Can you create a ramp that makes your Hot Wheels car fly with speed? How far can you make your car travel without touching it? In this 5-week course, engineers will design ramps, tracks, jumps and crashes to test and prove the science of force and motion.  Each prerecorded lesson will cover a physics concept, allow for hands-on discovery, and end with a game, or activity. All topics will be presented in a developmentally appropriate way. Hot Wheels naturally engages children’s curiosity and teaches them STEM concepts without students even realizing it! Club activities will provide a way to practice Science, Math, and Engineering through play. Not only do the learners engage in STEM, but our class also promotes a Growth Mindset and develops critical thinking skills. Learners and families will share moments of joy, excitement, curiosity, and wonder through inquiry and investigation. Learners will be assigned an engineering and science challenge to prove the science presented in each lesson. The Teacher will be available to help, comment, and provide feedback throughout the class. Hot Wheels Engineering is a multi-part unit focusing on force and motion concepts: energy, aerodynamics, momentum, resistance, and mass.  The class emphasizes creative problem-solving through engaging, exploring, questioning, explaining, elaborating, and evaluating science and engineering concepts.

Having your own Hot Wheels cars and tracks is not required but having some kind of moving vehicle and track (or something that can act like a track like cardboard) will greatly increase the fun and interaction for the student.  

Each week, Learners will be required to:
* Use toy vehicles and household materials to complete each challenge
* Report their findings and results of each challenge
* Additional activities may include photo uploads of finished work or memory and matching games for concept review.

At the end of the class, students will have learned and demonstrated:
1) Creative problem-solving through engaging, exploring, questioning, explaining, elaborating, and evaluating their designs.
2) Persistence when encountering an unexpected and difficult challenge (Growth Mindset).
3) Recognize opportunities to improve or change their design even after they think it's "done." 
4) Use creativity and imagination to generate and extend a design beyond an initial idea.

I look forward to our time exploring science and engineering in a FUN and exciting way! Students are encouraged to continue learning in the next class, which includes all NEW challenges related to the same physics concepts.

(Image ID 127455840 © Glenn Mendies | Dreamstime.com)