Making Magnificent Machines: Fun With Math, Science, and Engineering

Students will have fun creating whimsical animated machines from recycled objects while meeting national science and math standards using this activity book of practical construction applications.

Science-as-inquiry becomes part of building the machines. Students also will experiment with math to determine materials and measurements that make his or her machine perform its best.

Fourteen step-by-step projects are provided, emphasizing key concepts of potential, kinetic, and electrical energy; inclined plane; fulcrum, lever, and pulley; weights and balances; characteristics of moving objects; principles of flight; and action and reaction. Students will enjoy hands-on learning while making ducks that lay golden eggs, cars that really race, an extraordinary Ferris wheel, or jumping bat wings.