Lean, Mean, Simple Machines
Facilitators: Connie Coon, Katie Houston, and Miriam Russell
Overview
Teacher Directed:
This module offered
students experiences in realizing the importance and uses of simple machines in
our daily lives. Students viewed examples of simple machines, documented simple
machines on our campus, explored common products that utilize simple machines,
experimented with combining reactions of simple machines, and created simple
machine inventions. In concluding the module, students worked together to
invent a Rube Goldberg style invention to accomplish a given task that demonstrated
an understanding of the uses of multiple simple machines.
Student directed:
Come and explore the
complexity of simple machines in our daily lives! Join us as we discover simple
machines and their uses all around us. We’ll explore toys and common products
that use simple machines to entertain us or make our lives easier. Engineering
minds will thrive on experimenting with and combining reactions of simple
machines. Express your creative spirit by designing and making a Rube Goldberg
style invention to accomplish a given task that will demonstrate your
understanding of simple machines.
Guiding Questions
How do you choose the
most appropriate simple machine(s) to achieve a given task?
What are some products
that involve the use of simple machines?
How do simple and complex
machines impact daily living and careers?
Experiences
Simple Machines (Introduction)
The workshop began by
brainstorming ideas about simple machines, where they were found, and what they
do. After brainstorming, pictures of
various simple machines were presented.
A definition and the work of each were discussed. Participants were shown a video of the
Flintstones and tried to identify the simple machines used in the clip. After being introduced to simple machines,
the students had the opportunity to follow up by listing simple machines used
in their everyday activities.
Simple Machine
Scavenger Hunt
After a knowledge base
had been established for simple machines, students were encouraged to develop
an example board to demonstrate common uses of student selected simple
machines. In small groups a digital camera was utilized to take photos of
simple machines that were located in a specified area on the WCU campus. A note
taker was selected within each group to take notes that identified the simple
machine, the work it was doing, and how it made the task easier to accomplish.
After a specified amount of time, groups returned to select five photos from
their collection to be printed. The notes taken during the experience were used
to prepare a brief description for each photo using MS Word. Descriptions were
printed, and each group assembled a matte board with the photos and brief
descriptions. Completed boards were presented and displayed.
Cartoon Complex Machines
Several pictures of Rube Goldberg’s elaborate
cartoon drawings that show several simple machines put together to form a
complex machine to accomplish mundane and sometimes silly tasks were viewed.
The teacher showed several pictures on the Promethean board of Goldberg’s
cartoons involving machines. Several laminated pictures were also passed around
the room for students to view. Student sketched a Goldberg-like machine.
Marble Motion
Students were divided
into small groups to create a track that will transport a marble the longest
distance possible while not allowing the marble to touch the surface of the
table.
Reverse Engineering
Through this experience,
the concept of how the technique of reverse engineering was used to improve
technology by taking machines apart, understanding how they work, and
suggesting and developing improvements to the machines. Participants were
invited to take apart the machine to look at the inner mechanisms. Students
chose to create a new and improved diagram of the actual machine or make a list
of improvements that could make the machine more efficient or user-friendly.
Fix
This House!
Students
were introduced to a scenario; a ramshackle house is in need of repair. The
roof leaks, the refrigerator is broken, it needs paint, etc. To fix the home,
tools will be needed. Many tools are simple machines. A screwdriver, for
example, is a lever, as is a refrigerator dolly. The dolly might be wheeled up
a ramp, which is an inclined plane. A pulley might be used to raise roofing
shingles to the roof. The goal is for students to pick five tasks they are
going to do, and describe how they will do the task, including the tools they
will use. Participants were encouraged to write a paragraph or draw a picture
to describe five different simple machines they would use and an explanation of
how these machines work.
Culminating Experience: Candle Extinguisher
Students were given the
goal of creating a complex machine that would extinguish a candle flame. The
machine must include a minimum of three chain reactions and three of the
following simple machines.
