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Introduction:
Imagine
if you will, a world without bicycles, cars, trains or airplanes.
Imagine a world without fridges, stoves or tools.
What do all these things have in common?
They are machines and they play a very important role in all of our
lives.
Machines are responsible for making the everyday jobs we do that much easier. They allow you to complete a task with much less effort and bother. In many cases they make the impossible a reality. Without simple machines, you would not be reading this on the computer. Without simple machines, flight would be impossible. There are so many things we do daily that could not be accomplished without simple machines. Imagine what your life would be like without them.
Performance
Task:
This
project is divided into two parts. The
first part involves working in small teams to produce a research project.
The second component requires you to put your knowledge to work and
create an invention for the Invention Convention.
For
this project you will explore the six simple machines- inclined plane, screw,
wedge, lever, pulley, and wheel and axle - and their importance to many
inventions that we use in our every day lives.
You will work in a team to uncover information about these six simple
machines. As a team, you will
access the Internet and other resources to search for information.
Together you will create an informative research project on the six
simple machines.
The
Process:
In your
team of three to four students, each member will be responsible for searching
several websites and other resources to locate information on each of the simple
machines. As a group you will
determine who is responsible for what information.
Individual members will be required to keep track of the data they
collect on a tracking sheet. All
websites, articles, books and other resources that are used must be noted on the
tracking sheet next to the information found in them.
Remember you are working as part of a team.
Your group members are counting on you to provide them with accurate
information that it easy to read and understand.
Once
the data collection is complete, each group member will share what he or she has
learned. Together your will gather
your information together into a PowerPoint presentation that you will present
to the class.
With
your team, your job will be to:
Once
you have become an expert on simple machines, you will need to use that
expertise to help solve a problem and make people’s lives simpler. You will scrounge for ideas you can improve upon or modify.
You will look in newspapers, magazines, and books, you will search the
Internet, and you will ask others for problems that need to be solved.
There are a lot of them out there just waiting for you to find them!
When
you have found the problem you want to solve, design the invention that is going
to make you famous. Keep these tips
in mind while creating your invention.
Ø
Be creative- A
brick is not just a brick. It is also a paperweight, an anchor or an exercise
weight.
Ø Be visual- Imagine how objects would look if they were combined in some way.
Ø
Don’t
reinvent the wheel- most inventions are never entirely new.
They are a combination of other objects and ideas that have be put
together in a new way to serve a new purpose.
Think of scissors. They are
simply two knives with rings for handles connected by a pivot.
While
creating, you will record the problem you are going to solve, the solution to
that problem, the steps you took to create your invention (including
photographs), how your invention works, the materials you used to create your
invention and draw a labeled diagram of your invention.
When your invention is complete, you will share it at the Invention
Convention.
As an
individual, your job will be to:
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