Build Straw Rockets

The materials we used to make straw rockets were: precision straws, some clay, ( not model magic) index cards that we cut up to make wings and some tape. Our teacher ordered a straw rocket launcher that we will use to launch our rockets later on. We will go outside, and set our rocket to a forty- five degree angle. The class will launch their rockets to see which rocket went farthest and why. We will have one difference for each rocket. Our fifth grade class hopes our straw rocket experiment will be a success! We are going to launch them in the cafeteria and we are going to try two angles. The first one is a 35 degree angle and then a 90 degree angle. Here we go 5 4 3 2 1 Blast off! Wish us luck!

Lego Gear Trains

After we dissected wind-up toys we built gear trains with lego pieces. We learned about drivers, idlers, and followers. We also made observations about gear speed and gear direction. Here is a picture of a gear train example.
Here is the Lego Education Site where you can view gears in action.
Lego Constructopedia
Check out this cool book on gears and simple machines.
The Lego Technic Idea Book:Simple Machines

Wind-up Toy Engineering

The fifth grade classes became doctors! We all chose a wind-up toy to disect. Then we got all of our doctor gadgets and took apart our patients. The monkey one was really hard but we did save him and put him back together. It was really fun since we got to see what was in a wind -up toy. I hope the next fith grade class really enjoys this project. Right here from your fifth grade enrichment class.