NATURE over at the McKay school took a day to talk about propulsion. In this case, Alex D focused on how we use the wind as a source of clean energy and why we prefer it in some cases to the alternatives. The kids were enthusiastic to talk about the wind again after our lesson a few weeks back on wind turbines.
After the lesson, we asked the kids to use a few items to create a boat designed to make it to the end of the “canal”. The catch is that they were only allowed to propel the boat by blowing on it or using a rubber band. All the kids took the cue from the sailboats they’re so fond of and decided to make sails out of the paper and popsicle sticks.
After twenty or so minutes trying to create something that would hopefully float, the kids got ready to launch. Alex set up shop next to the canal with a stop watch to referee the race.
At the end of the second grade we ended in a two way tie. Both teams finished in an impressive 13 seconds.
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