnify the force.

Science Component: Results

Our cannon, along with all of the other cannons, didn't shoot off. The reason was of the cold temperature. Gay-Lussac's Gas Law states that temperature and pressure are directly proportional. So our cannons had a very low pressure, not enough to shoot the Nerf ball. Another variable that affected our cannon was that our cannon wasn't airtight enough, so the pressure escaped.

Cannon Firing Reflection

Cannon Construction Design
We used internal combustion, meaning that we placed a barrier with a few holes in between the gas chamber and the barrel. We used Boyle's Gas Law, which states that volume and pressure are indirectly proportional, and thats why we put the barrier in the middle, to magnify the pressure and reduce the volume.