Description
Energy is Everywhere
DISCOVER your world! Investigate what is energy and how you use energy in your everyday lives. Discover the physics and mathematics of energy, including different states and forms of energy, as well as energy use and systems all around us.
TEST your questions! Get hands-on with scientific tools and materials that investigate energy conservation and efficiency. Design and build a simple “racer” that converts potential energy into mechanical kinetic energy, while also exploring the concepts of rolling resistance and friction, speed, velocity, and acceleration. Test complex energy ideas and laws that will make serious science seriously fun!
ANALYZE your results! Find the small moments of “ah-ha!” while analyzing graphs, tables, graphics, and lab demonstrations. Brainstorm, prototype, modify, test, and redesign variations to your basic “racer” design in order to meet different design criteria and analyze your results.
CREATE your own racer and more! “Show What You Know” in the ultimate problem-solving challenge, as your “racer” is put to the test and proves how a simple toy can be engineered to its best ability!
Session details
What is it? A 10-week guided science course
- A 1 hr. weekly, in-person lab for 10-weeks from Jan. 18- Apr. 2, that will stimulate your children to use their analytical and critical thinking
- Gather your Learning POD (3 or 4 friends of your choosing) and let STEAMwhiz do the rest!
- No Labs the week of 2/15-19
Who is it for? Capitial District Kids
- Ages 7-13
- Homeschoolers, eLearners, & In-Person
- The STEAMwhiz Lab is located in Guilderland, NY.
- Parents are welcome to stay and access private lab streaming from the comfort of their car live on their mobile device from our parking drive, or take a much-needed break to run an errand or two.
Time Commitment? 1 hour each week for 10-weeks
- Together with your Learning POD, select your day and time above
Course Goals? In this series of hands-on, inquiry labs, students will be able to:
- Define energy, kinetic and potential energy
- Identify the existence of energy with examples from daily life
- Explain the difference between potential and kinetic energy
- Explain the relationship between a moving object’s kinetic energy and its mass and velocity
- Identify different forms of kinetic and potential energy
- Relate daily life experiences to different types of energy
- Explain, in simple terms, the law of conservation of energy
- Prove why wheels are circular
- Calculate the speed of their “racer” and explain in simple terms how speed, velocity, and acceleration are related
Instructors? The STEAM Team
STEAM-Team or DreamTeam? 😉 This lab is taught by STEAMwhiz’s lead educator Allie P. She is certified in K-6th education, published STEM education work in a peer-reviewed journal, and has over 15 years of classroom experience and curriculum development. The lab is overseen by STEAMwhiz’s scientist Dr. J who holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences, has worked as a physicist at premier U.S. research institutions, as well as an engineer at fortune 500 companies, and authored over a dozen publications in top-tier journals. Together they are driven by their passion to empower students to develop their analytical and critical thinking, necessary to prepare them for the future.
COVID-19 Safety
At STEAMwhiz we are guided by the best-known science and follow the most conservative, best practices to ensure your children and our educators are safe.
Sick/Symptomatic Guidelines – any child that shows any symptoms that are related to, been in contact with, or contracted COVID-19 within the last 14 days should stay home. Related symptoms include but are not limited to: fever, runny nose, shortness/difficulty breathing, cough, loss of taste or smell, nausea/vomiting, sore throat, diarrhea. If you have any doubt please contact us before bringing your child.
Temperature checks – all people entering the lab will be required to have their temperature taken via a non-contact infrared thermometer.
HVAC system – The STEAMwhiz lab has a dedicated air handler that is constantly filtering air 24hr a day and 7 days a week. The MERV filters being used are rated eleven or better and have been tested in our labs to remove particles down to 0.1 microns (similar to N95 masks).
Laboratory Decontamination – On top of the air being cleansed 24/7, the STEAMwhiz lab is decontaminated after every session. All hard surfaces are wiped down using a bleach solution and the lab is exposed to UVC radiation nightly.
Masks – Your child we be required to wear a mask within the STEAMwhiz lab.
Social distancing – There will be a maximum of 4 children per session in the lab and social distancing protocols will be followed.
Billing, Make-up days, and Refunds
Reserve your spot today and pay later! The first billing cycle starts on Jan. 18, 2021 and will be automatically billed on 2/18/2021 and 3/18/2021. We have integrated 2 weeks for makes up if your child gets sick and there is an additional lab that we integrated into the winter session that will be offered free of charge! We will work with you to schedule any make-up days and in the unlikely event we aren’t able to, we will prorate the miss days no questions asked!
Educational Standards
Below are the educational standards that apply to this lab.
Next Generation Science Standards, New York State Science Learning Standards
K-2 Forces and Interactions: Pushes and Pulls
K-PS2-1 Plan and conduct an investigation to compare the effects of different strengths or different directions of pushes and pulls on the motion of an object.
K-PS2-2 Analyze data to determine if a design solution works as intended to change the speed or direction of an object with push or a pull.
3-5 Energy
4-PS3-1 Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.
4-PS3-2 Make observation to provide evidence that energy is conserved as it is transferred and/or converted from one form to another.
4-PS3-4 Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.
4-ESS3-1 Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.
3-5 Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems
5-PS3-1 Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food was once energy from the Sun.
3-5 Space Systems: Stars and the Solar System
5-PS2-1 Support an argument that the gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is directed down.
3-5 Engineering Design
3-5-ETS1-1 Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
3-5-ETS1-2 Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
3-5-ETS1-3 Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
6-8 Chemical Reactions
MS-PS1-6 Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy during a chemical and/or physical process.
6-8 Forces and Interactions
MS-PS2-1 Apply Newton’s Third Law to design a solution to a problem involving the motion of two colliding objects.
MS-PS2-2 Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.
6-8 Energy
MS-PS3-1 Construct and interpret graphical displays of data to describe the relationships of kinetic energy to the mass of an object and to the speed of an object.
MS-PS3-2 Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system.
MS-PS3-5 Construct, use, and present an argument to support the claim that when work is done on or by a system, the energy of the system changes as energy is transferred to or from the system.
MS-PS3-6 Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred by electric currents.
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