I have to tell you about the new project I got to work on with Mark Rober and the Class CrunchLabs team this year. It's a free, online engineering lesson for grade school on kenetic energy called "Rocks vs. Big Rigs", and I think students would love it!
We included: runaway trucks, gravel pits, and a squirrel launch system. Students investigate how mass and speed affect kinetic energy. Along the way they race big rigs, launch a squirrel to new heights, convert motion to heat, and we throw things off a 15-story tower.... all for the love of STEM education (of course) with Mark, Science Bob and yours truly.
It's genuinely one of the most fun ways I've seen kids get hands-on with engineering and it's free. So a couple things worth checking out are:
• Their newly redesigned Class CrunchLabs website
• Explore the new Hands-On Challenge page
• Browse the new Video Vault on our specific unit page, which gathers every unit video into one easy-to-find collection
If you're planning your physics or STEM lessons this school year, I really think this is worth incorporating. Hurry over and check it out!!!
-Dr. Nee