Description
SCIENCE iT! CREATE YOUR OWN VIBRATING BUG!
Science2Life’s Science iT! Activities takes everyday life objects, toys and knick-knacks and turns them into fun, innovative science projects.
In this activity Scientific Sue uses a simple circuit with a motor and off-centred mass to turn a pot into a Jitterbug! In fact the vibrating circuit could be attached to a range of items. What would you like to see vibrate across the floor?
This activity allows your children to learn to build electrical circuits in a unique, engaging, fun and achievable way!
We supply the items required to bring your bug creation to life. Hear it buzz and watch it skitter across the table or floor.
With a little more ingenuity you can turn this Jitterbug into a Drawbot! Just add felt tipped pens as legs and turn your design into a drawing machine. Switch on the motor and watch your creation come to life to wiggle and vibrate across the page. The Drawbot Click on this link to see it in action!
Contents:
- 1 x 5 V motor
- 1 motor clip
- 1 off-centre cam wheel
- 1 battery holder with switch
- 1 pot with lid
- sticky glue dots
- 3 legs
- 3 felt tipped pens
- 1 x AA battery
- 2 x wiggly eyes
What you need:
What will your creation look like?
Art materials to turn your machine into the most unique bug!
This kit makes use of a rapidly spinning off-centre mass to cause movement.
In these images the circuit is placed on top the lid – the lid is then connected to the item you wish to turn into a jitterbug.
Our bug with the battery and motor inside the pot.
Click on the link above to see my creation in action! The art materials are not included – our creations are just intended to show you how easily the vibrating lid or pot can be modified.
The circuit can be placed on to of the lid or pot or inside the pot – If inside the pot you will find there is more scope for decorating your vibrating creature.
If the motor mount is on top pipe cleaners and other items can be added to the yellow cam to creating a spinning nose or tail!
Curriculum Links:
- construct a simple series electrical circuit, identifying and naming its basic parts, including battery, wires, switch and motor.
- recognise that a switch opens and closes a circuit and associate this with whether the motor spins or not.
- develop and design an innovative, functional and appealing product that is fit for purpose.
Science2Life’s Science iT! activities and programmes
Children love to be engaged in learning, especially through interactive projects that they can really get involved and be hands on with.
Science2Life’s Science iT! activities and programmes are part of our STEAM Academy. The activities use everyday life objects, toys and knick-knacks and turns them into fun, innovative, hands-on experiences designed to encourage children to:
- discover the amazing world of science and engineering
- to perform engaging activities that show how science and engineering is at work in their everyday lives
- to foster a lifelong love of science and engineering
- to give a basic grounding in scientific concepts and scientific thinking
- to increase children’s motivation to learn and
- enhance their perception, creativity and logic.
Hands-on learning is learning by doing.
Children involved in our ‘Science iT!’ activities and programmes are introduced to various STEAM learning methods and activities. Our creative programmes involve learning activities that require active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work. We all know how curious children are about the world around them and how they love using the word ‘why?’
The aim of our activities is to provide optimal learning opportunities that strategically help children grasp mathematics, engineering and science concepts.
The inclusion of the arts component into STEM makes it more fun to learn, and more approachable to children.
Art education allows children to learn things in a more open-ended way and make them applicable to real life.
Links to the curriculum
All of Science2Life activities can be used to entertain children – however they have been created with the curriculum in mind, so are perfect activities to generate mesmerizing examples of the topics they can be used to explore.
All of our Science iT! activities can up scaled-up to be used in workshops within the classroom, for festival and birthday celebrations, which provide opportunities for children to collaborate on initiatives, explorations and creations.
The idea behind our Science iT! activities is to ignite children’s natural innate curiosity about the world around them (and the items in it) and to channel their enthusiasm for scientific discovery as early as possible.
Currently Science2Life have the following Science iT! activities:
- The Magical EVANESCO Spell
- The Magical AMORTENTIA Spell
- The Super Bouncing Bubble Kit
- Make your own Fossil Kit
- Colour Changing Bracelet Kit
- Pneumatic Monsters Activity
- Creative Circuits
- The Magical Wandarama
- Gone Fishing
- The Jitter Bug
All of the above can be upscaled to become workshops. Interested? Give us a call!
Scientificsue@science2life.com
+447970884728
Note: All of Science2Life’s STEAM ACADEMY shows and workshops are designed to not only motivate and fire the spirit of discovery within your children but also ignite curiosity in their minds.
For more information on our shows visit our website: https://www.science2life.com
