Students in this lesson will learn about, connect and apply the use of area to a real-world problem—creating a planting guide for the garden. Students will determine the square footage of the garden and use this information, along with a planting chart to create their own plan.
In this lesson, students will build conceptual understanding and fluency in using area and perimeter by measuring and calculating the dimensions of vegetable beds.
Students learn the history of the waterwheel and common uses for water turbines today. They explore kinetic energy by creating their own experimental waterwheel from a two-liter plastic bottle. They investigate the transformations of energy involved in turning the blades of a hydro-turbine into work, and experiment with how weight affects the rotational rate of the waterwheel. Students also discuss and explore the characteristics of hydroelectric plants.
Students learn about wind energy by making a pinwheel to model a wind turbine. Just like engineers, they decide where and how their turbine works best by testing it in different areas of the playground.