Edu STEM Learning Kits kit allows students to engage, explore, and expand their learning experiences and problem solving skills through hands on activities while having fun experimenting. Our STEM Education kits are designed for school programs and home schooling from Kindergarten to middle school to high school. Over the years we have received many questions about our STEM activity kits and share them with you.
Blu Track® offers a variety of STEM kits based on grade level applications and identifies each one to help you select the right learning tools for your needs.
These kits are fantastic for teaching a variety of STEM concepts and engaging activities, including:
Pose Open-Ended Questions: Instead of giving answers, ask “What happens if…?” or “How can we make the car go faster/slower/farther?”
Encourage Prediction, Observation, and Explanation: Have students predict what will happen in an experiment, carefully observe the results, and then try to explain why it happened using force and motion concepts.
An example for when actively teaching a concept, just before class ends have students measure and sketch their ideas and then roll up the track, place it in its box, put away the support structures and you have your classroom back. Simply unroll the track to get started quickly for the next class meeting.
Because Blu Track® is designed to have very few pieces and minimal bulk, when not in use it is best stored in its sturdy box coiled with rails facing in. If you have multiple track sets, the rolled up tracks can often be stored in stackable bins or containers, further optimizing vertical space.Â
Blu Track® can be a tool used in different grade levels, before and after school programs and STEM nights. It was developed to be durable enough to be used year after year so schools can share their resources and space.
We love to talk shop at Blu Track®. We really do. Contact us and we’ll work with you.
It really depends on what you want to achieve. We think it’s a great idea for teachers to show students just how flexible the track can be, letting them explore different twists and turns. Then, make sure to set some safety guidelines. Ask the students to create a simple race by placing the start line where indicated and securing an anchor bar just past the natural curve. They can have fun testing out different vehicles to see which one keeps the most speed. After that, you can spark their creativity by challenging them to design a hill using something from the classroom, like a book. This open-ended play will encourage them to engage and share ideas, building excitement around thoughts like, “I wonder what will happen when…”
For more information and additional ideas for your classroom, visit our Teacher Resources page.
Blu Track® is generally recommended for ages 3 and up. Blu Track® offers young children a hands-on way of growing their understanding of gravity and its forces. They can also feel and see how different car styles and sizes race down the track.
Engaging experiments using Blu Track® align with force and motion, engineering and design science standards in K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and high school. The depth of understanding changes as children grow in their experiences. Content objectives range from understanding fair test and variables to designing multiple solutions to show the effects of forces on an object in motion depend on the sum of the forces of the object and the mass of the object.
Check out our BLU for Teachers page for more details.
A wide variety! Typical toy race cars are 1/64th scale. Some vehicles that are larger and some that are smaller also work very well with Blu Track®. We’ve seen success with lots of different types of vehicles ranging from traditional toy cars to wooden to cars kids design with small blocks. Of course, we highly recommend our long and lean Blu Track® Racers and Blu Track® Physics cars that include washers to adjust the variable of mass.
Some cars fit best racing in one of the two lanes and others fit best going down the middle of the track. It all depends on the size and design of the car.
Note: Physics cars are NOT toys and are to be used with supervision and care. With their design and increased mass option, dropping them to the floor can significantly impact their use and effectiveness.
Basically, STRUCTURE is everywhere, and we’d like students to explore what is possible first.
By giving students the ramps too early, we are handing them our predetermined solution to the problem – which limits their thinking. There is nothing magical about our 12.5% slope… their specific design may need an 8% slope or perhaps 23% to work so we’d prefer that students figure that out for themselves.
Sure! You can cut your Blu Track® down to any length you need. When teaching some force and motion concepts, a shorter length of track may actually be preferred. Before cutting you may want to consider keeping the extra length at the end rolled up so you have the longer length available for other experiments or creative play.
If you choose to shorten your track, just mark your track to the length you want and cut with sharp scissors or a utility knife.
Some common ways teachers teach friction with Blu Track® is to add salt, sand or even water on one lane of the track.
For more information, please see our Teacher Resources page.
While our Edu STEM product will yield the most repeatable data and durability, you can absolutely substitute either Classic Series or PS for Edu Series in your experiments.
Keep in mind that Edu STEM track has higher rails, which works best when using marbles (in place of cars). It also has a lane divider that is a channel. This channel allows for easy data collection and consistency between student groups in learning lab settings. For example, a Blu Track® insert can be placed in the channel and used for measuring how far a water bottle moved when collided with by a car. The PS track also has the same middle channel.
Also note that the Classic Series track may limit creativity and problem solving due to its length.
Blu Track® classroom guides are not sold separately. They are available only with purchase of our Edu STEM Kits and certain other Specialty Kits.
However, be sure to check out our Teacher Resources page for more helpful information.
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Learn more about our Edu STEM Kits and how Blu Track® is committed to teaching students about science, technology, engineering, and math.
