More Engineering

Here we had the students build towers using spaghetti and marshmallows...it was really difficult; this team used gum drops to hold the pieces together which was far more successful; the marshmallows work well when working with toothpicks, but with spaghetti (the longer lengths) they did not hold together so well.

 I got this group to use straws in this challenge to see if it worked any better ...
sort of!

And onto the newspaper challenge....build a chair using newspaper and tape; the chair must be able to hold the weight of a student!

Many different designs were discussed...

This group got the idea of the triangle to strengthen their chair...

 Like the design of this one...think it will hold up?

 As I mentioned before...the room was a disaster after each day...one needs to build in a great clean up plan before beginning to unleash the engineers in the classroom!

The Built Environment

 Brought together 12 boys ages 8 and 9 with a serious interest in building and design...

 Their first challenge was to design their dream school....I encouraged wacky and strange ideas....just to have them leave the idea of school being a rectangular room, with windows, two doors, and desks. 

 What kind of school would you create and why?

 Lots of fun ways to enter school were explored...slides, ramps, and telaportation were a few...

 School in trees....

 School with a conveyor belt around the perimeter, to move you from class to class...

 Superjet elevators, and a time machine will make history lessons all the more exciting....

 Solar panels here, to heat the building...

 Robots to do the work...

A super rope climber contraption...so students can climb while they learn.  

Thanks boys...your ideas were brilliant, fun, and inspirational!  As well as planning our dream schools, we also learned a bit about architects, and we started looking at:  building design, structural issues:  compression, tension, bending, and finally, climate and geography in design. 


Our next challenge:  design a dream house and a 3 dimensional model, and present ideas to the team.

The Built Environment

 Brought together 12 boys ages 8 and 9 with a serious interest in building and design...

 Their first challenge was to design their dream school....I encouraged wacky and strange ideas....just to have them leave the idea of school being a rectangular room, with windows, two doors, and desks. 

 What kind of school would you create and why?

 Lots of fun ways to enter school were explored...slides, ramps, and telaportation were a few...

 School in trees....

 School with a conveyor belt around the perimeter, to move you from class to class...

 Superjet elevators, and a time machine will make history lessons all the more exciting....

 Solar panels here, to heat the building...

 Robots to do the work...

A super rope climber contraption...so students can climb while they learn.  

Thanks boys...your ideas were brilliant, fun, and inspirational!  As well as planning our dream schools, we also learned a bit about architects, and we started looking at:  building design, structural issues:  compression, tension, bending, and finally, climate and geography in design. 


Our next challenge:  design a dream house and a 3 dimensional model, and present ideas to the team.