How Many Pennies?

Add to list Go to activity
In this activity (pages 13-14), learners investigate the properties of smart materials, which are materials that respond to things that happen around them. In this activity, learners will use Nitinol’s shape memory properties and the properties of Nitinol’s two phases to make a sculpture that can lift weight (pennies). Safety note: Young learners should have adult supervision. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
Under 5 minutes
Learning Time:
10 to 30 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
$5 - $10 per student
Age Range:
Ages 8 - adult
Resource Types:
Activity, Experiment/Lab Activity
Language:
English

Materials List (per student)

  • Piece of Nitinol wire
  • Hairdryer
  • Bowl
  • Pennies
  • Duct tape or package tape
  • Piece of paper
  • Ruler
  • Scissors
  • Clothespin

Keywords

Subjects

  • Engineering and Technology
    • Engineering
      • Civil Engineering
      • Metallurgy and Materials Engineering
  • Physical Sciences
    • Heat and Thermodynamics
      • Heat and Temperature
    • Chemistry
      • Chemical Bonding
    • Motion and Forces
      • Gravity
    • States of Matter
      • Solids
    • Structure and Properties of Matter
      • Atomic Structure

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see
  • touch

Learning styles supported:

  • Links STEM to other topics of interest such as arts and humanities
  • Uses STEM to solve real-world problems
  • Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

  • Jordan, Catherine

Rights:

Funding Source:

  • NSF Grant DMR, 1120296