Berry Hill 4th Graders Make a Splash with a Hydroelectric Engineering Project

Our 4th-grade students recently dove headfirst into the world of green energy in enrichment special! After mastering the science behind hydroelectric power, dams, and flowing water, these young engineers put their knowledge to the test. Working in small collaborative groups, they tackled the Engineering Design Process—asking, imagining, planning, and creating—to build their very own functional waterwheels.

Using nothing but imagination and recycled everyday items (like takeout lids, soda caps, chopsticks, ribbon spools, and leftover plastic eggs), the teams constructed their prototypes from scratch. To wrap up the project, students put on their optimization hats, iterating and tweaking their designs to see whose waterwheel could spin the fastest under pressure. We are so proud of our innovative, eco-conscious thinkers!