Creating simple machines

One of the goals of STEM education is to provide students with an understanding of the underlying principles behind everyday experiences. In Mrs. Vicendese’s Third Grade Science class, our budding engineers gained a hands-on understanding of simple machines using Lego WeDo Robotic kits. Students worked in groups of four to build and program their design for a simple machine. Each design incorporated a repeating motion and a sound effect appropriate to the observable motion. The exercise culminates with a Language Arts assignment in which each group writes a story involving their design and presents it to the rest of the class. The creative designs included a drumming monkey, a hungry alligator, dancing birds, an airplane rescue, a sailboat in a storm and a roaring lion.