Last month we were asked to do a STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) related activity with the Summer Enrichment Program at Gobin Memorial Church. It’s a great program which provides positive interactions for at-risk kids in Putnam County. Their goal was exposing these elementary aged kids to a STEM activity; I also wanted them to make something that they could experiment with at home.
We originally looked at doing something with Brushbots, but it turns out those kits are hard to find now & pricey. For Castlemakers Kids we built our own from scratch, but didn’t have enough pager motors on hand & ordering in bulk would take too long. So I settled on making catapults using wooden craft sticks and rubber bands.
There’s a lot of different craft stick catapult designs, but we went for simplicity. Had to, there were more than 60 kids in two sessions – plus only around an hour to build them. The large range of ages, 2nd through 6th grade, meant some would get the ‘lesson’ and others would have no idea what I talked about, but at least they were exposed to it!
After dropping a few names, like Galileo & Newton, I explained the basics of a lever using a see-saw example. Also mentioned Newton’s laws and apples falling from trees; then told them they were to decide which would hurl further – a marshmallow or a grape. This craft stick design can provide fairly consistent force input since everyone pretty much pulls it back all the way (who doesn’t want to launch it the furthest!).
The kids each build a catapult with 6-8 kids and 1-2 counselors helping at each table. It worked well, especially considering there wasn’t time to coach the counselors first. Everyone involved certainly had fun and when they’re exposed to levers and Newton in a more academic setting they will have heard of it. Lessons learned: Grapes have more mass than mini-marshmallows but don’t go as far & the model I made with a binder clip (stronger spring/more force) definitely shot things further. Mini-peppers… well things were degenerating at that point & we ran out of time.
We didn’t have enough bottle caps to glue on the throwing arm (they still work without them), and several of them were going to add when they got home so they could launch more. I also brought one with a longer lever (2 craft sticks), hopefully a few of them made those at home!
Mwezi uliopita tulipewa kazi ya STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) na Programu ya Utajiri wa Majira ya joto katika Kanisa la Ukumbusho la Gobin. Ni programu kubwa ambayo hutoa mwingiliano chanya kwa ajili ya watoto katika hatari katika Putnam County. Lengo la mradi huo ni kuwafanya wanafunzi wa shule ya msingi wajifunze masomo ya STEM na kuweza kufanya mazoezi ya nyumbani. Mwanzoni tulitafuta kufanya kitu na Brushbots, lakini inageuka kwamba vifaa hivyo ni vigumu kupata sasa & ghali. Kwa Castlemakers Kids tulijenga yetu wenyewe kutoka mwanzo, lakini hatukuwa na motors kutosha pager juu ya mkono na kuagiza kwa wingi itachukua muda mrefu sana. Kwa hiyo niliamua kutengeneza makombora kwa kutumia vijiti vya mbao na mikanda ya mpira. Kuna mengi ya tofauti ya ufundi fimbo catapult miundo, lakini sisi akaenda kwa ajili ya unyenyekevu. Kwa kweli, kuna zaidi ya watoto 60 katika vikao viwili - pamoja na tu karibu saa moja ya kujenga yao. Aina kubwa ya umri, kutoka darasa la pili hadi la sita, ilimaanisha kwamba baadhi wangepata'somo' na wengine hawatakuwa na wazo la kile nilichosema, lakini angalau walifunuliwa! Baada ya kuacha majina machache, kama Galileo na Newton, nilielezea misingi ya lever kwa kutumia mfano wa kuona-kuona. Pia alitaja sheria za Newton na maapulo kuanguka kutoka miti; kisha aliwaambia walikuwa kuamua ambayo ingekuwa kutupa zaidi <unk> marshmallow au zabibu. Hii craft fimbo kubuni inaweza kutoa kiasi thabiti nguvu pembejeo tangu kila mtu pretty much pulls ni nyuma njia yote (ambaye hataki kutupa ni mbali zaidi!). Kila mmoja wa watoto anajenga catapult na watoto 6-8 na washauri 1-2 wakisaidia kwenye kila meza. Ilifanya kazi vizuri, hasa kwa kuzingatia kwamba hakukuwa na wakati wa kuwafundisha washauri kwanza. Kila mtu kushiriki hakika alikuwa na furaha na wakati wao ni wazi kwa levers na Newton katika mazingira ya kitaaluma zaidi watakuwa na kusikia juu yake. Mafunzo yaliyopatikana: Zabibu zina wingi zaidi kuliko marshmallows ndogo lakini hazipiti mbali na mfano niliofanya na clip ya binder (mwisho wenye nguvu zaidi) kwa hakika ulipiga vitu zaidi. Mini-peppers... vizuri mambo yalikuwa degenerating katika hatua hiyo na sisi mbio nje ya muda. Hatukuwa na vifuniko vya chupa vya kutosha kuunganisha kwenye mkono wa kutupa (bado hufanya kazi bila hizo), na kadhaa yao walikuwa wakienda kuongeza wakati walipofika nyumbani ili waweze kutupa zaidi. Pia nilileta moja yenye kiganja kirefu zaidi (mikono miwili ya ufundi), kwa matumaini wachache wao waliifanya nyumbani!