Discuss the kinds of useful work water wheels can do and have done in the past. Ask students to think of ways to make their water wheels do some work. Assessment Record the participation and effectiveness of students in their groups as they build the water wheels and record data. Have individual students explain their graphed data. Assess whether the students' discussions and graphs show a realistic understanding of the way their water wheels would work.
Options Have students think of several possible uses for water wheels.
The uses can be practical or imaginary. Have students make a drawing of a water wheel being used for one of these purposes, labelling the parts and describing what they do. Challenge students to build a more efficient water wheel and to make it do some work. Extending a shaft to the axle of the wheel and using the rotating shaft to raise and lower a weight on a string is one way to make a water wheel do useful work. Have students research the use of water to generate electricity and the importance of hydroelectricity in British Columbia.