September - Vol 70, No 1 - International Technology and ...
September - Vol 70, No 1 - International Technology and ...
September - Vol 70, No 1 - International Technology and ...
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Pop Fly: H<strong>and</strong>s-On Challenge<br />
Engage Your Students in Learning about Levers with PBS’s Design Squad TM<br />
By Lauren Feinberg<br />
"Pop Fly is so simple <strong>and</strong> open-ended that I do it with kids of all levels. They really get into it <strong>and</strong> come up with totally wild designs!”<br />
—Vic Stefan, <strong>Technology</strong> Education Teacher, Hartville, Ohio<br />
Explore levers with your students <strong>and</strong> reinforce the engineering design process with the h<strong>and</strong>s-on activity Pop Fly. You can use<br />
Design Squad’s online library of simple machine-related activities, animations, episodes, video clips, <strong>and</strong> profiles of young<br />
engineers to enhance the experience <strong>and</strong> deepen students’ underst<strong>and</strong>ing of levers <strong>and</strong> related engineering concepts. Here’s how.<br />
Pop Fly is one of 40 h<strong>and</strong>s-on<br />
activities on the Design Squad<br />
website that correspond to ITEEA’s<br />
STL content st<strong>and</strong>ards.<br />
Download the activity sheet<br />
at pbskids.org/designsquad/<br />
parentseducators/activities.html.<br />
H<strong>and</strong>s-On Engineering<br />
(And Feet-On, Too!)<br />
In Pop Fly, kids use the design<br />
process to invent a way to send a<br />
Ping-Pong® ball flying high enough<br />
to catch it. They’ll use paint stirrers,<br />
a wooden spool, tape, <strong>and</strong> . . . their<br />
feet. Ready, set, launch!<br />
Identify the Problem<br />
Help your students underst<strong>and</strong> the problem they need to<br />
solve. Discuss with them this question: How can you launch<br />
a Ping-Pong ball into the air? Show the animation How<br />
Does a Lever Work? to introduce levers <strong>and</strong> illustrate the<br />
relationship between force <strong>and</strong> distance.<br />
27 • <strong>Technology</strong> <strong>and</strong> Engineering Teacher • <strong>September</strong> 2010<br />
Use Design Squad’s 46 animations to visually<br />
explain concepts, like levers. Each one is<br />
about 30 seconds <strong>and</strong> can be downloaded at<br />
pbskids.org/designsquad/parentseducators/<br />
download_animations.html.<br />
Ping-Pong is a registered trademark of Sop Services, Inc.
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