Cars!
Posted by Joey Casey
PreK through 3rd grade were busy this spring making and racing cars. Students built their own vehicles out of cardboard, straws, metal axles and tires with a cup on top. Some of the classes even made 3D printed cups! In rainbow colors, no less. After construction of the cars were complete, the experiments began. Classes raced their cars and we talked about gravity, force, and friction. To take our experiments to the next level, we added some weight to the cars to see if it changed the speed. Students could pick from marbles or cotton balls to add weight. We discussed which was heavier, and why…hint: it may have something to do with gravity! While the student-called results were a mix, the experiment was a fun success.
Engineering Electromagnets!
Posted by Joshua Bartosiewicz-
- A battery and a copper wire coiled around an iron nail are used to create a magnet!
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- Picking up paperclips with the magnet.
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- “Wow, that’s a strong magnet!”
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- Creating a coil or solenoid for the electromagnet.
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- More coils!
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- “Woah, I didn’t expect it to work!”
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- A strong magnet being used to hold other nails.
The 8th grade was able to build their own electromagnets in the science lab! The students have been learning so much about electricity, magnetism and electromagnets (the movement of charged particles in a coil can create a magnetic field). For this lab, the scholars were given batteries, copper coils, iron nails and paperclips and were asked to build an electromagnet. They had a general understanding of the material but after completing this lab, there was no question on how electromagnets function. Students were able to play around with their designs by using different types of wire, changing the number of loops around the iron nail (more loops would make a stronger magnet due to the overlapping magnetic fields created from the charged particles flowing through the wire which is from the battery), and using different types of batteries. In the end, the 8th graders thoroughly enjoyed creating their own magnets and comparing the strengths of their magnets to each others.
What can Electricity flow through?
Posted by Karen Engelke
This week in Grade 4 science, students demonstrated that some objects conduct electricity and some do not. Students constructed a simple circuit and observed that a penny, a piece of foil, and a paper clip conduct electricity, while a plastic spool and paper index card does not. They better understood how conductors of electricity allow currents to flow freely. Meanwhile, they observed that insulators resist the flow of an electric current.
Concept to Reality!
Posted by Lloyd Mitchell
Equipped with their design, power tools, paint and a block of wood, 5th grade tech students were tasked with the job of developing their own boxwood derby car. They successfully completed this multi space project, starting in the Tech Lab with the design process, to the Makerspace for the actual construction of their design and finally to the Art Room where their creativity came to life. Students proudly took a concept and turned it into a reality. Bravo, 5th grade!
Constructing Homes For Others!
Posted by Lloyd Mitchell
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- Team pride inspired!
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- Jackson Pollock inspired!
6th grade tech class ventured down to the Makerspace to tackle a two week project working with a different kind of tech! Students were tasked with constructing a birdhouse using power tools, screws, wood putty and paint. It was clear that this was a fun project by the amount of paint that made it onto our clothes instead of our birdhouses. But in the end, the projects were a great success and the neighborhood birds got some new homes as well!
Gummy Bear Wave Machine
Posted by Karen Engelke
Grade 4 has been studying Energy in Science. As part of the unit, they have been exploring wave properties. What better way to explore a concept in science than with the use of some kind of candy? So they created a Gummy Bear Wave Machine! It’s just duct tape, wooden skewers, and gummy bears, but it makes some really striking, beautiful effects when set in motion. As the gummy bears move up and down, energy is being sent from one end of the wave machine to the other. The duct tape twists in between each stick and passes it onto the next bit of tape between the sticks. This process continues until it reaches one end and then continues back the same way in which it came from. Once the wave machine was complete, guess who got to eat the leftover gummy bears?
