Land, Water, Sand and Snow

Objectives:

1. To show students how different vehicles are designed to operate on various types of terrain.

2. Students will use cooperation skills to assemble a "kinnex" sandrover.

3. Students will design and build their own type of vehicle, depending on what type of terrain is assigned to their group.

Materials:

set of "kinnex" pieces

chart that shows how to assemble the sandrover

paper and pencils for design time

pictures of different types of all terrain vehicles (hummer, tank, amphibious vehicles, etc)

Procedure:

Show students the pictures of different all terrain vehicles. Explain how each vehicle has been adapted to accommodate the type of terrain it has to operate on. Spend more time talking about the sandrover. Explain the suspension and tire differences from other vehicles. Separate the students into groups of four or five and hand out Kinnex pieces and charts of the sandrover. When the students have assembled the sandrover, split the groups into two or three students. Give each group a type of terrain and tell them to design their own type of vehicle appropriate for their terrain. When they are finished, each group will present their idea to the class.

Evaluation:

Evaluation will depend on the students following instructions. If their vehicle is appropriate to the terrain they were assigned, then they clearly understood the assignment. Observation would be the most effective tool in evaluating the project.