Teachers TryScience

Chair Lift Challenge

Jun 19 2014

Source: IEEE

Summary Information

Keywords:

mechanical engineering, design, motion and forces

Topic:

Physical Science

Workplace Skills:

Raising Questions

Problem Solving

Investigation Design

Secondary Research

Discussion

Teamwork

Estimated Time Required:

1-2 hours

Target Grade (Ages):

Grade 5 (Ages 10-11)

Grade 6 (Ages 11-12)

Grade 7 (Ages 12-13)

Grade 8 (Ages 13-14)

Grade 9 (Ages 14-15)

Grade 10 (Ages 15-16)

Grade 11 (Ages 16-17)

Grade 12 (Ages 17-18)

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LESSON

Goals and Prerequisites

Goals:

Through this lesson, students will:

Learn about engineering design and redesign.
Learn how engineering can help solve society's challenges.
Learn about teamwork and problem solving.

Instructional Objective(s)

As a result of this activity, students should develop an understanding of:

civil engineering
engineering design
teamwork

Instructional Resources

Background:

An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel cable loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers, carrying a series of chairs. They are used extensively at ski areas, but are also found at amusement parks as well. Depending on carrier size and loading efficiency, a passenger ropeway can move up 4000 people per hour, and the swiftest lifts achieve operating speeds of up to 12 m/s (26.8 mph; 43.2 km/h).

An aerial lift is an increasingly popular means of transportation in which cabins, cars, gondolas or open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more cables. These are becoming popular in urban environments where ground space is at a premium. Over 600 years ago aerial systems were used in China to help move people and goods over streams. During the 1800’s, the technology was improved by the by the mining industry to assist in the transport of minerals over difficult terrain. Aerial lifts are being installed in some cities to assist with urban transportation.

Safety is always a concern on chair lifts, which is why engineers have incorporated many safety features into them including lift bars (which provides the passenger with a horizontal bar to hold onto, and locking devices so the cable cannot move backwards.

The mechanism at the top of a chairlift allows for the steel rope to wind horizontally, returning empty chairs down a mountain. The image to the right is the ski lift mechanism in the resort of Tsakhkadzor, Armenia.

Materials:

Student Team Materials: ping pong ball, string, floral wire, pipe cleaners, bendable aluminum wire, straws, paper towel tubes, paper clips, tape, balloons, glue, string, foil, plastic wrap, pulley, other items available in the classroom.
Student Handouts

Procedure:

To introduce the lesson, consider asking the students if they have ever seen an aerial lift or ski lift. Have them consider the engineering challenges of building such a transportation system.
Teams of 3-4 students will consider their challenge, and consider how the available materials might be used to create a chair lift.
Teams will develop a detailed drawing showing their lift design including a list of materials they will need to build it and the chair the ping pong ball will ride in.
Students build their lift, and test it under teacher supervision. Each lift must be able to transport the tennis ball "up the mountain" and "down the mountain" without the ball dropping out of the chair they develop to hold the ping pong ball.
Students should observe the chair lifts that other teams create.
Teams reflect on the challenge, and present their experiences to the class.

Extensions

Have students transport a golf ball up and down the lift instead of a ping pong ball -- or require the chair lift to have two seats (two ping pong balls or a ping pong and a golf ball) -- or have one basket going up while another is going down.

Assessments and Rubrics

If you are interested in learning how to make your own rubric for this or other lessons, you may be interested in watching the How to Make a Rubric video below.

These reflective questions will help assess student understanding:

What was one thing you liked about your design? What is its main weakness?
What is one thing you would change about your design based on your experience?
Are there algebraic and physical principles that can be applied to this activity?
How would you modify the instructions to create a better experience for the participants?

External Resources

TryEngineering
Aerial People Movers
Doppelmayr
National Science Education Standards
ITEA Standards for Technological Literacy

Credits

This lesson was originally created for TryEngineering by IEEE.

RESOURCES

Original Resources

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Contributed Resources

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IEEE TryEngineering.org Chair Lift Challenge Lesson Plan

STANDARDS/CURRICULUM

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Comments

Very exciting and interesting

Very exciting and interesting lesson! Almost every one of us enjoyed such lifts on vacation in the mountains, but not everyone knows how they work and of what material they are created. I will use this material for my paper in essay blog! Thanks!

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