EXHILARATING EXPERIMENTS Have you ever wondered how a roller coaster car goes so fast or how a parachute really works Have you looked at something and thought it's good but I can make it better If so then you are thinking like an engineer What's the first question every engineer should ask No it's not where are the snacks It's What is the problem that needs solving Use these experiments to help you look at problems like how to reach things up high or how to make a call using just string and paper cups and find new and exciting ways to solve them
8 MONSTER JAWS Do your parents keep the good snacks way up high out of your reach Well not anymore with this monstrously fun grabber STEP 1 Grab ten craft sticks and ask an adult to make three holes in each one using a drill The holes need to be big enough to fit a paper fastener through STEP 3 Take two Xs and line up the top of one with the bottom of another it doesn't matter which way they go Push a paper fastener through the holes in each side so that the X's are all connected to each other SNAP SNAP STEP 4 When you've connected all the Xs open and close your grabber a few times to make sure the movement is smooth SNAP YOU WILL NEED 13 craft sticks white glue 13 paper fasteners scissors thick cardboard an adult with a drill to do the hard work 2 rubber bands pencil STEP 2 Line up two of the craft sticks and push the paper fastener through the center holes Open up the fastener to secure it Repeat using the other craft sticks so that you have five Xs STEP 5 Cut another craft stick in half Glue both halves of the craft stick to the top of your grabber
9 STEP 6 Using the thick cardboard draw and cut out some scary teeth Glue them onto the craft sticks you added in step 5. Why not add googly eyes and some scary scales STEP 7 Glue one craft stick on either side of the bottom of the grabber to make handles You can wrap these in rubber bands or grip tape if you choose to make your grip better Now go find hidden things HOW DOES IT WORK Levers are engineering tools for turning small movements into big ones or vice versa A lever is a solid stick or pole that turns around a pivot Your grabber is made of lots of levers craft sticks turning on lots of pivots paper fasteners The levers push on each other turning the small movement your hands make pushing the handles into a big movement for your grabber's snapping jaws
