Students have been given an engineering challenge. The challenge is to build a vertical marble maze that will move a marble from top to bottom in the longest time possible. Students should use at least 3 simple machines, but are encouraged to use all 6 for bonus points. The mazes should be no taller than 24 inches and be able to fit on a student's desk. The research and planning will take place at school. Students should build the maze as part of their homework. A written report of how the maze works will also be completed at school. The mazes are due on December 18. For websites to use for research and further information
click here.
Energy Enrichment
Since we are focusing on work and simple machines in science right now, what better way to enrich the topic by researching and reporting on the various sources of energy on our planet used to do work. Sure, we can tell you how machines make work easier, but heres an opportunity to delve in deeper and learn about how an energy source has evolved over time.
Students should research their energy source at home or the library using encyclopedias, other books, the Internet and so on. They will then write a report about the history of the energy source, the advances made throughout history, how we use the energy source today and what it might be like in the future.
The report should be accompanied by a visual aide (poster, model, diagram, etc
) and students will present their learnings to the class. This project is due before Christmas break (Dec. 23).