Kidder parternered with WeMadeIt would love for you teachers to Introduce your students to the relationship between structures and forces with this fun, hands-on lesson plan. Students will become engineers by using their creative problem-solving skills to design, build and test an electrical-mechanical system powered by a hand crank. In this lesson, students will explore forces, form, function and mechanical efficiency by constructing a hand crank power generator. Pack includes enough materials to build 30 kits. 

LEARNING GOALS

• Provide students with the understanding that structures have a purpose, and that even complex systems are made up of a series of simple structures (such as a power generator!).

• Show your students how the function of a structure might dictate the design of it. For example, the hand crank resembles a windmill.

• Teach your students that structures and forces interact in predictable ways, which is something that engineers can depend on when they are problem-solving.

• Teach students to think critically about their work because engineers are always learning from one another. Encourage them to act as their own teachers by asking questions and making comments on the gallery walk and assessment.

Instructions and student worksheets can be found online at http://www.wemadeit.ca/teachers