Lesson: Made to Sail
Posted on September 23rd, 2019 by ASEE
In this lesson, students in grades 2 – 7 use simple materials to design and make model sailboats that must stay upright and sail straight in a testing tank. They will learn the basic components of a ship and how design represents a tradeoff between speed, stability, and ease of handling.
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | 1 Comment »
Tags: buoyancy, Class Activities, Lesson Plan, Ocean, sailboat, wind power
Elementary students learn about wind and kinetic and renewable energy while following the steps of the engineering design process to imagine, create, test, evaluate, and refine small, wind-powered sail cars built from limited quantities of drinking straws, masking tape, paper, and beads. Teams of two then compete to see which sail-car travels the farthest when pushed by the wind (simulated by the use of an electric fan).
One day, we may be lugging our own personal wind turbines. International design company frog has unsheathed an umbrella-size, portable wind turbine called Revolver that can generate enough juice from a faint breeze to power a laptop, small light, or radio, or recharge a cellphone or other small electronic gadget.
In this activity, students in grades 9-11 learn how engineers harness the energy of the wind by following the engineering design process to create and test two prototype wind turbines to see which works best. They also learn about where to place a wind turbine for maximum effectiveness, and to weigh the advantages and disadvantages compared with other energy sources.
