Field Trip Fridays - Gadget Works: Forces and Motion
 

Field Trip Fridays is to ensure that every elementary student in Macomb County participate in at least one virtual fieldtrip before they move on to middle school.  The grade level for this program is 3rd, 4th, or 5th grades.

The new program includes pre-visit activities on gravity and air resistance, speed, and everyone’s favorite Happy Crab Hypothesis Sheet. Only now the hypothesis is about what forces make the crab move instead of what simple machines are inside. The show itself is now about balanced and unbalanced forces, pushes and pulls, and tracing the energy flow through the toys (the chattering teeth still make an appearance about halfway through the show).

Post-visit activities include: imaginatively designing a wind-up toy to make a specific movement, such as running or hopping, re-designing Professor Gadgeteer’s toys to make them move farther or faster, moving a toy car without touching it, and determining just how much force the Happy Crab generates when it moves on various surfaces.

What does "COSI" mean?
The word COSI stands for "Center Of Science and Industry". COSI is all about mind-blowing fun providing opportunities to play, explore, discover, and learn together.

To visit the COSI website follow this link: COSI Columbus

To register for the Field Trip Fridays go to the DL Registration page

Lesson Plans:

The lesson plan titled, "Creating My Own Rube Goldberg Machine" (PDF File) has students taking apart discarded appliances to discover how the simple machines make them tick. It also incorporates a fun project that has students designing a Rube Goldberg machine of their own. (word format)

Physics: Force and Motion Curriculum Resources from eMINTS National Center

Websites:

What is force and motion explained by the Utah School District

Concepts and principles of forces and motion from Cislunar Aerospace, Inc.

NASA explains what gravity is for kids

Amazing Rube Goldberg and the Invention Convention: Many interesting facts about his life and his creative cartoons.