While it is getting warm, I start collecting ideas on activities we can do outside. I found a FREE app called Curiosity School. It has instructions on making a water wheel with egg carton. We did it over the weekend. It is very easy to make and we all had a good time making it. While running the water wheel, we had opportunity to talk about how energy can change its form, and how we can change the natural energy into a form that we can use.
To make the water wheel, all you need are 1 egg carton, 2 paper plates, a skewer, scissors, stapler, and something to hold the water wheel. In the instruction, they used spools. My son made one with LEGO.
Following the video instruction in the app, first, we cut out all the little cups from the egg carton, then stapled egg carton to the edge of the paper plate. Once the edge of one plate is full, we stapled the 2nd plate to the other side of the egg carton cups. Then we push the skewer through the center of the plates and rest both ends of the skewer on the holder built with LEGO. We had a water wheel! It is very easy to do. 
One thing very nice about the app is it has questions for discussion. We discussed why do we have to have the egg cartons all around the plate, what causes the wheel to spin, what was the water wheel used for in the past. We also learned couple new words, such as hydropower and renewable energy.
As a free app, I found Curiosity School is a very good science app for kids. In addition to water wheel, it has several other science experiment activities. All the activities are easy to do like water wheel. I will definitely try some other activities in the app.
If you would like to check it out or purchase it, please use the App Store link provided below. The cost is the same to you, but iGameMom gets a small percentage. Thanks for your support! Note: The link works for all countries.
Interesting project.
Thanks , I have recently been looking for information about this topic for a while and yours is the best I have came upon till now.
This looks like great fun! My son would love making a water wheel.
It is surprisingly easy too. The part took the most time is cutting the little cups out of the egg carton.
This is SUCH a great STEM activity. Thanks for sharing this at the After School Linky party. I’m featuring this on my blog at tomorrow’s link up. Stop by, check it out, and share more!!
Thanks for the feature. It is fun and very easy to do.
Now why couldn’t you have shared this a year ago when I was looking for a good water wheel experiment? Ours did not work well.
Thanks for linking up to Science Sunday!
Ha, only if I knew there was something called blog 🙂 Hope this one works for you.
I love that there is an app for this! I would have never figured out by myself and my boys will love it! I featured this post in Mom’s Library summer learning round up this week.
The app is pretty good. I like it because it has video instructions. Thanks for featuring this, and hope your boys will like it.
I seriously love how geektastic this is! I know my engineer husband is totally gonna want to do it with my daughter. Featuring you this week for Mom’s Library time!
Thanks for featuring this. You should definitely try! Making it was fun, watching it spin was even more fun!