Having your students create a marble run can be a fantastic learning experience for your students, and it makes a great STEM project, too. You might even be able to get the materials for free from DonorsChoose or the Marble Genius Ambassador program!
If students search for all 10 machines in all four rooms of the house and identify compound machines in the tool shed, it will take them approximately 35-45 minutes. However, if time is limited, students can search one room at a time, for about 10 minutes of class time.
Looking for some major student engagement? Teaching students about forces is a lot of fun because you can use toys! You can use playground equipment, pull-back cars, toy cars, marbles, balloon rockets, yo-yos, and spinning tops. During our study of force, my 5th grade classes completed a 2 day experiment using the scientific method to determine if mass affects the distance a toy car will travel down a ramp. I wanted to focus specifically on science process skills with this activity.
If you need to move or lift a heavy object, it would be wise to use a simple machine. Though these devices are far from fancy or high-tech, they are extremely helpful for getting work done.
Having your students create a marble run can be a fantastic learning experience for your students, and it makes a great STEM project, too. You might even be able to get the materials for free from DonorsChoose or the Marble Genius Ambassador program!
If students search for all 10 machines in all four rooms of the house and identify compound machines in the tool shed, it will take them approximately 35-45 minutes. However, if time is limited, students can search one room at a time, for about 10 minutes of class time.
Looking for some major student engagement? Teaching students about forces is a lot of fun because you can use toys! You can use playground equipment, pull-back cars, toy cars, marbles, balloon rockets, yo-yos, and spinning tops. During our study of force, my 5th grade classes completed a 2 day experiment using the scientific method to determine if mass affects the distance a toy car will travel down a ramp. I wanted to focus specifically on science process skills with this activity.
If you need to move or lift a heavy object, it would be wise to use a simple machine. Though these devices are far from fancy or high-tech, they are extremely helpful for getting work done.
