Testing Our Boats!

Now that the students have their planning and designing all laid out for the gingerbread person boat challenge, it's time to build and test!

 

Originally the students tested their materials in a small bucket filled with water. The ability to test their design frequently and then go back and make adjustments immediately contributed to the amount of students whose designs were successful!

 The following week, the students tested their final designs in the library "stream," making observations on which materials were the ones students chose most often and which were the most successful! We had some really fantastically astute observations and comments!

 

 

Then, through the power of their own breath, the boats and passenger had to cross the stream! We had so many successes, and even students whose designs had flaws were able to find positives in their thinking and work.

 

 

 

Way to go, engineers! Next up, Jack and the Beanstalk! 

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can...

To continue on our journey of building with a user in mind and solving fairy tale problems, kindergarteners, first and second graders are solving the problem of how the gingerbread person could get across the river without having to depend on that sneaky fox!

First, we acted out the story to make sure everyone remembered the main plot points. The kids had a blast "running" and being dramatic in the library!

 

Then, as a group, we discussed what are some alternative ways we could use technology to get the gingerbread person across the river safely?  They had a lot of interesting ideas involving submarines and helicopters, but we agreed that creating a boat would be the simplest solution, so the students paired up and began ideating.

 

Some students turned to other library resources and perused books about ships and boats to inspire a successful design.

Others just used their imaginations!

These students have everything they need to make their visions a reality! Building and testing are up next! We'll see who can keep our gingerbread friend the safest!

Helping Get Un-STUCK

Students in grades 3-5 are working with the storybook problem presented in Oliver Jeffers's hilarious picture book Stuck to learn more about building with a user in mind and engineering for the greater good!

If you're unfamiliar with the story, listen to Jeffers himself read it here:

We then used the Innovator's Compass to determine who is involved in this problem, what are our observations, and what are our principles, by which we mean, what is really important while we are building? Learning to think about the why when engineering is a skill we have been focusing on all year, and the students are really starting to get the significance. We practiced together first discussing the Xbox Adaptive controller, then moved into working with small groups to develop Innovator's Compasses of their own to solve the element of the story of their choice.

Now the students are turning their ideations into reality! Check out this Youtube video of 3rd grade working hard to help get these characters un-stuck!

Prototyping For Rapunzel

We are embarking again on a mission to work with fairy tales to solve engineering problems, but this year we are using the fairy tale anthology Power To The Princess, which retells traditional fairy tales with more of a "girl power" twist. In this telling of the story, Rapunzel is not stolen away and hidden in a tower awaiting her prince who will rescue her. She lives in the tower willingly as she apprentices with Mother Gothel, and tries to determine what her power is. Turns out, she has an amazing power to engineer and as an architect!

Students had to design a way for Rapunzel to enter and exit the tower safely, along with her visually-impaired friend, Prince Eustace, with whom she has a great business partnership, building structures that are beautiful but also handicap accessible.

See Mrs. Newton's video of the kindergarten working diligently here!

Here are some photos of the students prototyping their designs:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week, students tested their designs and gave each other kind, specific, helpful feedback on what they liked and what worked in their design. They only lifted each other up, without being critical. What a thoughtful group of kids, and they were so successful!

 

 

 

 

So proud of these engineers! We'll be working on more fairy tale problems after break, and discussing where we see these types of technology in the real world!