Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Kindergarten as Mechanical Engineers!

You will finally see how all those milk cartons we have been collecting are going to be used!
These 44 milk cartons are ready to become windmills!

This unit started out with reading a story to set up our problem.  We learned of two cousins in Denmark who were looking for a way to build a windmill that would lift something out of a pond.  Through lots of investigation we discovered how to best "capture the wind" using various materials.  The students first built sails and we tested them on a sail track.  We learned about material, size, angle, and sturdiness when making best use of the wind energy.  Sometimes it took several tries to get it right!  When we found a certain material that worked best or a type of construction that seemed to work, the students shared their findings.  We were then ready to construct our windmills!

A collection of sails
Sail testing day! It's hard to see, but the track is made of fishing wire.


The first sail to be tested!


A totally different type of sail to be tested



Students look on to see if their sail can move across the track!




Windmill testing day!

Windmill testing day!



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