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Matraca
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In this activity, learners create a traditional Mexican noisemaker (a matraca) using cardboard, craft sticks, and a wooden dowel.
Zig Zag Bopper
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In this activity, learners build a machine made of craft sticks to multiply the levering motion of their hands and create a device that bends and extends.
NEWspaper: Make Your Own Paper
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Learners make their own paper using old newspaper. Learners can make their paper colorful by adding construction paper.
Magnetic Marble Run
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Learners explore magnetism and motion as they build a simple marble run. Learners test different arrangements of plastic and cardboard tubes, bottles, and cups on a magnetic board.
Lever Cowboy
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In this activity, learners build a figure that moves and "comes to life" when they pull its string.
Mini Zoetrope
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In this activity (posted on March 27, 2011), learners follow the steps to construct a mini zoetrope, a device that produces an illusion of action from a rapid succession of static pictures.
Supporting Structures
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In this activity about living things and gravity (page 5 of PDF), learners design and build an exoskeleton or an endoskeleton for an animal of their own invention.
Art Cars
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In this activity, learners design miniature cars. Learners can create a telephone car, soccer car, merry-go-round car, or any other theme car they can imagine.
Straws and Pins
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In this activity, learners build bridges and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with straws and pins.
Full of Hot Air: Hot Air Balloon Building
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In this activity, learners create a model of a hot air balloon using tissue paper and a hairdryer. Educators can use this activity to introduce learners to density and its role in why things float.
Handheld Water Bottle Rocket & Launcher
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In this activity, learners build handheld rockets and launchers out of PVC pipes and plastic bottles. Use this activity to demonstrate acceleration, air pressure, and Newton's Laws of Motion.
Pop! Rocket Launcher
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In this activity, learners construct a simple air pressure launcher for paper rockets.
Cranking Bird
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In this activity, learners build a mini crank machine to make a bird "fly." This engineering activity introduces learners to automata, rotational motion, cranks and cams.
Investigating Ice Worlds
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In this activity about the solar system, learners use various light sources to examine ice with different components to understand how NASA studies planets and moons from space.
Sticky Structures
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In this engineering/design/arts and crafts activity, learners design and build "platforms" or "bridges" that can hold weight, and test which glue makes the strongest structure.
Homemade Rube Goldberg Machine
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In this fun and, at times, hilarious force and motion activity, learners will use household objects to build a crazy contraption and see how far they can get a tennis ball to move.
Wind Tubes
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In this activity, learners create and experiment with wind tubes. These tubes are a playful and inventive way to explore the effect that moving air has on objects.
Digger
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In this activity, learners build their own construction cranes using tongue depressors and pushpins.
Papermaking at Home
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Learners will follow a specific process to make their own paper using scrap paper, newspaper, or junk mail.
Hydraulic Car
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In this activity, learners build cars using syringes and water-powered hydraulics. Learners construct the car frame out of cardboard and set up a hydraulic system to raise and lower the car.