This activity was taken from the Noggin BuilderZ advanced activity book

Objectives:

1.   Learn what is a gear

2.   Learn how to name the gears by its number of teeth

3.   Learn how to name a gear (Driver, Driven, Idler Gear) by its position in a gear train

4.   Learn how to increase, reduce speed, change direction with gears

5.   Learn how to build a gear train and explore with the gear train

6.   Play around with different combinations of gears and explore the applications to real life

Steps:

To make the gear stand:

1.   Insert the blue rod through the wheel

2.   Secure the wheel with 2 discs, 1 at the front and 1 at the back of wheel

3.   Insert the green gear to the blue rod

What Is A Gear

GEAR is use to transfer the power from the :

DRIVING GEAR  (EFFORT)- it can be electric motor, a manual crank, a wind turbine etc  to

DRIVEN GEAR (LOAD)- it can be wheel, fan etc

What Are Gears Used For

Gears can be used to:

1.   Change speed.

2.   Change torque

3.   Change direction of motion

4.   Transmit torque over a distance.

How Many Teeth Are On Each Gear

Gear Ratio

Gear Ratio is the DRIVER/DRIVEN

• Compare the distance covered by the DRIVER gear and the distance covered by the DRIVEN gear     or
• When DRIVER gear makes 1 turn, How many turns the DRIVEN gear make?

Draw a line on the GEAR,  ask the children to notice/take down the number of turns.

• How many turns does a GREEN wheel need to make the RED wheel turn once?
• How many turns does a YELLOW wheel need to make the RED wheel turn once?
• How many turns does a BLUE wheel need to make the RED wheel turn once?

Remember:

• colors of rods and other pieces may vary
• kit contains small pieces and may be a choking hazard, intended for ages 6+