Energy systems
Invent-a-Wheel
7. Make A Car
Overview
Students look at issues with using rollers: the sled gets to the bottom of the ramp, but won’t keep going. Also, the rollers separate from the sled and may keep going after sled stops. To solve these problems, students invent ways to attach things that roll to the sled – thereby inventing the wheel! A sled with wheels is a car.
Advance Preparation
Materials
Procedure
The problems with rollers: Set up one ramp with rollers, and review what happened with them:
2.
The solutions: Have students try their solutions. These might include attaching the rollers to the sled in some manner using masking tape, glue etc.
3.
The wheel: After students have worked with the rollers, show them the plastic wheels:
4.
Making cars: Provide students time to experiment with the materials. Their problem is to come up with a way of attaching two skewers or stirrers (axles) to the sled, and then adding a wheel on each side of each axle. The axles can be taped, pushed through the corrugations or held with rubber bands. The wheels can be slid on from either end. At first, the wheels will tend to fall off, but students will probably come up with the idea of adding tape, rubber bands, clay, or putty to the ends of the axles to keep the wheels on. If students get stuck, encourage them to be creative, and see what other children are doing.
5.
Class meeting: While students are making cars stop periodically to give students an opportunity to share and discuss how they are making their cars.
6.
Writing: On chart paper, make a list of each of the materials, with a sample of each one. On the worksheet, each student should draw and write the name of the car parts they used. Introduce functional names for the parts:
7.
Clean-up: Make sure each student’s name is written on his or her car. Provide each student with a plastic bag for storage. Collect unused materials and save them for future lessons.
8.
Outcomes
