The Drumming Monkey
Lego WeDo – Mechanisms and Machines - Lesson 4
Objectives
- To combine several mechanisms in a single machine build
- To explain how mechanisms combine to make a machine work
Lesson 1 - Motors, gears, and gearing down
Lesson 2 - Idler gear, Crown gears and Cams
Lesson 3 - Pulleys, Levers and Sensors
Lesson 4 - The Drumming Monkey
Lesson 5 - Programming the monkey
Lesson 6 - Build it yourself
Introduction
Over the last two weeks we have built and analysed six different kinds of mechanisms. Each one created different kinds of motion and could be used for different purposes in real machines. Which mechanisms can you remember, can you describe what they did?
So far we have just been building small prototype models to test the mechanisms, today we are going to do our first full build, The Monkey Drummer! This model allows analysis of the cams mechanism that makes the arms of the monkey move up and down.
To find the activity instructions, click on the yellow Lego brick in the top left of the screen, then select the yellow Lego head which takes you to the activities page. Select the drumming monkey from the menu. Ask the students to work together to build the monkey using the instructions in the WeDo software.
Test the model using a basic movement algorithm. What happens?
How does it work?
Ask the students - What are the four key parts or mechanisms used in the drumming monkey?
- Motor (rotary motion)
- Cams
- Crown gear
- Levers
Ask - Can you explain how the monkey drummer works? Ask them to complete the first side of the Monkey Drummer Investigation sheet.
Key vocabulary:
- Motor
- Rotates
- Axle
- Gear
- Crown gear
- Cams
- Lever
- Push
- Rise
- Fall
Keep the monkey models built for the following lesson as it continues on from here.