About This Activity
Crazy Contraptions is a collaborative, hands-on S.T.E.A.M. camp designed for children ages 9 to 11 that takes campers on a journey through the eyes of an engineer to explore physics, structural design, and chain reactions. Physics & Simple Machines: Campers explore Newton's Laws of Motion and test the six simple machines (levers, pulleys, inclined planes, screws, wedges, and wheel & axles) through interactive stations and friction experiments. Rube Goldberg Machines: Applying the engineering design process, participants blueprint, construct, and test their own overly complex chain-reaction contraptions designed to perform simple tasks using everyday materials. Structural Engineering & Buoyancy: Young engineers learn about structural integrity by building different types of bridges (suspension, truss, arch) and towers using KEVA planks, and test buoyancy by constructing cargo ships to transport supplies across water. Forces, Motion & Catapults: Campers experiment with kinetic energy and gravity by engineering twists, turns, and drops for foam-tube marble roller coasters, and by building popsicle-stick catapults to launch cotton balls at targets.
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