Saturday SAVY, Day 1, Creative Contraptions (1st-2nd)
Hello parents and families! We had such a wonderful first day of learning and growing together in Creative Contraptions. Thank you for sharing your eager inventors with us! Today, we embarked on an exciting journey into the world of systems and inventions. Here’s a glimpse of what we explored:
Understanding Systems with a Car Example
We kicked off our session by discussing what a system is. Using a car as our example, we learned that systems have parts, boundaries, inputs, and outputs. We discovered that the interactions and outputs of a system change when its inputs, elements, or boundaries change. This foundational concept helped us see the world in a new, interconnected way. Ask your child what happens to a car when a boundary is changed!
The Wheel of Scientific Investigation and Reasoning
Next, we delved into the wheel of scientific investigation and reasoning, exploring what scientists do. This included making observations, asking questions, learning more, designing and conducting experiments, creating meaning, and telling others what was found. Our young scientists were eager to understand how these steps help in discovering new knowledge and solving problems.
Exploring Force and Motion
We then talked about force and motion, fundamental concepts that explain how things move and interact. The students were fascinated by how these principles apply to everyday objects and activities. Ask your child about the toy car and truck experiment! When did they have potential energy? When did they have kinetic energy? When were they in motion? What forces made them move?
The Power of Inventions
Our discussion on inventions highlighted how they solve problems and improve our lives. Each student had the opportunity to redesign a car to enhance it in some way. Ask your child about their car invention and how it could solve a problem or even change the world! Some inventors even came up with creative and silly names for their inventions 😊
Rube Goldberg Inventions and Simple Machines
We studied Rube Goldberg invention illustrations, which are fun and complex machines designed to perform simple tasks. This led us to identify and discuss the six kinds of simple machines: the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, and screw. Each student then added a simple machine to their car invention to make work easier. Ask your child how they improved their invention!
Looking Ahead: Brainstorming and Creating
As the week progresses, encourage your child to brainstorm problems in the world that they can solve with an invention. Next week, we will dive deeper into our study of simple machines and begin creating our own inventions.
Stay tuned for more updates on our inventive adventures! Feel free to ask your child about their ideas and the exciting things we are learning in class.
Let’s keep the creativity and curiosity flowing! 🚗💡🔧