Vernier Science Education - October 2024
 

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FREE Force and Motion Kit

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Wendy Goldfein Wendy Goldfein 2345 Points

Last school year Mattel offered a free STEM teacher kit of hot wheels and ramps. We just checked with Mattel today and it is still being offered. It is great for teaching force and motion. There are lesson online to support the kit. They will continue to send them as long as their supply lasts so don't wait. http://www.hotwheels.com/en-us/speedometry.html The kits include the following: 40 Hot Wheels® diecast cars 16 orange loops 16 track clamps 64 track connectors 100+ feet of orange track By the way- every time we find offers or other cool STEM resources like this we post it on our Facebook page so we invite you to like our page and get updates. Wendy www.Get Caught Engineering.com https://www.facebook.com/GetCaughtEngineering

Stephanie Dempsey Stephanie Dempsey 1100 Points

This is a great resource. Our district is running some trial tests with some 4th grade classrooms next year. I am part of a group called the Science Teacher Cadre. It is a group of master science teachers that collaborate and plan together. We got to take some trials to our classroom and try them out. Mattel reps came out and interviewed us about how things went. It was great!

Sarah Collins Sarah Glazier 1460 Points

Wow! Thank you!

AnnaMarie Lesh AnnaMarie Lesh 670 Points

Just as I went to the website I discovered it was for 4th grade teachers. Do anyone know if there is something along the same lines for 3rd grade teachers?

Sandy Gady Sandy Gady 43175 Points

Wendy, thank you for posting this. What a great resource. It is so nice to see Mattel, a major player in the corporate world step up to help teachers out. Their materials are quality and last forever. I passed it on to several of my teaching buddies. Hopefully they will be able to apply before the supply runs out. Do you have any idea how long it will take for the kits to ship?

Susanne Hokkanen Susanne Hokkanen 79520 Points

Thank you for posting this information. I look forward to receiving my kit, and using the supplies to help engage students in engineering and physics.

Janae Barron Janae Barron 370 Points

Thanks so much. I've passed it along to my fourth grade colleagues. I'm a fifth grade teacher. I was going to see if they end up with the kit, if I could borrow it for a Friday afternoon.

Annette Simpson Annette Simpson 695 Points

Thank you for posting info about this great resource! I have ordered my kit and plan to use them to help teach these concepts and engineering practices.

Lisa Marks Lisa Marks 875 Points

Thanks for adding the actual list of all that is in the kit.

Pamela Dupre Pamela Dupre 92369 Points

Thanks for sharing Wendy. I never seem to be able to get signed in when kits are available!

Equanda Wearing Equanda Wearing 590 Points

Thank you for sharing this post.  I has provided some great ideas of things that I can do with my students.  I am a middle level educator, but this is still relevant for my students too.  Please continue to share for the new educators, like myself that are just getting onto NSTA.

Ms. Wearing

Dana Manradgh Dana Manradgh 1030 Points

Thank you for this resource. I am in graduate school for education and need all the tips and tools I can get when I start in my own classroom. 

Deddeh Bedell Deddeh Bedell 1230 Points

Thanks for the information, Stephanie! I teach in a school that is cash-strap, therefore, appreciate any help I can get.

Lynn Palmer Lynn Palmer 1090 Points

Thanks for this resource. We have used pipe tubing in the past with marbles. I think the cars with the track will work better.

Al Byers Al Byers 4498 Points

My wife, 5th grade teacher, for STEAM night several years ago, used an activity like this with plumbing insulation tubing, and students designing roller coasters. It was a huge hit...can you share any more into the type of activity you do, is there a URL or a lesson plan?

Melanie Sanders Melanie Sanders 1475 Points

Awesome link! I just filled out the form to get my free kit.

Cris DeWolf Cris DeWolf 11965 Points

Thanks for the link! I've passed the information on to one of our elementary teachers who is part of a STEM "club" for students in our district.

Shalen Boyer Shalen Boyer 5850 Points

I applied for this back in March and just received my kit a few weeks ago. It is an amazing resource that I plan to utilize with my 8th graders during our force and motion unit. The shear amount of die-cast cars it provided would have made me happy, but to supply the track pieces too?! It felt like Christmas in July! Mattel definitely went above and beyond for teachers by offering this.

Haley Johnston Haley Johnston 1455 Points

I received this kit last year. I use it when teaching force and motion.

Kunta Hutabarat Kunta Hutabarat 150 Points

Thank you for posting the kit. What other lessons / units that can use a similar kit? Maybe a lesson / unit that you found challenging for students to understand today without hands-on kit. We are trying to develop these toolkits and would love to get some advice. Regards, Kunta Hutabarat

Ryan Scoville Ryan Scoville 3087 Points

This resource is great. It comes with a lot of materials and the kids really enjoyed the experience.

Shirley Bunch Shirley Bunch 10 Points

I missed the free offers also, but if anyone is finished with theirs and doesn't mind sharing. If you could mail them to me on loan, I will mail them back. I just can't afford to purchase all the items to make a kit. Send them to 3100 Panthers Pride Drive Dumfries, Va 22026 Attn: 1st Grade and I will send them back to you when we finish with them along with a great big thank you from a lot of wonderful children. Think about it! S. Bunch

Kristin Holmes Kristin Holmes 1190 Points

These are so fun! 

Anna Orr Anna Orr 200 Points

I think this is a great resource to use when teaching force and motion!

Estrell Mamonese Estrell Mamonese 250 Points

wow

Diana Potts Diana Potts 685 Points

For me the link takes me to the Mattel cover page- I'm guessing they are out for now?

I have this kit and use it with my 4th graders. I inherited from the former teacher and I'm missing the guide/ideas from Mattel. Does anyone have a link to the teacher guide from Mattel. 

**From Experience with these matterials**

the blue track connectors will break! You can order them from Amazon pretty cheap.

teach students to pinch and pull back the tracks. Mine try to pull or bend the connectors out and that's when they break.

 

Idea: My final assignment for my physics unit was a Rube Goldberg machine that showed each of Newton's Laws and put a ball into a cup.  This was open ended enough for creativity and questions, yet gave students enough guidelines. The tracks that come in the kit were very handy. BTW we used SeeSaw to record machines and for reflections. It was a LOT of fun.

 Appreciated!

Jonathan Perrone Jonathan Perrone 20 Points

Try this: https://smv.org/documents/216/Hot_Wheels_educator_guide.pdf

 

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