Slow Rollers
What is the engineering principle that the children will learn?
Slow rollers introduce the children to the concept of friction, they can see how mass, texture,and shape can affect the speed of an object
What is the activity?
Given wheels of different textures, the child will place them on the slow roller car to see what wheels make the car go faster or slower
What age group is the activity designed for?
This activity would be appropriate for children in kindergarden through fourth or fifth grade.
What will the children do and how will they learn by doing your activity?
By experimenting with different materials, they will learn how friction changes the motion of an object, with the goal of either creating the slowest moving car, or the fastest car.
What supplies will be needed? What needs to be manufactured? If appropriate,
include a sketch of the activity.
To make the slow rolling car, a can (preferably of uniform shape with a lid), a rubber band, two popsicle sticks, and two circular pieces of foamcore/cardboard. The wheels are circles of foamcore with a slit to make them fit the car, covered in various fabrics/materials such as felt, cordouroy, aluminum foil, wax paper, etc.
39-245 Rapid Prototyping and Design
June Liersaph,
Lara Thomas, and Dominique Trinh