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🎪 Weeks 24-25: Friendship Machines

Unit Overview
Grade Level Grades 1-2
Duration 2 sessions (30 min each)
Curriculum Year B
STREAM Focus E (Engineering), S (Science), R (Religion)

Weeks 24-25: Friendship Machines

🎯 Learning Objectives

STEM Objectives

Students will be able to: 1. Understand cause and effect relationships 2. Create simple chain reaction machines 3. Work collaboratively on team projects 4. Test and refine designs

Faith Integration Objectives

Students will be able to: 1. Connect chain reactions to ripple effects of kindness 2. Understand how small acts lead to big effects 3. Design machines with kind purposes

Weeks 24-25: Friendship Machines

🙏 Faith-Reason Integration

Catholic Teaching Connection

Ripple Effect of Love — One act of kindness leads to another. Just like a chain reaction machine where one action triggers the next, our kindness creates ripples that spread far beyond what we see.

Scripture Connection

"A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." — Proverbs 11:25

Saint Connection

St. Thérèse of Lisieux — Her "Little Way" teaches that small acts of love add up to great things. Each tiny kindness is like a domino that starts a chain reaction of good!

📚 Materials Needed

  • Dominoes

  • Cardboard tubes (paper towel, toilet paper)

  • Ramps and tracks

  • Small balls

  • Books for supports

  • Tape

  • Simple machine examples

Session 1: Chain Reactions

📝 Lesson Procedure (30 minutes)

Opening Prayer (2 min)

"Dear God, help us learn about chain reactions today. Help us see how our small actions can start big things — especially our acts of kindness! Amen."

Introduction: Cause & Effect (6 min)

What is a chain reaction?

  • "One thing causes the next thing"

  • "Like dominoes falling!"

Demonstration:

  • Set up small domino chain

  • One push → many dominoes fall

  • "ONE action → MANY effects!"

Rube Goldberg machines:

  • Show video or images of elaborate machines

  • "These silly machines do simple tasks in complicated ways"

  • "They're fun to make and watch!"

Kindness connection:

  • "Kindness works like chain reactions"

  • "YOU smile at someone → THEY feel happy → THEY'RE kind to someone else → and on and on!"

  • "St. Thérèse called these 'little flowers' of love"

Simple Chain Experiments (12 min)

Experiment 1: Domino Lines

  • Line up dominoes

  • Test spacing — too far? Too close?

  • Push the first one — watch the chain!

Experiment 2: Ramp Chain

  • Ball rolls down ramp

  • Hits something at bottom

  • That thing moves or does something

Experiment 3: Tube Tunnel

  • Ball goes through tube

  • Exits and triggers next step

Discovery questions:

  • "What happens if they're too far apart?"

  • "What happens if something is in the way?"

  • "How can you make it work better?"

Design Challenge Introduction (8 min)

Challenge:

  • Design a "Friendship Machine"

  • A chain reaction that ends with something kind

  • Examples: Delivers a note, rings a bell, waves a flag that says "You're Great!"

Planning:

  • What will your machine DO at the end?

  • What steps will lead to that?

  • Draw a simple plan

Teams:

  • Work in small teams

  • Share ideas

  • Start gathering materials

Closing (2 min)

Preview: "Next time: Build your Friendship Machines!"

Closing Prayer: "Thank You, God, for chain reactions. Help us start good chain reactions with our kindness today! Amen."

Session 2: Build & Test

📝 Lesson Procedure (30 minutes)

Opening Prayer (2 min)

"St. Thérèse, teach us your Little Way. Help us do small things with great love today. Amen."

Building Phase (18 min)

Teams build their Friendship Machines!

Requirements:

  • At least 3 steps in the chain

  • Must end with something "kind" (delivers message, rings chime, etc.)

  • Must work when tested

Building tips:

  • Test each step as you build

  • If one part doesn't work, fix it before moving on

  • Be patient — it takes many tries!

Teacher circulates:

  • Help troubleshoot

  • Encourage perseverance

  • Ask about the kind purpose

When machines fail (they will!):

  • "That's how inventors learn!"

  • "What went wrong?"

  • "What could you change?"

  • "Try again!"

Testing & Demonstration (8 min)

Teams demonstrate their machines:

  • Set up

  • Explain what will happen

  • START the chain!

  • (Celebrate successes and attempts!)

Share the kind purpose:

  • "Our machine delivers a 'You're Awesome' note!"

  • "Our machine rings a 'Kindness Bell!'"

Reflection & Closing (2 min)

Discussion:

  • "What was hard about chain reactions?"

  • "What happened when one part didn't work?"

  • "How is this like kindness?"

Kindness chain:

  • "Your kindness starts a chain reaction"

  • "You might not see all the effects"

  • "But it keeps going!"

Challenge: "This week, start a kindness chain reaction. Do something kind and watch what happens!"

Closing Prayer: "Thank You, God, for the fun of building and learning. Help us start kindness chain reactions everywhere we go. May our small acts of love create big ripples of good! Amen."

📎 Home Connection

"We built Friendship Machines — chain reaction contraptions with kind purposes! Ask your child: 'How does a chain reaction work?' 'What did your machine do?' We learned that kindness creates chain reactions too. Challenge: Do an intentional act of kindness together and watch for the ripple effect!"

✅ Assessment

  • Understood cause and effect

  • Created functional chain reaction

  • Worked cooperatively in team

  • Connected machines to kindness ripple effects

Unit Version: 1.0 | Last Updated: 2025-12-05