EDC: Marshmallow Towers!
This week we dove right in to our first Engineering Design Challenge (EDC)! Our young engineers were asked to design and build the tallest tower they could using a limited amount of materials and time. They were given:
* 25 pieces of raw spaghetti
* 4 giant marshmallows
* 1 meter of string
* 1 meter of masking tape
* 2 pieces of printer paper
* 1 pair of scissors
* 10 minutes to plan (blueprints)
* 20 minutes to build (actual construction)
In order to complete this task, our young engineers needed to use their knowledge of the properties of these materials along with their understanding of how to stabilize a structure. Many of them took inspiration from the Eiffel Tower, electrical towers around the city and suspension bridges. They had to practice communicating to their partners, sharing ideas and using time wisely to complete the task.
Upon completing our tasks, we had a chance to sit together as a classroom community and share some of our celebrations and frustrations. Our young engineers shared strategies they used to build their towers and how important it was to stay calm in a tense situation. They also shared important ideas on how to be a positive teammate.
Later on this week, we will have an opportunity to do some more reflection and make improvements to our design. We will even have a chance to use what we learned and observed to try and build again. We are learning that failure is NOT a bad thing and often times can teach us more than success!
Take a peak at what awesome work Ms. Davis and Mrs. Palumbo's did:
