STEM activities for kids at home: How to make a DIY water wheel for kids
Hello!!
Thanks for joining in on another of our exciting episodes on Teaching kids science. If you're a fan of anything STEM: Makersgeneration is the place to be!!
Now, get ready for an exciting DIY STEM for kids project that will spark creativity. For today's exercise, we will be learning about Water wheels and what they're used for, then proceed to make a simple DIY version using household materials such as plastic bottles, straws, and some glue. This project will help us learn about how energy can be converted from one form to another for various applications.
Before we get into making our DIY water wheel, let's take a look at what a water wheel is and how it works.
How do water wheels work?
A water wheel is a large wheel driven by flowing water, used to work machinery or to raise water to a higher level. It converts the energy of flowing or falling water into useful power, typically in the form of rotational motion.
A typical water wheel consists of three main components:
Blade or bucket: This is the part of the system that directly takes the kinetic energy from the falling water.
Wheel: The wheel is the part of the system that the bucket is attached to. This is the part that rotates.
Axle: The axle acts at the fulcrum which holds the wheel in place during rotation.
Workings: When the force of the moving or falling water is exerted against the blades, it pushes it in the opposite direction creating a rotation of the wheel which is then transmitted to machinery via the shaft of the wheel to be used for various purposes.
Water wheels have been used for centuries as a means of harnessing water's energy for various purposes, such as grinding grain, powering machinery, or generating electricity. In the past, water wheels were commonly used for activities such as milling grains, sawing wood, and powering various industrial processes. While they have largely been replaced by more modern forms of power generation such as in modern hydroelectric power plants, water wheels are still used in some places for specific applications.
Now that we know the workings of a conventional water wheel, let's try to replicate a simple version with DIY tools - starting from the materials needed:
Needed materials
2 plastic bottles with covers
6 plastic spoons
1 Straw
2 Toothpicks
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Tape
Scissors
Now, follow the steps below to make your DIY version of a water wheel:
Step 1:
Using scissors, cut off half of the 6 spoon handles. (This will form the bucket section of our water wheel)
Step 2:
Remove the cover from the two bottles, stack them together by the rim then secure with glue. (This will form the wheel section of the water wheel)
Step 3:
Attach the spoons around the bottle cover with glue leaving equal spacing between them.
Step 4:
Make a small hole at the center of the two bottle covers, insert the two toothpicks (one on each side) then secure them with glue.
Step 5:
Take one of the plastic bottles: with your scissors, cut off a portion of the bottleneck. Next, cut off two identical portions vertically from the bottle. (This will form the axle section of our water wheel)
Step 6:
Make two little holes in the two remaining vertical portions of the bottle. Pass the two ends of the toothpick through the holes in the bottle leaving the wheel in the middle. Finally, tape the ends of the toothpick to keep the wheel from falling out when spinning.
Step 7:
For the falling water reservoir: take the second plastic bottle, make a little hole by the side (closer to the base), insert a straw then secure it in place with glue.
Step 8 - Final setup:
For the final setup, place the water wheel inside a tray to avoid water spilling all over the place. Elevate the second bottle (water reservoir) to give the falling water some momentum.
Demo
Workings - When the water hits the inside of the spoon, it pushes it in the opposite direction putting the wheel in perpetual rotational motion.
Thanks for sticking around to this point!! Hope we learned something new about the water wheel.
If this was an exciting project, then you'll love other projects we have in store below:
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Check the following link for more details and the dates:
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