Caution! 4th Grade engineers at work

Throughout our past few classes 4th grade students have been exploring energy and how it is related to motion. We started our lessons by accessing our schema to see what we already knew about energy:

Each 4th grade class contributed to our brainstorm 

After we brainstormed students were told about their next task. In teams of 3 or 4, without seeing the supplies, students had to come up with a design for a clothespin car that would roll down an incline plane and move a tree at the bottom of it. 

4th graders materials list

Without seeing these materials or an example students began their designing. It was interesting to see students thought process! Many students designed cars that resembled the vehicles they came to school in. When asked what part of the clothespin they planned on making the roof or doors designs began to alter. After allowing groups to brainstorm without any assistance, they were then allowed to access the internet to research clothespin cars. Once they came to an agreement on their design a representative for each group came to me with their finalized car and they were given their materials. 

4th grade team brainstorm

Energy Challenge Worksheet

All 4th grade classes are now in the building phase of their clothespin cars. Here is a sneak peek of some of the designs:

Check back soon to see our finished clothespin cars. We can't wait to test them out and see how energy and motion are related!

-Mrs. Henderson