View larger
Heavy Lifting
New activity
In this hands-on engineering design challenge, patrons learn about physics, gravity, and engineering by constructing a crane with common materials!
Open Activity
How-to Video
Teacher's Guide
Provides classroom connections, key concepts, connections to science standards, and additional resources.
- Write a review
Related Programming Resources
| Add a Tech Twist | Optional: Try using a digital scale to measure out your loads! |
| Hints for uses in your library |
Remind patrons to utilize the engineering deisgn process. Failure is OK!
Try this next! Crank it up with a handle. Modify your take-up reel by adding a hand crank. A crane can work with or without a crank. Having a hand crank might be useful and make it easier to turn the rod. Expand the cable. Try picking up a load from the floor as your crane sits on a tabletop. |
| Related Links |
How Does a Crane Work
How Tower Cranes Work |
| Originating Source | PBS Design Squad |
| Related Books [Suggest a book] |
These children’s books all deal with various themes involved in engineering such as the engineering design process, specific projects such as building bridges or houses, and perseverance through failure.
• Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty • Iggy Peck, Architect by Andrea Beaty • Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty • This Bridge Will Not Be Gray by Dave Eggers • Cross a Bridge by Ryan Ann Hunter • What To Do With an Idea? By Kobi Yamada • Ish by Peter H. Reynolds • Stuck by Oliver Jeffers • The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds • The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires • How a House is Built by Gail Gibbons |