California Career and Technical Education Standards

• BTC.C.C1.2 Calculate the required equipment and materials for mechanical construction appli...
• ED.C.C2.1 Use methods and techniques for employing all engineering design equipment approp...

California Academic Content Standards (Reinforced)

• M.5.MG.2.1 Measure, identify, and draw angles, perpendicular and parallel lines, rectangles...1

• Fun Facts about the Spring Loaded Mousetrap - Hooks / Set

  The Spring Loaded Bar Mousetrap

  This mousetrap was created in 1894 by William Hooker in Illinois. Another popular variant of the spring loaded trap was created by Hiram Maxim (inventor of the machine gun). To this day, the workings remain practically the same.

  • Mousetrap [ View Image ] [ Download Original ] Spring Loaded Mousetrap
  • Hiram Maxim [ View Image ] [ Download Original ] Hiram Maxim with his Machine Gun
• Internet Research - Group Work

  It will be up to the individual instructor as to how they might want to group students.  It may be advantageous to have the students work individually at the beginning of the lesson researching mousetrap vehicles on the internet.  It is the goal of this lesson to make sure that the students know exactly what a mousetrap vehicle looks like and to understand that there is certainly more than one way to make a mousetrap vehicle.

   

  Ask the students to consider the following questions:

  -Are you building your vehicle for speed or for distance?

  -What might be the differences in your design if you are going for speed versus distance?

  -How many wheels will your vehicle have?  Why?

  -What factors will create friction, or slow down your vehicle?

  -What materials will be useful in your design?
• Hand Drawing a Sketch of the Mousetrap - Demo / Modeling

  FOR SAFETY, "DISARM" THE TRAPS BY REMOVING THE LATCH AND HAIR TRIGGER MECHANISM BEFORE PASSING OUT THE TRAPS TO STUDENTS.

  Pass out the mousetraps.  Tell the students that they will be following along as you draw a sketch of the mousetrap.

  For this activity, the teacher needs to be at the board or using an overhead projector to create a sketch of the mousetrap.  The drawing does not have to be in scale, but should include all of the pertinant measurements associated with the mousetrap itself.    The following measurements will be shown:

  -thickness of the wooden base (Dial caliper)

  -length of the wooden base (Dial Caliper)

  -width of the wooden base (Dial Caliperr)

  -thickness of the wire for the trap/spring (dial caliper/micrometer)

  -number of coils in the spring

  -length of spring

  -lengths of the trap arms

  -angle of the bends in the trap arm

  Put completed dimensioned sketches in to your portfolio.

  Turn in portfolios per your instructor's instructions.

  • Dial Caliper [ View Image ] [ Download Original ] Analog Dial Caliper
  • Micrometer [ View Image ] [ Download Original ] Micrometer