Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Our Hydraulic Arm Project

A few weeks ago, Emily put together a hydraulic arm kit made by Teacher Geek. This contraption uses water pressure to control the movement of the arm in 4 different ways.

Our hydraulic arm kit arrived as a box full of parts along with a reamer, cutter tool, and building instructions.  It took us about a week to build our hydraulic arm. We found the directions clear and easy to follow although we were a little frustrated that the dowels had to be shaved down a bit in order to fit. Emily hasn’t spent a lot of time with Legos or other construction toys or models, but she did pretty well with this. Here are some photos of the process…

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We used Teacher Geek’s “Fluid Mechanics Lab,” which we found online at the site as a supplement so that Emily would better understand the physics behind the project. Although some of the material was rather advanced for her, this well-written lab helped deepen her understanding of the principles behind her “contraption.”

We had a lot of fun with this kit. I think more “building” projects will be in Emily’s future!

Although I received this kit free from Teacher Geek, I was not required to write a review.

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