Mechanical assemblies and motion capture (video 3:19) – gears and simple machines can be used together to make complex motions. With computer technology, actual movement can be captured and used for life-like animations for games and movies, as well as for research into human movement.
Based on basic body parts
- senses – sight – light, hearing – sound, audio, antenna. smell, taste, touch – pressure, pain
- jaws – grasping – vice grips
- teeth – biting, chewing, interlocking, grinding – gears
- arms – leverage, extension
- legs height, movement
- joints – knees, elbows
- feet – support, stability
- backbone – strength, rigidity
- lungs – breathing, gas storage
- heart – circulation, pressure
- brain, nerves – control, autonomous
“Two heads are better than one” – Cooperation is one of the unique characteristics of humans, and a few animals. Cooperation requires each of the participants to bring their own skills and knowledge to the project. Working together they can accomplish more than any of the individuals could do on their own. Examples of animals cooperating
- Australian Coral trout and Morey eel (video 0:52) – Not only do they choose to work together to hunt smaller fish in the reef, the trout selects an eel partner that demonstrates that it is good at cooperation.
Do It
Challenges for you to work on…
- Make a Hip Joint – Make a ball and socket joint that mimics the movement of a human hip or shoulder.
- joints (video 0:48) – make a joint mechanism with just a straw and some yarn or fishing line
engineering 4 kids 