Activity (Hands-On)Grades 6 - 8
The Boxes Go Mobile: Balancing Hanging Boxes with Levers
Students create mobiles to display their results from the previous activity.Copyright 2005 CIBL, Duke University www.biology.duke.edu/cibl/exercises/box_mobiles.gif
To display the results from the previous activity, each student designs and constructs a mobile that contains a duplicate of his or her original box, the new cube-shaped box of the same volume, the scraps that are left over from the original box, and pertinent calculations of the volumes and surface areas involved. They problem solve and apply their understanding of see-saws and lever systems to create balanced mobiles.
Students think like engineers as they design balanced mobiles composed of boxes.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Make a balanced mobile that displays their work and communicates with others their mathematical observations.
- Apply previous knowledge of lever systems to creative problem solving that involves spatial relationships.