Energy systems
Invent-a-Wheel
1. How Can You Get It to Move?
Overview
Students try to get things to move, first without a ramp, then with a piece of cardboard that can be used as a ramp.
Procedure
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How can you get it to move? (Part #1) Give students a variety of objects. Ask the students to try different ways of moving them. Note: some teachers prefer to let students experiment with the cardboard alone and don’t introduce other materials (as in the video above).
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Class Meeting: Gather the class to discuss the ways they came up with. They have probably thought of pushing and pulling, possibly blowing, pushing with a stick, etc. Chart with the students how they were able to get the objects to move. (Movement can be sorted into two categories, pushing and pulling.
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How can you get it to move? (Part #2) Provide the large sheets of cardboard, but do not suggest how they might be used (as ramps) – some students will probably come up with this idea on their own. Students may also use the cardboard in a see saw motion (essentially creating two ramps).
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Class meeting: Gather the class to discuss the ways they came up with. If anyone has thought of using the cardboard sheet as a ramp, ask students:
- How is this different from moving it by pushing or pulling directly?
- If nobody has come up with this idea, ask: How can you get it to move “by itself” – while you are not touching it?
- How is this different from moving it by pushing or pulling directly?
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Science Notebook: Draw and write about what you did to make something move. List the materials you used.
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Outcomes
- Students explore methods of initiating motion of an object, and recognize that something “extra” is needed to make it go.
- The “extra” needed to make something move could come from a person, in the form of a push or pull. It could also be made to move by putting it in a place where it “wants” to move, such as at the top of a ramp or slide.