Gold Rush STEM Activity The Wheelbarrow Colonial Life

Explore common structures and techniques used during the gold rush and colonial times with these STEM activities! Follow the design process to design and build a working model of a wheelbarrow; a common form of transport used during the gold rushes.

*** Try a free sample of my STEM project; Bush Beds. ***

You will receive:

-Student work booklet (see below for details)

-Pictures demonstrating how I built my model

-Sample page from a completed workbook

-Paper saving printing option for those wanting to save paper or who have copying restrictions. Students can complete their project in the school workbooks.

-Topic poster

-Simple Machines poster

-Building a Stable Structure poster

-KWL

-PCQ

-Design & Technologies Processes and Production Skills assessment checklist (student and teacher versions)

-Oral presentation student planning guide

-Assessment Rubric for the oral presentation

-Student workbook example responses

Student Workbook: each section has a checklist to help keep students on track.

-Front Cover

-Task, description of the mining technique and materials list

-KWL Chart

-Background research

-Design

-Construct: paste in photographs into student workbook showing their building process

-Evaluate: students evaluate the overall design & construction of their model

-PCQ: analyse the positives and negatives of the focus topic (eg. Puddler)

-Extension options for those students wanting to continue the design process: redesign, reconstruct, re-evaluate, procedural text and four STEM related extension ideas.

Resources needed for this STEM project:

Ultimately you will decide what materials your students will have access to. Students may even be able to bring in some materials of their own. However, to create a realistic model, I suggest that students have access to the following:

-adhesive (hot glue gun)

-rope (string)

-timber (pop sticks or twigs)

-leather (calico, scrap faux leather from textile shops)

-metal (stiff yet bendable wire)

-wheels (cotton/ribbon reel, lid etc)

-selection of cardboard and paper

-stationary (pencils, paper, ruler, scissors etc)

Gold Rush STEM resources:

Mining Techniques:

1. Windlass
2. Whip
3. Puddler
4. Cradle

Housing

1. Wattle and Daub Hut
2. Bark Hut
3. Log Hut
4. Tent
5. Bush Beds

Modes of Transport

1. Cobb and Co Coach
2. Horse and Cart
3. Wheelbarrow

Bundles

1. Gold Rush STEM BUNDLE (The original). Includes; Wattle and Daub Hut, Windlass, Horse & Cart and Gold Rush Research Project.
2. Gold Rush STEM. Housing Bundle. Includes: Wattle and Daub Hut, Log Hut, Bark Hut, Tent and Bush Beds.
3. Gold Rush STEM. Transport BUNDLE. Includes: Horse and Cart, Cobb & Co Coach and Wheelbarrow
4. Gold Rush STEM. Mining Techniques BUNDLE. Includes: Windlass, Whip, Cradle and Puddler.

Research

1. Gold Rush Research Project

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