The topic of today is the Click-Clock that uses a pendulum system to keep tracking of time. A pendulum is a mechanism with a string hanging from a fixed spot with a weight at one end that can swing back and forth. The click clock model we built today is exactly the same mechanism as the grandfather clock. Today, engineers also use them for detecting earthquakes and helping buildings resist shaking. Engineers use pendulums to measure how fast a bullet is flying and to help robots balance.
The STEM information of Click-Clock is the physics rules of the pendulum. The pendulum’s period is only affected by the length of the string, and the mass of the bob as well as the swings through angle (smaller than 57.3 degrees) don’t affect the period of a pendulum. This unintuitive fact was verified by the students’ three test, they were amazed by the beauty of physics.
The model is relatively complex for some student even though they worked as a team. Students with different level should be considered. The swinging part is the most troublesome to cause model building failure.
