Summer SAVY 2018: Session 5, Day 1 – Marvelous Mechanisms (Rising 5th/6th)
The first day of Marvelous Mechanisms is finished! We had a fabulous
time getting to know one another, drawing, and learning about the
kinematics (motion analysis) of pulley systems. The picture shows the
class materials the students have been using to sketch as well as
formally draft their ideas. Each notebook has a pad of engineering
paper, a pencil pouch, two drawing triangles that contain a protractor
and a french curve, an architect’s scale, and the all-important Mars
brand plastic eraser. We drew our names as a warm up, and quickly moved
on to pulley systems with multiple objects and multiple pulleys. We
used math to analyze two example systems, and then moved to the hallway
to verify our analysis experimentally with string, binder rings, and
two long tape measures. Some students acted as fixed pulleys and
movable objects while others measured their positions and took down
data. At the end of the day we spent some time coming up with creative,
more complicated systems we will attempt to analyze tomorrow morning.
Stay tuned!
Dr. Jay Bernheisel
