Here is a random collection of photos from the day, some highly cropped since lots of other kids faces were in them and I don't have permission to post them.
Tristan helps demonstrate the initial idea.
Colin gets to work.
Tristan experimenting.
Hayley and her friend get creative.
They started with small coasters but by the end they were building roller coasters with 4 different aspects such as tunnels, curves, hills and loops.
They had FUN!
4 comments:
Oh what a fun activity. Jack would have been in his element with this!
Jodi, this looks incredibly fun. I need more details. Maybe I can organize somehting fun like this in Japan....so....was their a charge? Was this through one of the co-ops or groups or did a friend just invite friends?
This was through a homeschool group that is not a co-op...but offers occasional activities.
This was in fact a 4H activity but you could participate whether or not you wanted to use it for 4H.
I can probably get you more specific details from the organiser but it was very easy.
There was no cost I guess the person organising was willing to pay for the materials themselves. he said they were not expensive.
Needed one box of Plumbing Insulation cut in half lengthwise, Plastic bowls (disposable is fine as long as they're plastic not paper), masking tape, marbles and a big room. They kids could also use other items to lift their hills such as the walls, chairs piles of books or videos. The kids needed to work in groups of at least 2 and no more than 4. Probably so they have the teamwork aspect but not too many people in a group so that some have nothing to do.
On the insulation you will see that it is already split on one side you just need to cut the other side so you have halfed it.
the kids begin with only two pieces of the plumbing insulation, one or two bowls and a roll of tape oh and a marble. They join their two pieces with the tape. Then they need to find a way to make the marble land in a bowl at the end. Once they have all been sucessful at this they are allowed to make a bigger roller coaster. When that is sucessful they are asked to make a roller coaster with at least 4 elements (hills, turns, loops, spirals, tunnels...). By the end the kids had made some great creations. About half were sucessful in that the marble still landed in the bowl even after 4 hills, turns, etc. It was all about trial and error (and teamwork and brainstorming). After each step each group presented what they had done and why they thought it worked or didn't work. The advisor gave tips through the time but also wanted the kids to work it out when possible.
I hope that is helpful. My kids have all been experimenting further with this at home. They young ones and the teens had fun with this. If I can find out the name of the book I'll post it or email it to you.
Jodi, this looks like it was SO much fun! What a great day!
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