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Troublesome Triangles
Many natural systems appear to be in equilibrium until suddenly a critical point is reached, setting up a mudslide or an avalanche or an earthquake. In this project, students will use a simple simulation game to investigate the properties of such systems.
Age 7 to 14
Challenge Level
What is a robot? Robotic devices are anything which we make to take over a job which is boring, repetitive or dangerous to humans. Start by doing a 'robot walk' round your classroom - what can you see which has been invented by humans to make life easier, quicker or safer?
You can make a simple robot from everyday materials.
Equipment needed:
- two pencils
- two rulers
- two cotton reels
- rubber bands
- one electric motor
- one battery holder
Making your robot
Stage 1: if you are using long rubber bands, double them up; if you are using small ones, use several.
Stage 2: the rubber bands need to provide a firm fixing, so they need to be tight.
Stage 3: use the rubber band fixing technique to construct a basic unit that looks like the one below.
Stage 4: attach the electric motor and battery holder with blu-tak or plasticene. The rubber drive band to the cotton reel needs to be only slightly tight.
Stage 5: when the electric motor is connected to the battery, the cotton reel should rotate. The basic unit can be made to imitate a robot buggy. It can also imitate the winding drum for a robotic lift, the drum of a washing machine, and lots of other robotic devices.
Stage 6: once you've got your robotic buggy going, see what you can find out about it. How far can it go? How fast can it go? If you make a few of them, you could race them!
NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.