Engineering is a key part of 21st century education so introduce your students to wheels, axles, and inclined planes with the K’NEX Simple Machines Kit! Recommended for students aged eight and up and as part of a 1:3 kit-to-student ratio, this kit serves as a great hands-on introduction to engineering and creative thinking. Although designed as a construction kit, it is backed by a substantial teacher’s guide to support the connection between the builds and the science on why and how it works. By building models of real-world machines, including a well, paddleboat, steering wheel, ramps, splitting wedge, and hand drill, students will gain an understanding of how these mechanisms work in real life.
In the box, there are 221 plastic pieces, a building guide, and a CD with the teacher’s guide loaded on it. When I first got my hands on the kit, I was immediately impressed by the durability of the bin it came in. Since we know this is something teachers consider when purchasing EdTech, we took note of this fact right away and it definitely weighed into our decision of adding it to our store. This also makes storing the kit in the classroom very easy, although it does not have dividers inside to separate the pieces. Once I opened our kit and poked around a bit, I decided to build the Paddleboat, the second lesson in the book. I found that the pieces were easy to snap and connect together and it didn’t take nearly as long as I had predicted.
In the guide, it is clearly spelled out in the beginning what pieces students need to gather for this project and how many. It is easy to distinguish among the many pieces as they are all different sizes and colors. The colorful images were definitely helpful to guide me through the build. The images include numbers and arrows, so students know what order to connect things and, more importantly, where to connect them. I do recommend students keep their model facing the same direction as in the instructions to make it easier to build.
One important thing to note about the teacher’s guide is that it’s included in the form of a CD, but it’s also available online as a PDF. The purpose of this guide is to enhance the building experience of the models by teaching the mechanisms behind the models and providing opportunities for group discussion and evaluation. This guide includes seven lessons (one on each building model) plus a Getting Started lesson.
There are Quick Start Guides for each of the two sections (Wheels and Axles and Inclined Planes), including important background information and connections students can draw from real-life engineering. For even more context, the guides include explanations of key concepts kids will encounter and why these concepts are important.
Each lesson includes learning objectives, time constraints, vocabulary terms, resources, and small group and whole class activities supported by teacher’s notes. At the end of the guide, you’ll find Key Technical Terms and Scientific Definitions for background information, such as types of motion and simple machines, mechanisms, force, work, friction, resistance, load, and many more!
There are a variety of K'NEX kits for teaching many different engineering concepts, and they come in a variety of sizes to support learning in all types of makerspaces and classrooms. While checking them out on our store, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for news and updates on the best EdTech tools and best prices as well! Come back next week to read our feature on the New Matter 3D printer in our next Tips & Tricks blog, too!
