Gears vs. Pulleys on Solar Cars

Grades:
4-6
Unit:
Lesson Number:
1
Description:

Students will design an investigation to test differences between solar vehicles. This is an excellent follow-up lesson to the solar boat activity or any other activity in which students have already experimented with other types of solar vehicles. However...

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Learning Goal(s):
Students will design an investigation to test differences between solar vehicles. They will make claims based on backing evidence, without having directly tested their vehicles before this point. They will use background knowledge regarding pulleys and gears in order to begin the design process. Students will determine which specific design they will be moving forward with for the next lesson.
Pedagogy & Practice:
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
Author:
Carol Patrick
Relevant NGSS PE:
Estimated Activity Length:
30 min
 Foil Barge

What is Force?

Grades:
4-6
Unit:
Lesson Number:
3
Description:

Students will build a barge out of tin foil and describe the forces acting it. The barge itself is designed only with the constraints that passengers within the barge will not get wet, allowing for students to experiment with different shapes and...

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Learning Goal(s):
Students will identify the Laws of Motion and learn about the forces acting on the system. There are multiple forces acting on a boat, some of these forces include, acceleration, friction, gravity and thrust.
Author:
Carol Patrick
Other Subjects Covered:
Estimated Activity Length:
1 hour

Solar Boat Science Investigation

Grades:
4-6
Unit:
Lesson Number:
6
Description:

Design a science investigation to test a solar speedboat, airboat, and surface submarine. Students will use the “Planning an Investigation Template” in order to determine their motivations for designing a solar boat, make predictions about the outcomes...

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Learning Goal(s):
Students will design an investigation to test three models of solar vehicles. Students will justify which materials will be used in their construction. Students will be able to support their design with reasoning. Students will determine different methods of collecting data from their experiment relating to three types of solar boats.
Author:
Carol Patrick
Other Subjects Covered:
Estimated Activity Length:
50 min
Solar Boat Race

Collect Data and Compare Performance of Different Boat Designs

Grades:
4-6
Unit:
Lesson Number:
8
Description:

Students will race the solar speedboats, airboats, and surface submarines and then compare the performance results and of the various types of solar boats made by the class. Students will compare and contrast forces acting on the system by examining the...

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More Details Less Details
Learning Goal(s):
Students will compare and contrast forces acting on the system by examining the results of the airboat, speedboat and surface submarine races. Students will collect quantitative and qualitative data points that denote the effectiveness of each boat design. Students will compare observations made during the race and draw conclusions from these observations.
NGSS Science and Engineering Practices:
Author:
Carol Patrick
Other Subjects Covered:
Estimated Activity Length:
0 sec