Several times each year, our school specialist team works together to create integrated units of study, where students explore a common theme through each of our content areas -- art, music, library/multimedia, PE, and STEM. Our 7th and 8th graders recently completed a Winter Carnival themed unit, where they worked on creating products or performances to showcase during a special carnival event for students in grades PK-2.
In STEM class, students designed, built, and improved automata, which are mechanical devices that generate motion through a series of spinning cams, axles, and cam followers.
Image Source: Adafruit
The following success criteria guided the work for our 7th & 8th grade students:
- The automata must have a winter theme.
- The automata must feature at least one element that spins, goes up or down, or moves side to side.
- The automata design must include at least 10 different materials.
Additionally, students were challenged to create automata that would be durable and reliable, so that our PK-2nd grade audience would be able to enjoy them during our Winter Carnival.
Take a look at some of the designs exhibited during our carnival -- creating a functioning automata mechanism was not an easy feat!
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