Students in Mrs. Renay Rigney’s Quest Classes recently presented their projects from a unit on Simple Machines to their parents and all fourth grade classes. Taught in conjunction with the K’NEX Education curriculum, this unit allowed students to build models of simple machines that highlighted mechanical principles and related them to the real world. The students shared their finished products along with snapshots from a Simple Machines Scavenger Hunt. The display featured pictures of common simple machines that the students located throughout the PUE campus.
The highlight of the presentation was the display of a 4 ft. tall motorized machine called the “Big Ball Factory.” During the unit, all 28 students worked together to build this complex design made up of various simple machines. They also sponsored a contest in which all of the fourth grade students attempted to guess the exact number of K’NEX pieces used to build the “Big Ball Factory.” The two overall winners took home a giant Hershey bar!
