Summer SAVY, Session 5 Day 2, Engineering Design (Allison) (1st – 2nd)
Tuesday was another fun-filled day of learning in class!
Today’s read-aloud featured two books in the same series by Andrea Beaty: Rosie Revere, Engineer, and Iggy Peck, Architect. Yesterday, students had questions about the difference between civil engineers and architects. Using these books, we completed a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two careers.
Our first experiment today was a demonstration of Newton’s Third Law of Motion. A balloon filled with air was taped to a straw that was threaded onto a horizontal string. Students watched what happened as the air was released. When the air pushed out of the balloon, the balloon quickly traveled down the string in the opposite direction. We made a connection to nature, comparing our demonstration to a bird’s wings pushing down as it flies, with the equal and opposite reaction of air pushing up on the bird. Your child can tell you other real-world examples of Newton’s Third Law.
Today, the big idea of systems was introduced. We learned these generalizations about systems and connected our experiment to the systems generalizations.
Systems…
- have parts that work together to complete a task
- have parts that interact
- follow rules
- may be influenced by other systems
- may have sub-systems
This afternoon, our focus was on force. For this class, we defined force as any push/pull on an object. Students worked in engineering teams and used Strawbees to design and build a one-story structure and a multi-story tower. We observed how a force (wind) pushed on the structures. Students figured out ways to make improvements to their structures to withstand the forces. We looked at pictures of the Parthenon and a tent and discussed how natural forces would impact each.
As we’ve enjoyed outdoor snacks, we’ve noticed columns and arches on buildings on campus. As you drive to campus tomorrow, you can help reinforce these concepts by asking students to name/describe the parts of bridges and buildings you see using our class vocabulary: abutments, piers, columns, span, and technology. Hint: Overpasses are a common bridge near campus.
Tomorrow, we will learn about equilibrium and balance, and we learn more bridge vocabulary. We will also build bridges as construction teams, test the bridges, and make improvements.