Magnificent Machines

Last week, the students learned how to construct a vehicle using energy from wind, muscle and moving water.  This week they learned how you can use the power of the sun, moving water and wind to create electricity.  Upon doing so, they incorporated these elements into their machine designs.  They explained how they would use solar panels or wind turbines to create electricity which would power the lights of their boat, an anchor or jet engines.  When their design was complete, the students then recorded how long it took for their machines to travel 1 meter.  We also looked at other units of measurement such as centimetres, meters, kilometres,  inches and yards.  In doing so they were able to infer which units would help our classroom character best measure the distance he would be traveling on his trip.