Activity 5: Making and installing a
track made from nails on the bottom level of the marble-slide machine |
Category: Construction / Mechanics |
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Target group 3 to 6-year old girls and boys in kindergarten. |
Goals Transfer of previous experiences with nail tracks (see activity 3). Completion of
the marble-slide in team work. |
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Where? Marble carpet in the group area; workshop. |
How long? Guided play for approx. 30 minutes, afterwards free play phase. |
What? Installing a nail track on the bottom level. |
Preparation Marble-slide machine. Wooden board for the bottom level. Nails, hammers, pens. |
Steps The children try out the marble-slide machine. They decide on how they want the last level to be. They draw the nail track on the board. They pay attention to smooth
thresholds. They hammer the nails into the board, try the tracks out and correct
them. They install the board on the bottom level of the machine. They try out the
complete marble-slide machine. |
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Scientific explanation |
Possible variation The children install the individual levels directly after the
respective activities into the machine, if possible without help. This
requires considerable technical skills and craftsmanship, since the machine
needs to be stable and childproof. |
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Note! The board must be sloped enough, so that the marble rolls down. At the
threshold from one level to another shorter nails have to be used to make the
board fit. |
Source
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The children worked on the bottom level together with the nursery school
teacher and had very good ideas, mostly due to previous experiences with the
machine (see activity 3). They were able to explain technical problems and give
reasons for their decisions to build the machine in a special way. The children
are very proud of their marble-slide machine and and handled it with care and
attention.