Getting Inventive in Grade 9 Science

5/2/2018

Erin Taylor, Communications Officer

To wrap up their unit on electricity, the Grade 9 science classes got inventive.

The project guidelines were simple enough on the surface: they had to design and build an electrical gadget. It would require them to use everything they had learned throughout the unit. Using only one energy source, they needed to have multiple loads — such as lights or motors — which would require some clever circuitry.

They also couldn’t just design anything; it had to be useful in some way. They had to market their gadget, promoting it as a new useful invention; that means they really had to think through what they wanted to create.

With such open instructions, the sky was the limit! To make sure they were on the right track, their proposals had to be approved before they could get started building their inventions.

The hands-on approach, from design to final product, really challenged students to use everything they learned about electricity when designing their circuits, and troubleshooting issues. When challenges arose and things weren’t working as expected, they had to persevere and think hard about how to solve it; there was no instruction manual they could refer to! Instead, they had to put time, effort, and dedication into making their product work properly. According to one of the science teachers, Ms. Floras, “The students definitely learned to persevere. Even though they were at times frustrated, they felt accomplished once their gadget was working and came together.”

They also relied on support from their peers, and could come in for extra help to get some guidance from their teachers.

Students designed a wide variety of different gadgets such as a fan-cooled laptop desk, wearable tech, and a robotic arm to create paintings.

"There are many aspects of this project that will be memorable for students: the work they had to put in, the failures throughout the process, and their overall sense of satisfaction when they finally completed the final product,” Mr Morrison, another of the science teachers working on the project, said. “Personally, I find these kinds of projects very rewarding!"

Ms. Floras said, “It's nice to see some students really shine, and show their understanding in a different way than a traditional end-of-unit test.”

Back

Students built their projects in class
Students worked through difficult challenges with help from their peers and teachers
A finished project called "SciArt" by Bella Clyde
Brandon Jones with his laptop cooling desk
Matt Kaul with his invention, "Port Soda"

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