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Self-guiding in the Galleries
Pre-During-Post Visit Resources
Alexander Calder Gallery

Grades 3-5

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During your visit
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Things You Don't Want to Miss
Discussion Questions
Activities
Go to Alexander Calder Gallery Page

Before and After Your Visit
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Important Terms and Concepts
Activities
Print and Web Resources

	Calder's Original Toys in the Display Cases Alexander Calder's original prototypes of push and pull toys were made in the 1920's. The Gould Manufacturing Company in Oshkosh, WI produced them for the mass market. Though trained as an engineer, Calder began to focus on making art soon after graduating from college. In the meantime, he had to make a living. Even as a boy, Calder had always enjoyed tinkering with bits of wire to make imaginative toys with moving parts, so he created a series of playful wooden pull toys for children, eventually finding a company willing to manufacture them.
	Pull Toys That Visitors Can Try! The Berkshire Museum created replicas of the original toys, so that visitors could wheel them around the gallery.
	The Fish The fish is one of the many whimsical toy replicas that you can actually play with in the gallery. Eccentric wheels, with the axle placed off-center, create this toy's bobbing, wobbling motion.
	The Frog The frog appears to be swimming, thanks to a series of levers linked to the front and back legs of the toy's wheels, creating a crank mechanisms. This toy also features rotating wheels in the form of castors.

Here are some questions for teachers, chaperones and students to think about while visiting the exhibit.

• What animals do you see? How are the animals moving? What kind of colors, shapes and patterns do you see?
• Calder’s pull toys use different kinds of wheels. What different kinds of wheels do you notice? What different kinds of movement do they create?
• After trying the replicas of Calder’s toys, are there any changes or improvements you would make to the toys?
• If these toys were manufactured today, how might they be different? Why?
• Alexander Calder was an artist and an engineer. Engineers often make something, test it out, and then change it to make it work even better. Do you see places on Alexander’s original toys where he changed things?
• If you were going to make a moving toy, what would you make? How would it move?

Engineering Scavenger Hunt
A fun way to consider how these toys were made, thinking about tools and materials. Click here for complete directions/worksheet.

You may want to familiarize your students with the following terms before your visit to the museum.

• Work
  a force that makes an object move a distance
• Force
  a push or a pull.
• Load
  the object that is moved when work is done.
• Simple machines
  six machines that have been used for thousands of years; the wedge, ramp (inclined plane), screw, wheel and axle, pulley, and lever, which when used, make it easier to get work done. The combination of more than one simple machine is called a complex machine.
• Rotating wheel
  a wheel that is not fixed to an axle, so that the wheel can rotate while the axle stays still.
• Wheel and axle
  a wheel that is fixed to an axle so that they rotate together.
• Lever
  a rigid beam that can pivot at a fixed point (the fulcrum). Some examples of levers include sea saws and windshield wipers. Two or more levers can be joined together. Salad tongs are an example of this. The handles on the push toys in the gallery are also levers.

Calder Toy Picture Book
Students create a picture book about the Alexander Calder toy exhibit to share with people in their families who may not have been able to come on the field trip. Book contents might include a drawing of the student's favorite toy, information about how it moves (i.e., You pull it and it wobbles around), what machines helped to make their toy move (levers, tilted wheels, regular wheels, etc.) and what students liked best about the exhibit.

Simple Machine Scavenger Hunt
Complete the Simple Machine Scavenger Hunt at school, at home, or both. Click here for complete directions/worksheet.

Problem Solving Challenges
Students will have fun working on these problem solving challenges in small groups. The materials are everyday items and the directions are simple, but the outcomes are completely open-ended. Students may use simple machines to solve these challenges without even knowing what the simple machines are. Have each group do a different challenge, or give each group the same challenge and see how many different solutions your class comes up with. Click here for complete directions/worksheet.

Use the Berkshire Athenaeum’s on-line catalogue to search for these print resources in Central/Western Massachusetts.

Print and Web Materials For Students

Lafferty, Peter. Force & Motion (Eyewitness). New York: DK Publishing, 2000. Helpful and abundant photos and illustrations. Covers many physics fundamentals including simple machines and how they have been used throughout history.

How Stuff Works
Explains the inner workings of telephones, toys, refrigerators, clocks, toilets and more.

Inventor'sToolbox: The Elements of Machines.
The Science Learning Network, Museum of Science, Boston, 1997. Good images of the simple machines and some common complex machines like worm gears and the crank and rod. A challenge page asks you to identify the mechanisms in gadgets like a hand powered drill.

Print and Web Materials For Educators

Taylor, Beverly A.P., James Poth and Dwight J. Portman. Teaching Physics with TOYS, Activities for Grades K – 9 . New York: Terrific Science Press, 1995. Physics activities utilizing toys like Lego â construction toys, roller skates, comeback toys, and yo-yos. Designed by college professors, elementary and middle school classroom teachers and science specialists.

Tuchman, Phyllis. "Calder's Playful Genius." Smithsonian (May 2001), p. 82 – 92. About Calder’s career and practices as an artist.

 

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent Federal grant- making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners by helping libraries and museums serve their communities supports the Berkshire Museum.

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