Summer SAVY, Session 6 Day 1, Creative Contraptions (1st – 2nd)
What a great day we had at SAVY for Creative Contraptions! The emphasis was on problem-solving and work! How can we make work simpler and more effective? Can problems in my environment be scientifically solved through invention? What problems do I see around me in the physical world? What can I observe and what questions can I ask to be a problem-solver?
The students studied the concept of systems by examining a familiar object: a car. Systems have boundaries and elements, as well as inputs and outputs. Interactions are statements made about the connections and relationships between all these parts. Systems can be functional or dysfunctional. Variations or changes in the parts of a system will result in changes in the outputs. While a car is a physical system such as the solar system, a digestive system, and an ecosystem, we are also understanding more abstract systems such as transportation, communication, or educational systems. What other systems can your family identify and how are they functioning? Are they changing?
We began by examining a big problem and a solution – severe weather safety and a “safe room” that can be installed under a bed! We observed the links below and you may enjoy them as well. We learned how scientists process through observation, questioning, research, investigation of a hypothesis, and finally analysis and the sharing of outcomes. We are working through this process ourselves by investigating motion, force, and friction with trucks and different “road surfaces”. We are expanding our understanding of the scientific investigative process.
Tomorrow, we will resume our scientific investigative processes and look for more problems in our physical world. What problems can your child work to resolve in your home through investigations and creating inventions?