Learn more about the Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education at
http://casee.battlegroundps.org
BRUSH PRAIRIE — Battle Ground students stood in a field and looked skyward Wednesday morning.
While one student held a paper Chinese lantern, another attached a paraffin wax block to the string underneath the lantern. Being careful to not catch the lantern on fire, one of the students ignited the wax with a lighter. As the lantern filled with hot air, it began to rise.
It joined other purple, pink, green and yellow lanterns already aloft.
To commemorate Chinese New Year, the students launched lanterns carrying their messages of good will and wishes: Health. Peace. Joy. Freedom. Prosperity. Happiness. Future.
Some messages were more specific.
“May my friends and family live long, healthy lives full of happiness and love,” one girl wrote. Then she added: “May my spelling get better and may I get a job in a zoology study.”
It was more than a celebration. It also was a physics lesson.
Students in Chris Collmer’s physics and green sustainable design class at the Center for Agriculture, Science and Environmental Education launched Chinese lanterns and then their new drone to capture images of the lanterns aloft. CASEE is a program for high school students in Battle Ground Public Schools.