Learn Engineering skills with hands on science

Superman wants to be an engineer when he grows up.  Actually, he wants to be an inventor, but he recognizes engineering is a good method to get there.  So, I’m always on the lookout for good science kits for him to try.  It’s been hit and miss, but I think I’ve found the best one so far because it encouraged further tinkering.  While he was tinkering I also snuck in some science lessons about electricity and things, because homeschool Mom.

{We got a free copy of the solar powered car from Pitsco Ed, I need to send Superman back to look at their other kits because this one was a big hit}

{Also, there are affiliate links}

Solar Powered car supplies

Clearly Solar Powered from Pitsco Ed, screwdriver, pliers, extra copper wire for random experiments

Our first step in learning engineering skills: put it together

This part while fairly easy because the instructions are straightforward and easy to follow does have some important engineering skills to learn.

 

All set up for a fun afternoon building a solar powered car from @pitscoed #homeschool #ihsnet

A post shared by Ticia (@ticiam) on Mar 19, 2017 at 11:42am PDT

First, Superman learned about the importance of setting out your parts in an order you can find, and not just putting them wherever you feel like.  He started to put the cogs in a big pile, and I showed him the diagram and why it was so important to keep the pieces straight.

Next, we learned the importance of properly aligning pieces.  Sometimes the pieces could fit in more than one way, and that required us to occasionally look back at the instructions, AND we had to look at why it wasn’t fitting right.

We also learned the importance of persistence in a project like this.  You cannot just give up the first time, because you have to be exact in engineering.  Something Superman is not naturally.  He’s working on it.

Our next engineering skill learned: trouble-shooting

The first time we put the car out in the sunlight it didn’t move.  Superman picked up the car, looked it over, and realized the wires connecting the motor to the solar power had slipped.  We tightened up the connectors and made sure the motor was in place, and it still didn’t go.

So we called in the big guns.  While I may be able to manipulate fabric and engineer fabric, when it comes to batteries it’s not my area of specialty.  Jeff took a look at it, and said, “It may not be getting enough power,” and pulled out his voltmeter.  He tested the solar panel and discovered it was not getting very much energy.  It’s been a very cloudy winter and fall, which is why this kit has sat on our shelf for the past few months.  The few days it’s been sunny, we’ve been sick or busy.  We tried a few different angles, and while the motor could run, once it was connected to the gears, it was not strong enough to move the car.

Next, we tested a AAA battery, and it had more power than the solar panel did.  Finally, Jeff pulled out a battery pack he had, and we tried it on the car, and it ran around.

This leads us to some investigation points we looked into:

1. Did we need to wait and see if we gave it more time would the motor have more juice?
2. If we arranged the solar panels in a different manner did the car charge better? There were two different wiring options series or parralel, did the electricity level change when the power level changed?
3. Did we have a solid connection between the motor and the solar panels?

We’ve spent the past few days trying out these different ideas, and then Superman came up with a new experiment…..

Engineering skill level genius: experimentation

Any engineer worth his salt has to be willing to experiment and look for new ways to do stuff.  I’m not really sure why the jello cup I got for American Girl Doll club led my son to try a new experiment, but it did.

Hypothesis: Jello will conduct electricity to power the motor.

This is where those random bits of copper wire come in handy because you really don’t want to stick your alligator clips into the jello.  Or I should say, I don’t want him sticking them in there.

Superman grabbed his wire cutters and started snipping away at the copper wire.  Once he had a small pile, he carried it all outside, and started shoving wires into piles of jello, and seeing what would work.

He quickly discovered it could, but I think his first experiment was flawed because it was one continuous wire that was just traveling through the jello.  When I left him, he was going to try a pile of jello with two separate wires.

Why I left him alone to experiment

At a certain point if I want Superman to find these things out I need to leave him alone, and just let him try.  I left him alone, gave him a camera to videotape or take any pictures we needed, and asked for an update.

This gave him the freedom to try all sorts of different things.  Eventually, Batman wandered outside and the two of them had fun poking and prodding, and seeing what would work.

Some more science and engineering ideas

• Three Little Pigs Design Challenge
• Protect an Egg
• DIY Engineering Kit