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For this simple machines lesson, I brought showed the students a short video clip about simple machines. I explained the 5 types of simple machines and asked them all to bring at least one simple machine from home and show and tell about it to the class the next day. This was a very fun activity, and the students brought in many simple machines ranging from scissors to screws to Lego see saws.
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Simple Machines, part 1/2
More science games & videos on Simple Machines at NeoK12.com  

For this simple machines lesson, I brought showed the students a short video clip about simple machines. I explained the 5 types of simple machines and asked them all to bring at least one simple machine from home and show and tell about it to the class the next day. This was a very fun activity, and the students brought in many simple machines ranging from scissors to screws to Lego see saws.
{simplemachines_1.gif}
Simple Machines, part 1/2
More science games & videos on Simple Machines at NeoK12.com  

This lesson was about teaching kids how to think and plan according to the principles of the Engineering Design Process. These principles are ask, imagine, plan, improve, and create.
I made an example and explained my process of thinking to the students. I told them that I first thought about how to make the structure stand up. I decided that I would stand the index cards up and put a support in the middle to help it stand up. I ended up folding each card in half, then standing them up, and taping them together to form a hexagon shape.
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I challenged my students to make a structure that would support weight by using the same materials of six index cards and 18 inches of tape. I had the students assess the strength of their objects by stacking textbooks from the classroom on top of the structure. All of the students did a wonderful job, and the most weight one of the structures could hold was average size 10 textbooks.

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This lesson was based on reusing or recycling materials to make a new object. I made a banjo from cardboard, rubber bands, and gift wrap, and demonstrated it to the students. I used this object to make music and help students understand how sound is produced by vibrating objects and how sound can be varied by changing the rate of vibration. I asked my students to find objects I could use that are common in a household,and use them to make a useful or recreational object. We worked on these projects in class, and students made various objects, such as a coke can and string telephone, a milk jug "piggy bank" and newspaper hat.
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