Build an Automobile
Science activities satisfy natural curiosities and are motivational for future learning. Students are challenged to design and build a "car" that can roll and move down an inclined plane, and with pushing force, on a flat surface. Please encourage your child to be creative and as independent as possible when selecting materials to build with (minimal adult assistance please).
Students will get to choose what materials they will use for this project. Part of the engineering design process is deciding what materials to use and then testing them. The children will complete this assignment in class. Here are some examples:
- Round objects to use as wheels, like CDs or bottle caps
- Straight objects to use as axles, like pencils, popsicle sticks or wooden skewers
- Construction materials for the body of your car, like kleenex boxes, plastic bottles, plastic cups, yogurt drink containers.
- Different materials to attach things together, like tape and rubber bands
All Materials are to be brought to school for “building” day on Wednesday, March 28th
Key Vocabulary
axle - a rod that connects two wheels so they can turn
chassis - the frame that connects the two axles
wheel - disc that turns on an axis
ramp - inclined plane that something can roll down
test - to check if a designed structure works
engineer - a person who designs, builds and tests things
model - something that represents a real object
