By doing this activity, sudents will learn about structural integrity. They will learn how to build structures that are designed to withstand specific forces. In addition, by only providing the students with a limited set of materials, the studnets will also learn about conservation.
The studnets will then be broken into groups and given the materials they will be allowed to use for their designs. The design criteria will be described again. The students will then be given the remainder of the class time, except the last ten minutes, to design and build a structure out of the given material that is able withstand the force of a car that will run down a ramp and into the structure. The students that create a design that can stop the car and that uses the least amount of materials will be the winning design.
The project is designed for children aged 9 to 11. We target at this age range is because our engineering principle requires knowledge of basic physical concepts.
Children would build a stopping block with given materials within a time limit on an attachable platform that will connect to the main ramp. The use of the stopping block is to stop a toy car rolling down from the top of the ramp. For this activity, children would learn physical principles such as gravity, force, momentum and collision. In addtition, they would also learn about how the shape of a design can affect performance.
Activity Box Contents:
This design engages the students in a hands-on building contest. It will appeal to a broad spectrum of personality types. The competitive children will be engaged by the contest. Each child can have their own block to build the barracade, or they can work in groups, depending on the personalities of the students in the class. The part which wears (i.e. the student's block) is replaced with each use. The ramp, which is the largest part, is constructed of a lightweight material like foam. This allows it to be handeled easily.