school program guide - Space Center Houston

Perth, Australia
School program GUIDE
Going Places School Program
exhibit information, for presenters.
Some questions or prompts for kids doing the schools program
Hoverchair:
How do you make it move?
What is happening when you push the button? Why does this make it easier?
What kind of surfaces could you use the hoverchair (or a hovercraft) on?
Airships:
What makes them float?
How do you control them?
Why might you use an airship to travel?
Bikes:
What powers the bike (what makes it move)?
Which type of bike is easiest to pedal?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a bike as transport?
Land yachts:
What makes the yachts move?
What limitations does that have?
Where could you use these yachts?
Aeromobile:
Where is the energy coming from?
What do the solar panels do?
When would you be able to use this?
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Other things to ask kids about:
So how do you decide what’s the best way to get from one place to another?
If you had a million dollars what type of transport would you choose?
What type of parts do lots of vehicles have? Why do you think they are so useful?
So what is your challenge? What have you come up with so far?
Why do you think that would be good? Can you think of any bad things about using that?
Do you think we’ll be using the same kind of transport in 50 years? Why?
What do you think transport will look like?
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Going Places School Program – Year 2/3
Assemble kids and arrive to intro on the Segway (if this is the first part of their visit then leave the Segway
in the alley until you’ve brought the kids up). – ask if anyone knows what it is – explain that it is a way of
getting around and that they’ll be looking at lots of other ways in Going Places today. Point out the wheels
and explain that it uses batteries to run the motors (you can also mention that it has special parts inside it
which stop it falling over and help you control it).
Your challenge today is to try to find some other forms of transport, some of which will be very familiar and
some of which you may not have seen before. We have some clues for you on these cards so see if you can
hunt them down. We’ll meet back here in about 45 minutes and we’ll see how many you managed to find,
good luck!
»
This exhibit is powered by your legs.
»
This exhibit is full of helium
»
This exhibit floats on a cushion of air
»
This exhibit uses light to power it
»
This exhibit moves using the wind
Conclusion:
So who thinks they managed to solve all of our clues? Run through each one quickly. Wow, you guys are too
smart! Hope you’ve had fun in Going Places today.
Going Places follow up lessons (Year 2-3):
Build on what the students saw in the Going Places exhibition to discuss different ways of getting from
place to place – for example home to school or Perth to Melbourne.
Design and draw or describe your own method of transport.
Make paper planes and test different designs against one another. There are some great step by step
designs at http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/planes.php
Make balloon hovercraft and compare the movement with and without air.
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Going Places School Program – Year 4+
Assemble students and arrive on Segway (if this is the first part of their visit then leave the Segway in the
alley until you’ve brought the kids up). Hi guys, so does anyone know what this thing is that I’m riding? Well,
it’s called a Segway and it’s a pretty cool way of getting around – you’re going to be looking at lots of other
kinds of transport in our exhibition today but let’s have a bit of a look at this one first. Well you should be
able to spot some fairly familiar things on the Segway – it has wheels like lots of other forms of transport
and it has motors that make the wheels move. The batteries to make the motors move are actually under
my feet – they’re rechargeable ones otherwise we’d have to use a whole lot of the little ones you have in
toys and other things. (If kids seem interested you can also mention that it has special parts inside it which
stop it falling over and help you control it – pitch your explanation depending on the age group. If you have
time you may want to give the teacher a go, or maybe do this at the end). Other kinds of transport have
bits that move and things that give them the energy to do that so look out for those.
Now I have a bit of a challenge for you while you’re exploring Going Places – I want you to think about
the best form of transport to use to make a particular journey – you can even design your own if you want.
I’ve also got a bit of an extra challenge for you – there are certain things you can’t use or other things your
vehicle must do so you’ll have to be a little more creative – these are on the back of the card and if you can
do this bit too you’ll get bonus points. (Push this bit more with the older groups. Younger ones can give it a
go but it’s fine if they just do the basic form of transport).
Hand out cards with journeys on them. So see what you can come up with in your groups – there are sheets
on the tables over there if you want to design your own. Have fun and we’ll meet back here in 45 minutes.
Conclusion:
OK guys, did you all have fun? And I know you’ve all come up with some awesome ideas – I’m sure your
teachers will want to know more about them when you get back to school but let’s have a sneak preview
– who’d like to tell everyone what they came up with? OK, so what was your challenge? And what type
of transport did you decide would be good for that? Just get a brief description from a couple of groups
– throw in a few facts about things they come up with (see next page). Well, I’m looking forward to seeing
all of you as transport designers in the future – keep coming up with those ideas.
Transport Facts:
These relate to some of the forms of transport which kids may suggest. You could use them when you’re
doing the wrap up. Feel free to come up with your own – just pass them on so we can all use them!
Parachutes: Leonardo Da Vinci designed one of the first parachutes in 1480 – it was designed for people to
be able to jump from burning buildings.
Zip wires / flying fox: Originally used to transport people and food across rivers and valleys
in the Himalayas.
Hovercraft: One of the only forms of transport that can travel just as well over land, ice and water as it
doesn’t touch the ground – there is a cushion of air.
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Boat: Boats have been used for thousands of years, the earliest ones being made from logs. Most modern
boats have a streamlined shape to help them travel faster. Most owners name their boats – Obsession is the
most popular name.
Hot air balloon: The oldest successful method of human flight. A sheep, a duck and a rooster were the first
known passengers.
Tank: Tracks help to spread out the weight on soft surfaces and increase the grip on rough
and bumpy ground.
The name ‘tank’ was used to make people think the army was transporting water tanks,
rather than vehicles.
Glider: these are aircraft which fly or glide without using engines. A paper aeroplane is a simple
example of a glider
Plane: The biggest plane ever built has a wingspan of nearly 100m (It only flew once in 1947 and was
nicknamed the ‘Spruce Goose’ as it was made from wood due to a shortage of aluminium). The Wright
brothers built and flew the first plane in 1903.
Camel: Useful in the desert as they have large feet that don’t sink into the sand and stores of fat in their
humps. They can lose up to 25% of their body weight through sweating, which would kill most other animals.
Australia has the largest wild population of one humped camels.
Snowmobile: Usually have tracks and skis to drive on snow and ice and are driven by a petrol engine – can
be a pollution problem in the areas they’re used
Sledge / sled: Can just be pulled down a hill by gravity or can be pulled by animals like dogs or reindeer
(red noses optional).
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About the Going Places lessons for Year 4+
Your ‘Going Places’ visit could form part of a science unit of work on energy or forces or speed
(Energy & change) or a SOSE unit on transport systems (Resources or Investigation, Communication
and Participation).
Here are some suggested activities for follow on lessons after your visit.
Calculating Speed:
Use a map (UBD or similar) and train timetable to calculate the average speed of a train. Measure the
distance between stations and work out the time taken from the timetable.
Average speed = Total distance / Total time taken.
Friction:
Identify the parts on a bike where you need lots of friction and the parts where you need to make
friction small.
Which surfaces provide the most friction?. Investigate different surfaces by pulling blocks along each and
measuring the force required.
Alternative transport:
Research alternative forms of energy which can be used for transport.
Write a transport plan to reduce the number of cars on the road and send it to your local MP.
Aerodynamics:
Research shapes of bike helmets, boats, Formula 1 cars and explain why they are that shape.
Technology:
Research some of the cutting edge technology being suggested for transport (or found in science fiction)
(such as solar cars, planes, fuel cells, jet packs etc). What are the benefits and the limitations of these
technologies? (Maybe show a Futurama clip and discuss the transport used there).
The present and the future:
Design the best form of transport for a given situation, using current technology. Design the transport of the
future using fantasy technology.
Build and Investigate:
Build paper planes, investigate the properties of different designs, which travels furthest, straightest, does
stunts. There are some great step by step designs at http://www.paperairplanes.co.uk/planes.php
Build balloon and CD hovercraft. Investigate how much force is needed to push it with
and without air flowing.
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Going Places Treasure Hunt
How many of these can you find?
This exhibit is powered by your legs:
This exhibit is full of helium:
This exhibit floats on a cushion of air:
This exhibit uses light to power it:
This exhibit moves using the wind:
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CD Hovercraft experiment
Equipment
compact disc
balloon
bottle top
Blu-tac
Activity
Using blu-tac stick the bottle top to the centre of the disc – you’ll need to make the blu-tac into a ring so it
fits snugly around the bottle top, ensuring no air can escape.
Place your hovercraft on a table or bench (the smoother the better). Give the hovercraft a push and see
what happens.
Take the bottle top off the CD. Slide the open end of the balloon over the bottle top as far as it will go and
blow through the cap to inflate the balloon (make sure the cap is open). Place the cap – with the inflated
balloon attached – back onto the CD. Give the hovercraft a push and watch it go.
What happens?
The first time you push your hovercraft it will not travel very far or very fast. It doesn’t slide easily because
the movement of the disc across the table is limited by friction.
After you place the balloon on your hovercraft it should slide smoothly across the table.
When you blow up the balloon you stretch the rubber outwards storing energy in it. Once you have placed
the balloon over the bottle top the energy is released forcing the air through the small hole at the base of
the CD. There is just enough energy in the inflated balloon to lift the disc slightly off the ground.
When you push the hovercraft this time, it will slide more easily as it is now riding on a thin cushion of air
and not rubbing against the table.
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What could you
use to get from:
You cannot
use wheels
Home to Scitech?
What could you
use to get from:
Perth to
Singapore?
You cannot use
fossil fuels
(petrol, diesel etc)
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What could you
use to:
Your vehicle must
be human powered
Travel across snow?
What could you
use to:
You cannot
use wheels
Travel across
rocky ground?
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What could you
use to get from:
You must use one
type of transport for
the whole journey
Scitech to
Rottnest Island?
What could you
use to get from:
The top of a tree
to the ground?
You must carry a
bucket of water
without spilling it
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What could you
use to:
Travel acrosss
a swamp?
What could you
use to:
You need to carry
60kg of luggage
with you
You can only use
2 wheels
Travel across
the desert?
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