We have just finished a math unit and a science unit that are very connected. Energy and graphing, we used the graphing to measure the energy that we created over time, and how that power can be used.

The project was to make a generator that harnessed natural energy to light up an LED light. My group was Sam, Robbie, And Hannah, our first idea was to build a small car where the wheels powered 4 generators and ran on a track. This sounds good, but the car failed. The track went well though.

Here’s how we built the track.

So, after that failure we had to start again. So, we made a water wheel, this worked very well because we needed a way to harness natural energy, and one of the strongest types of natural energy is a flowing river. We worked to attach a generator to a tall pole, then connect a series of spoons and supports to make the actual wheel. Our first prototype had only 4 spoons.

That worked ok but we knew we could do better, so we added more supports and 4 more spoons so that it span faster.

We knew that we needed to see what it could do in the water, but every time that you put electronics in water you run the risk of having water damage, so we went through testing using a fan.

Testing phase

Then it was time to make the video. Time to put together everything that we had made into one infomercial to sell our product.

So, that was the unit but what did we actually learn. Well, at the beginning and end of the unit we made mind maps to map what we knew at the beginning, and what we know now.

Before Unit.

After.