What can you do with a wheel and an axle?

Make a top!

First graders used pencils, marker tops, old markers, wooden skewers, and crayons as axles...

And cardboard circles, take-out drink lids, used DVDs, and other round objects as wheels.

More re-purposing....

Looks like DVDs made the best tops.  

It works!  Students counted in a fair scientific way:  Using One Mississippi to time their counting.  (Some kids used..1 Mississippi Sip.  What is the origin of that?)

Paper captures path of top if the axle is a writing tool.

After finishing a cardboard wheel and pencil top, this first grader is selecting new pieces to try out.

Thanks Johanna for helping students problem solve and for the photos.