Summer SAVY Session 1, Day 1 – Creative Contraptions (Kent)
Day 1: We had a wonderful day getting to know each other. This morning we learned a little about each other and established some expectations for working together.
In working towards our objective of imagining and creating our own inventions to solve real-world problems, we started by determining what scientists are, what they do, and how scientists use systems as a method for accomplishing their purposes and goals.
We then thought like scientists making observations, asking questions, learning more, designing and conducting an experiment, creating meaning from the experiment, and telling others what was found. Our first hands-on experiment today was building ramps and testing different surfaces to see how far a car would go on each. We defined motion, force, kinetic and potential energy, and friction.
Some dinner table questions might be:
- What do you know about scientists?
- How did the Crow in the fable The Crow and the Pitcher use observations to solve his problem? What was the moral of this fable?
- Why is it important to have a smooth roadway? On which surface would you be able to move the fastest? Why not a rough or bumpy roadway? How would you describe friction?
Have a lovely evening and I look forward to working with our budding scientists tomorrow,
Dr. Jacqueline Kent
A few photos from the day:
