Following in the footsteps of local toy-maker, A.C. Gilbert, we introduce our take on the popular Erector Set.
Design a car with interchangeable parts. Our wooden girder system provides a world of possibilities. Young designers can depend on the consistency of the parts to envision a unique design. Combine girders, wheels, and dowels to solve a design challenge. Test out your invention, adjust it, and try again. The possibilities are endless!
Learn how geography, weather, culture, tradition, natural resources, and purpose, all contribute to the design and construction of shelter. With an introduction of houses around the world from Arthur Dorros' This is My House*, students will build their own houses with front or side yards, chimney, doorbell, fences, trees, steps, porch, flowers…whatever they can 'see' in their mind's eye as they walk toward their own front door. Consider what materials are available and build a family. Consider the problems your walls will protect them from: rain, snow, heat, fire, winds, floods, mice, bugs or wolves.
*© 1992 Scholastic Hardcover by Arthur Dorros.
Our Paddlewheel boat is inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's study of water. Da Vinci envisioned boats that the future would bring, drawing them in his notebooks. Construct and test his paddlewheel boat. Our design is powered by a rubber band. During the warmer months, you can test it out in our water lab for the complete experience.
The Whitney Relay is a set of interconnectable parts that lets students master the art and science of energy transfer in the tradition of the Rube Goldberg Machine or its contemporary Japanese masterpiece: the Pythagoras Switch. Each student receives ramps, marbles, blocks, and assorted parts to construct a chain reaction that could include your whole class—thoughtful lessons in mechanics, invention, and teamwork.
This project spans the ages and is a popular program for Adult Professional Development groups. We can use it as a hands-on means to teach a variety of concepts.
The power of machines guides and eases work. The screws, threads, levers and pulleys of this machine organize effort into power you can feel. Students assemble interchangeable parts and invent a personality for their machine while experimenting with all Simple Machines and testing them first hand.
The bridge is one of humanity's greatest engineering achievements. Crossing obstacles to connect people and places, bridges are a natural laboratory for engineering. They test the strength and durability of materials. They lead to the natural use of geometry and load dispersion to stay standing and carry weight. Construct two model bridges that help you identify different solutions to the challenge of spanning a gap.
In this lesson, students will construct two approaches to the same problem: a Keystone bridge, which can hold more weight than you'd imagine, and a puzzle bridge designed by Leonardo daVinci. Both are built without glue and still hold strong.
The English Scientist, Neil Downie, has written three volumes of Saturday Science Projects. His designs are remarkably original and thoughtful, explaining the math and science of every project. Sometimes you have to strip away all the non-essential parts to see an idea at work. Neil Downie proposes a clever study of the exchange of speed for force. A second array of pulleys float between input pulleys and the output pulley. An elegant display of force in motion. Counting on friends: what can your little acrobats tell you about the changes in speed or power (torque)? nspired by: Neil A. Downie Vacuum Bazookas, Electric Rainbow Jelly Princeton University Press.© 2001, p 121
Build a remarkable drawing machine from a 1913 design, adapted by our apprentices and staff. Since its first adaptation, it's been revised many more times.
We will teach you some ways to program it. Then you will go on to invent your own programs. Can you decipher the code of a drawing?
Experiment with three variables. Observe the slight variations in your drawings by adjusting these variables. Postulate, play, and create beautiful works of algorithmic art!
Study motion by building a spiral track for a marble to follow. Understand gravity, friction, inertia. Do you build from the bottom up or the top down? Make discoveries while creating a fun game.
Students will have fun exploring why different bird beaks look the way they do. Why are some birds' beaks pointy or curved, long or short? The same questions hold for other animals and plants. Discuss bird beak adaptations and learn about Darwin’s discoveries through his observations of Finches during his expedition to the Galapagos Islands in 1835.
Build an armature with the beak of a bird at the end. Operate it in an optimal way that allows the beak you are given to work most effectively. Discover why it's shaped the way it is and experiment with picking up different materials with the beaks. Discover anything? Adaptation happens when the need arises for survival.
There are 4 different sets of beaks: (Each student builds one that we pass out randomly)
Seed Eaters
Fruit Eaters
Insect Eaters
Raptors
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