Showing posts with label transportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transportation. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Speed Boat Chemical Reaction!

Create a chemical reaction to make a boat go from ZOOM! Similar to Bag Bomb, this experiment explores the three states of matter. Kids mix baking soda and vinegar to create CO2 to make their soda bottle boat zoom!

materials: 
empty soda bottle
toilet paper
baking soda
vinegar
marbles (or another object to weigh the boat down)
thumbtack or x-acto blade
a large tub of water

1. First, put marbles in the bottle and test it in water. You want the boat to be submerged.
2. Take the boat out of water. Make a hole in the bottle cap for air to seep out (using x-acto or tack). The hole should be submerged in water (when you place the bottle in the water).
Same instructions as Bag Bomb:
3. Pull off a strip of toilet paper (three sheets connected) and pour baking soda on the strip.
4. Fold and form a pocket to hold the baking soda (or roll it)
5. Add vinegar (1/4 of the soda bottle)
6. Drop the baking soda pocket in the bottle
7. Fast: Put cap on and quickly place in water!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Ten Frame Train

Explore ten frames and place value by creating a paper ten frame train. Kids construct a train out of construction paper. Then, they glue ten frames on the box cars, except for the caboose. They add "passengers" to each frame (sponge paint). Then, they figure out the number of passengers and write it on the caboose.

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Egg Carton Flyer

Save your egg cartons to construct a flying wing! It soars with the help of a penny inserted in the "cargo bay!" Click here for the template and instructions!

integration:
geometry: angles (best angle for distance)
estimating: distance
measuring: distance
science: potential / kinetic energy / wind

Monday, February 18, 2013

Pimp My Ride

Economics, comparatives, superlatives: Kid industrial design project from Inspire your Learners! Check it out here!

Kid Engineering

Design Squad Nation - Lots of hands on projects, and a great place for kids to collaborate with other students from around the country.
Featured above:
Treasure Grab - Kids investigate magnetism with this measuring construction project!
Indoor Slingshot - Angle Exploration and potential / kinetic energy! Kids measure the distance their object is propelled. What angle worked best? 
Air Cannon - Estimate and measure, while exploring air pressure. Kids blow up a bag, smash it, and a pom pom ball goes flying! 

WYE_Lance has a special showcase of kid engineering projects featured on Instructables: Project-Based Engineering.
Featured above:
Truss Bridges - Kids explore symmetry and angles as they create a unique popsicle stick structure.
Rubber Band Helicopter - How high will it go? How long will it stay up?

Sophie's World - Balloon Boat (top right image)
Kids investigate the power of air, as they estimate and measure the distance their boat floats!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Place Value Town

Game - Who can get the most visitors to Place Value Town?
Create a town out of construction paper or blocks with three recreational spots to represent each place value. Use matchbox cars or paper cars for the numbers (0-9). Kids roll a die. Then, park the number car next to the building. The winner is the player that had the most visitors!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Dream Vacation PBL Project



Project-based learning / cooperative groups of 4
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ncaWHZVTZPksE3TFNv865VtZucQkse0-/view?usp=sharing

Tell kids that they get to travel to any destination around the world! The only catch is that they will be going with 3 other classmates (only 1 destination) for 4 days and 3 nights.

Once they decide on a location, they all get an air ticket, which they fill out for their flight. The teacher cuts it and collects their boarding passes. They keep their ticket and attach it to their photo journal (a travel book they make throughout the process).

Next they research the weather forecast for the 4 days they are going so they know what to pack. Then they come up with a list of items that they should bring with them. Once again students must collaborate and decide what to pack. Each group has 1 photo journal (not each individual student). Students take turns drawing / recording in it. 

Then they research a place to stay, record the cost / research places to eat, record the cost / research things to explore, record the cost (+ the cost of traveling there: taxi, bus, rental car, etc.). The research process is the imaginary vacation!


At the end of this project compare what groups spent. Who was money savvy and found cheap lodging, food and entertainment? Who was a big spender and wanted the best of everything?!

Friday, June 1, 2012

Balloon Car




Have kids design a balloon car, bring it to class, and see who's can travel the fastest and farthest. They could uses legossoda capstops of fast food cups, or even cds for wheels. Tell kids to get creative with the car's body. They can make long thin cars or big fat boxed cars. Design elements are completely up to the kids. Their goal is to make a car that is not only fast, but can travel super far. In the classroom, have kids use their measuring skills to figure out the distance their vehicles traveled. Who's car has the most stamina?

See written instructions for Steve Spangler's balloon car (featured above) as well as more racing toy experiments here

Aso check out Design Squad's 2 wheel (made with life savers candy) and 4 wheel balloon car!


image credit: Design Squad Nation (2 wheel balloon car)

Monday, May 21, 2012

Hot Wheels Math

Grab a ruler (yardstick), a bunch of hot wheels vehicles, and some sidewalk chalk for a measuring project! 

1. Set up a mini Nascar stadium with your vehicles! Kids draw lines on the blacktop, creating lanes to separate their cars - number the lanes. Once the lanes are setup, assign each student (or group) a numbered lane. Who's car is the fastest? After you race your cars, measure the distance they rolled from the starting line. Compare the distances and the vehicles.

2. City Project: Kids team up and are given specific measurements for a street. They work together to construct their street. Then, they work with their peers on designing a city. As a class, they decide the placement of each road. After they've completed their roadways, they can add skyscrapers, stores, and signage. They can even make a Fraction City on the pavement (click here for details)!

Note: You could do this activity indoors with masking tape to create roads.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Boomerangs and Paper Planes

Combine art, math, and science with two high flying projects!

SCIENCE - Kids test out four different boomerang designs to find out what shape has the most soaring potential, while learning about aerodynamicsPrint out boomerang templates on cardstock. ART - Besides the templates, try designing your very own boomerang shape. How does it compare to the templates? Trace around your stencils on cardboard and cut. For a large class, have each student in charge of making one boomerang template above and one, one of a kind design (homework). 

Then, comes the big test. MATH - They use their math skills to measure the distance of each boomerang with a tape measurer. Before you test them out, make a prediction. Which boomerang will fly the highest? Which one will soar the farthest? Record the distances of each boomerang on the sheet below. Also, write down your observations. 
ART - Kids research a unique paper plane design and construct it at home. Encourage kids to get super creative with their airplane. No basic paper plane designs! They bring it back to school to see how it flies in comparison to their peers' designs. MATH - Fly the planes outside and measure the distance their planes land. SCIENCE - How does paper plane design, construction, and even adornment affect flying potential? Students record their planes' distance, as well as observations in their notebook.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Rocket Launch

photo credit: Great Fall Elementary via Connection Newspaper
Soda straw rockets from NASA! After you construct your rockets, have a math lesson. See how far your students can launch them! Measure how far they land. What is the best angle to shoot your rocket? NASA Rocket template (download here

photos via family fun
Other Rocket Activities:
Spring a Red Solo Cup Rocket up into the air!
Blast a Bottle Rocket outside!

Friday, January 13, 2012

CD Hovercraft



Estimate your hovercraft's distance. How far do you think it will travel? Measure the distance it traveled.

Have a hovercraft race! Whose went the fastest?

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Catapult Airplane



What's the best angle to launch your plane?! Have kids experiment by launching their plane at different angles. Which angle made the plane go the furthest distance?

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Balloon Rocket Race

Kids love balloon rocket races! Left is one I conducted in my classroom. 

materials: 2 Balloons, 2 (10-15") pieces of string, 2 plastic straws, tape

1. Tie one end of the string to a chair. 
2. Put the other end of the string through the straw.
3. Stretch the string tight and tie it to another chair.
4. Blow up the balloon. Hold the end of the balloon and tape the straw on top of the balloon. You're ready for launch!
5. Let go and watch the rocket fly! Visit Science Bob for the explanation!

Add a little math to this science project by measuring different lengths of string. Does longer string produce better, faster results than shorter string?