We Provide STEM Education for Kids!
The kids had an amazing time working on The Balance, and I was happy to see that almost all of them, including our new students, understood the material well and finished on time. The Balance helps the kids understand the concept of weight measurement. Also, their homework allows them to sharpen their math skills. Next week we will be working on The Hammer and will introduce new concepts.
Build the Lego hammer, mimic the nail drive, make a presentation. Students conducted the experiment to observe how many times are needed to hit the axis into the anvil. During the experiment, the students need to change the cam wheel position, so the potential energy of the hammer varies thus the kinetics energy. The STEM information behind this section is the energy transformation between the potential and kinetics energy as well as friction forces. All the students finished the model building part and did the experiment with different level. Did you see some rolling hammer car before? here you go! Kevin build a very unique hammer car!
We build a hammer today. The hammer is used to punch the nail into the gear, by which we can feel what the friction is and how different friction in different gear. Students first built a Lego hammer, which can be used to mimic the nail drive. They conducted the experiment to observe how many times are needed to hit the axis into the anvil. During the experiment, the students need to change the cam wheel position, so the potential energy of the hammer varies thus the kinetics energy. The STEM information behind this section is the energy transformation between the potential and kinetics energy as well as friction forces. All the students finished the model building part and did the experiment with different level. They enjoyed this section. After that, some of them change their hammer to a car or some hammer car or car hammer…. LOL what a great idea!
Tutor Paul
The topic of today is the energy transfer study using the boat pulley built during the class. The students first built a mimic boat pulley model, then they conducted the experiment to lift the load up and observed the energy consumption. The students also calculated energy efficiency using the built model, which is one of the essential engineering concepts. The STEM information behind this section is the energy transformation between the electrical and potential energy. All the students finished the model building part and did the experiment with different level. They enjoyed this section.
Dr. Jie
The topic of today is the Hammer building. The students first built a Lego hammer, which can be used to mimic the nail drive. They conducted the experiment to observe how many times are needed to hit the axis into the anvil. During the experiment, the students need to change the cam wheel position, so the potential energy of the hammer varies thus the kinetics energy. The STEM information behind this section is the energy transformation between the potential and kinetics energy as well as friction forces. All the students finished the model building part and did the experiment with different level. They enjoyed this section.
Dr. Jie
The theme of today is the wind turbine. Generally speaking, this section works pretty well. Quoted from Paul: “this is the most successful sections ever of Phase III. “
The model the students built is a wind turbine, which was used to charge the power meter during the experiment section. In the charging process, the wind turbine transferred the wind energy generated by a fan to electrical energy stored in the power meter. The experiment is a very good mimic to the real wind turbines used in industry. We can see many wind turbines on the way to the Waterton Lake National park. The students finished the model building part quick, and then they all came to the experiment table and conducted the experiment. During which I explained the STEM information to each of them, which is the power equals to voltage multiplies current. All students finished the experiments and filled the lab sheets. They love challenging projects.
The kids took their time to work on The Hammer. Even though the work was more challenging than before, they still enjoyed the process and were able to finish their project. The Hammer allows them to learn about the concept of force and to do measurements with different parts, and so it was a good practice for them to learn such physical concepts. Next week we will be working on The Sweeper, which is a mechanical vehicle that lets them sweep the surface.
Mr. Amir
The kids have been on a great learning curve lately with all of our previous projects, and yesterday we decided work on a little more challenging design. They took their time to work on The Ramp. Even though the work was more challenging than before, they still enjoyed the process and were able to finish their project. The Ramp allows them to learn about the concepts of weight, force and also to do measurements with different parts. It was a great opportunity for them to learn such physical concepts. Next week we will be working on the Trundle Wheel, which is a mechanical device that lets them measure the length of the surface.
Mr. Amir
1) Had students build a Beam Balance as well as a weight set
2) The balance was used to to teach the principles of torque and forces on a lever.
3) Most students were very happy that they got to play with the balance though some did struggle
4) Next week we will be studying friction as well as building a hammer and anvil
5) Please ask the students to do cleanup and not to hesitate to ask for help in completing their builds
The topic of today is the beam balance study. The students first built a beam balance and loads model, then observed the mechanical equilibrium in the aid of the built model. The STEM information behind this section is the mechanical advantage of the lever system. All the students finished the model building part and did the balance experiments with different level. They enjoyed this section.
