Tinkertown: Engineering
/I run a monthly program for elementary school students to explore STEAM topics. We've experimented with squishy circuits, Makey-Makeys, floatation and coding. This past February, we did engineering. I did a fair amount of research to find activities that weren't homeworky but were still rooted in SCIENCE.
COLUMNS
We tested the weight that columns could support. I started and made three columns of various shapes - triangle, circle, and square - and we started loading them up with weight (books, of course, because we're a library!). I think we managed to get five books before it collapsed. We noted, via the scientific method, which column failed (the square) and I set them free to try their own experiments.
These guys tried taping their columns together, which wasn't super effective, but gave us an opportunity to talk about larger bases. Larger bases spread out the weight of a building over a larger area. This makes the whole building more stable. So we tried another experiment. I stood still with my feet together and asked one of the kids to push me hard. I was easily moved. But then I stood with my feet apart (power pose!) and had them try again and I didn't move at all. It was a really good and effective demonstration. We also talked about the power of triangles when we did this too. Triangles don't shift or twist as easily as squares of rectangles do. This makes triangles useful in structures that need to be strong.
This little lady had the right idea - six circular columns. She started stacking....
We ran out of materials before she could collapse her columns.
POST AND LINTEL
We talked about the post and lintel system before testing it out too. When you put a top, or a lintel, on several columns, or posts, the structure can bear much more weight than any of the columns could individually. To test this out, we used dixie cups and trays. I gave everyone one dixie cup and asked them to stand on it. Of course we just ended up crushing the cups. We put six down and put a tray over top and two boys could stand on top of it without crushing it. We put multiple layers down - dixie cups, tray, dixie cups, tray, etc and got at least four kids on top of our structure solidly. I was inspired by this blog post.
FREE BUILD
After that, we did some free building. I had toothpicks and jelly beans and gum drops, Popsicle sticks and clothespins, and a set of Strawbees. The kids went to town!
This was definitely a huge success for me and I learned a good deal about how to structure these activities so the kids can get hands-on experience while also learning and experimenting.