Today we used what we learned yesterday about construction and friction in
our projects. "Spin the Ghost"
was a learning experience where the campers learned the use of
gears, pulleys, crown gears, and gear boxes. The campers created a device with a
minimum of four gears and four pulleys which would spin at least one "person." After doing some activities to learn more about gears and pulleys,
we put everything together with a motorized vehicle. The "Solar
Cars" challenge allowed the students to explore our
main renewable energy source, the sun. We used solar panels to
power the cars. (Yes, even with partly cloudy skies, solar
energy powered our vehicles!) The vehicles the campers built used
the solar panels to power the electric motor. Solar panels generate only a small
amount of power for our motor and they require no programming. Knowing this,
campers used gear and pulley arrangements to make their vehicles go fast! We have a camp full of future engineers who
are learning skills that help explore topics such as force, friction, balance,
center of gravity, and counterweight. Tomorrow, we will begin using the
RCX to
power our single motor vehicles - just what campers have been waiting for!
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