Now elementary teachers can combine the best of science and technology education in a comprehensive curriculum based on everyday materials and artifacts.
Mechanisms & Other Systems introduces a novel, engaging approach to teaching how and why basic technologies work-those devices, systems, procedures, and environments that improve people's lives. You need not be a technical guru or rich in resources to get yourself and your students involved in science and technology. Simply use artifacts and systems that are all around you and available for free or at low cost. These devices you can find in your kitchen, closet, or bathroom: eggbeaters, nail clippers, and umbrellas, as well as electrical appliances, bicycles, faucets, and mousetraps. Let your students discover how to transform motion, convert energy, and/or process information to get a job done. At the same time, meet these instructional goals:
- introduce and explore fundamental themes of systems, inputs and outputs, and cause and effect
- illustrate and explore concepts of force, distance, motion, lever, simple machines, friction, electric current and circuit, information, control, feedback, and energy
- demystify common artifacts and, by extension, technology in general
- promote literacy as students formulate problems and find effective ways to communicate with others in order to achieve and document solutions
- develop process skills in observation, classification, generalization, use of materials, modelling, and design
- provide rich opportunities for group work.
- Mechanisms & Other Systems
- Packaging & Other Structures
- Signs, Symbols & Codes
- Designed Environments: Places, Practices & Plans
- Mapping