Just Keep Building...

They're at it again!  This week grades 3-5 created a Padlet to brainstorm all the questions a designer might have to answer in order to be successful for this challenge.  Grades K-2 did the same, but in small groups.  This was in an effort to keep the Critical Thinking & Problem Solving transferable skills learning targets in their mind as they tweaked their designs.

We organized our ideas by the most common design solutions (zipline, chute, sled, pulley, catapult).  This process helped students who are contemplating the same questions buddy up to work together, bounce ideas off each other, or give suggestions to a friend.  Then the building began again in full force!

 

 

The students have one more week to build after Thanksgiving break before going out into the forest to test their designs!  Hopefully they are still thinking of the best ways to improve their projects this week.  

We are thankful for all of you who support our STEAM program as well as the remarkable students we get to work with every week!  We hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Envisioning

This week and last week, our STEAM engineers have been really envisioning how they are going to create a solution to the challenge of how to get the tomatoes down the "mountain" safely to market.  In order for them to fully grasp what they were up against, we took them out to the Tools Trail and showed them where we are going to be testing out their prototypes.

 Then we came back inside and the students started drafting their ideas and building! With real data to work with, such as how high and steep the "mountain" is, they were building with real confidence!

Students have also spent a great deal of time reflecting on their design and working with tablemates and classmates to generate questions around their design, such as How will you make sure that your tomatoes don't fall out?  How will you maintain a slow speed?  How will you attach your design to the pulley?  Then after those conversations, they went back to build again with more intention.

These kindergarteners realized that all of their designs involved creating a "slide" for their designs to slide down, but they hadn't made one yet! They worked together to make one that will be long enough!

This group decided to combine forces when some of them realized their designs were flawed.  Now they are a "super group" and with all that brain power, they know they will have the "best design ever!"

Some students started over from scratch.

But everyone felt like they were heading in the right direction and had a real vision for how to make their designs successful.  A lot of thinking that will certainly pay off!