C

This week I continued with the tower challenge. I started out again by reviewing the engineering design process. I explained that each problem may have different requirements for different needs. So I explained the tower activity again, except with different materials and constraints this time. For materials, they were only allowed to use 3 sheets of large construction paper, 2 feet of masking tape and 4 pieces on index cards. The tower had to be taller than the longer edge of the paper and it had to be able to hold the weight of a large textbook. 

 

They understood the activity pretty well, but the students took the challenge very competitively. They were also copying each others ideas rather than adapting their ideas into something different.

 

One pair was able to complete the activity, though they did not build a sturdy tower. We talked about how engineers have to take these matters into account. The other pair did not finish mostly because they did not work together well. I took this opportunity to explain that for them to complete the activity, both need to work together with each other.

 

Again, overall, the activity was successful because it reinforced the engineering design process.