EDP - It all comes together!

Wow! I finally got to see the rocket and launch pad put together today! It was one of the single most amazing moments I've experienced thus far in the classroom as a teacher. I finally got to see into their minds and see how they were putting it all together, even though they drew it out AND explained it to me before building it. I feel they truly captured the essence of the whole unit today with their rocket on the launch pad made almost entirely of a single floppy diskette that the group had taken apart. This group needed my head in putting it together only in that I was needed for the hot glue gun, but they worked together as one team in assembling it before my eyes. It was amazing to watch them in action consulting with one another talking about how each piece was to adhere to the other pieces. I wish I had my video camera handy and had recorded them working together. Each student in their group was fully engaged in the design process and contributed equally to the group's discussion and work.

I've included a few images I captured with my cell phone, but I feel these images do not do this piece justice. Nor were the images able to capture the mechanics of the team work I saw in these 4th graders today. They have one more thing left to glue on there and that is a bit of cut apart red yarn they were using for the ignition flames underneath the launch pad.

The only added pieces here are the
pipe cleaners used to make the USA.

A side view of the launch pad showing
the metal plate used as a side wall.

I was pleased to see how the students used the pieces of the plastic diskette cover and made angled supports for the underside of the launch pad rather than a standard box design for a base. (It should be noted that the students did this part on their own, in fact, the whole design was theirs without any real guidance from me.)

We had taken a short break from first and fourth grade STEM classes this rotation as the Fine Arts team supported Dr. Katz, our music teacher, in preparation for last night's Christmas performance, but now both of these grade levels are back on course. 

Other pieces that were finished this week included a bird made originally from a plastic spoon with other additions from the materials cart, an airplane made from a plastic spoon and a craft stick, a book mark made from a craft stick, a kite made from straws and paper, a few rockets made from straws, another book mark - this was made with small drinking straws taped together then covered in decorative paper, and Breast Cancer Awareness pins made from clear straws tied into a knot shape with pink ribbon and a small safety pin on the back. Most of the items were team created items and only one creation per team, but I allowed this team to each make one of their own pins, since the supplies needed were minimal, and they had asked to be able to share them around the school with some teachers. (I still have my pin on my desk. I need to get a picture of someone wearing their pin to upload here.)

Bird made from a plastic spoon, with craft stick legs, foam sheet
body, googly eyes, and pipe cleaner beak that is holding a small
piece of yarn for a worm. The group found a piece of round
cardboard and covered it with green felt for the grass.

As we rap up this unit, students this week, except for first and fourth graders (and Kindergarten) will be taking the Engineering Design Process test for a grade (but not a large portion of their grade, since this is mostly a hands-on participation based class).

Kindergarten, on the other hand, will be exploring the science of how candy canes are made and creating their own, although not so sticky, versions to take home. They will be view two different short video clips from Discovery Education about how candy canes are made and contrasting the two methods.

New Logo for a New Program

The new logo is finally in from the graphic designer (hired)! You may have noticed it at the top with the black lightning bolt going through the first "E" in Engineering forming the center in the cog/gear. (I say new logo for a new program in that at the start of the year a graphic artist/designer was hired to create a new logo for the Inspiring Elementary Engineering program and to show a change from last year's Engineering by Design. Refer to the July 2nd post.) I've been playing around with where I want it in the banner, and haven't settled on a place, yet. I got used to my original graphic having styled it to match the colors and feel of the background on the blog. (You may have noticed I snuck the old IE² and gear logo in next to the head on the left.) It might just be a matter of pride, professional one over mine. But, I'm going to try it out for size for a while.

You may see the graphic moving from place to place and change sizes with the next few posts as I get used to seeing it there. As always, feedback is more than welcomed. Let me know your thoughts on the new graphic.

Engineering Design Process projects coming together

Most of the groups are just about done with creating and building their Engineering Design Process projects, and although it is taking longer than I anticipated, I am pleased with the students' work and progress. They are learning to work together, taking turns in helping to build their final product, learning to stay with their plan (with encouragement from me, this is easier said than done with some of the groups), and enjoying seeing their designs take shape. Some groups are learning that what looks good on paper doesn't always work out when they put everything together. These groups are starting to work on their Improving step. The students are all so creative and inventive. I love seeing all of the different items they have created out of basic materials.


Some of the designs I am seeing take shape this week include a picture frame made from straws, a man made from spoons, a tent with the original straw as the center support, Christmas ornaments from floppy disks, several different hot air balloons, spoon turned to a ladybug, a snowflake from spoons (although not quite finished, but coming together nicely), a scarecrow that started with a plastic Easter egg, headphones that started with a plastic Easter egg, several different airplanes including one that started with a plastic tray used to hold a laser printer ink cartridge in shipping, a table hockey game, a golf club made from a straw, a couple of fish made from floppy disks, and several different cars made from straws, spoons, or floppy diskettes.

An airplane from what once held an ink cartridge in shipping.	How to turn an disk into a fish, just add fancy foam scales like this.
Wrapping the handle of a straw golf club.	Trying out the new wireless headphones of the future.
This tent started with a straw, and sleeps one plus a dog.

Creativity Unbound - The Engineering Design Process

The classes are all well underway on creating their design solutions. For some, they are finding it difficult to stick to their original designs from their technical drawings in their journals. I can see them trying to modify their designs as they build/create. While other groups are moving along smoothly, just as they planned. One thing is certain, though, all the students are really enjoying being creative and building with their hands. I've pulled an AV cart off to the side of the room filled with crafting materials that the students are able to "shop" from for their projects. The students must show me their materials list and use this list to go "shopping" for their supplies. Some groups are even telling me, "but you didn't tell us you had all of THIS STUFF!" which makes their materials selection process a little more difficult.

I'm so impressed and inspired by their creativity and ingenuity with some of the items they are coming up with from simple items blinding drawn from a bag. We have floppy discs turned into notepads and Christmas ornaments, plastic Easter eggs turned into furry legged spiders and shiny tin foil wrapped sharks, and plastic spoons turned into watering stations for birds, sailboats, and eye patches.

Using a scrapbooking paper cutter to easily cut stripe for the flag.

One of the classes had all of the teams that all drew straws, literally, (each group ended up with a straw) and almost all of the groups in this class has decided upon making flags. The amusing part is how they all have to salute the flags each week as they start to work on them, and by salute, I mean, say the "pledge of Allegiance" to the flags. The other group in this class decided to take a different route for their straw, and is working on creating a letter using pipe cleaners for the base shape, then stringing cut up pieces of the straw to form the letter.

Stringing straw pieces together to form the letter "P".

One group that I am curious to see how their project turns out is a group working together to create a rocket out of a floppy disk. I've seen their blueprints (technical drawings) but am unable to visualize it as a finished product. Another thing that intrigues me is that they require very few materials besides the original floppy diskette they started with. In fact, they have taken their disk apart to create their rocket. Will have to keep my eye on them - this should be interesting to see in the next few weeks as their plan comes together. However, they seem to have a clear vision of where they are going and are working together seamlessly.

From floppy diskette to rocket, we have a plan!

Engineering Design Process Loop update

First through Fifth grade classes are all about midway through their Engineering Design Process Loop challenge of taking an ordinary simple object such as a straw, popsicle stick, or plastic spoon, and creating a new object that is equally useful. Most classes have been working this week on blueprinting their solution ideas incorporating the starting object into their design and making a list of materials they will need in order to create their new designs. This is the Planning step in the Engineering Design Process, and we have been comparing this step to planning for a trip to the grocery store. The students are able to easily identify the need for creating a "shopping list" or a materials list before they begin the creation stage of the process.

The student have also taken a pretest on the Engineering Design Process to assess their own knowledge of the process. We corrected the quizzes in class, and the students have glued them into their STEM journals for reference.

We should be beginning to Create their designs this next week. I know the students are certainly looking forward to this stage of the process. This has been a learning process for them, especially in self control as most of them have wanted to just dive right into creating their items from the get-go. I think one of the biggest challenges for most of the groups has been sticking within the limits of the challenge. For safety reasons, students had to refrain from creating projectile objects with their straws and spoons.

Meanwhile, Kindergarteners have been busily enjoying sorting buttons. Each week there have been different sets of buttons for them to sort. Their only directions were to work in pairs to sort the buttons. They were responsible for coming up with their own criteria for sorting and grouping the buttons. Its been interesting and exciting to see some of their reactions to these directions; however, all of the students have been able to rise to the challenge. The students also needed to be able to explain their criteria for sorting. We are discovering that the buttons can be sorted by colors, shapes, sizes (big and small, as some of them have put it), and patterns. In our journals, we have been working on a mind map to explain the different ways we can sort the buttons, and have been doing some journal writing about our sorting. The sorting is a great math, science, and life skill for the students. The buttons also help the students with their fine motor development, especially when they have to pick them up from the slick table tops. They can continue to practice their sorting skills at home by sorting dried beans, small candy pieces (like M&Ms or Skittles), Legos, their toys, or even socks. You can also have them count the number in each group and compare which group or color has the most, and which has the least. Look for graphs of their sorting in the coming week.

Scientific Method vs. Engineering Design Process: The Difference Explained

Robert Lindberg, President and Executive Director of the National Institute of Aerospace explains to educators the difference between the scientific method and the Engineering Design Process in the following video using black boxes. Pretty good explanation. My question is, with Race to the Top, and the greater push for STEM education since 2003, why haven't we developed standards and benchmarks for teaching engineering or the Engineering Design Process in K12?

At any rate, enjoy the video. It's about 21 minutes, but moves along pleasantly.

Engineering Design Process Loop

All classes, except for Kindergarten, have now gone through lessons explaining the Engineering Design Process of Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve. Beginning this past week, all classes first through fifth grade will start a basic hands-on challenge helping them to deeper understand the Engineering Design Process concept. They have all had it explained to them, and have all been able to name the steps involved, but they need to be able to physically go through the process before such a concept begins to make sense to them. They will begin working in groups of four (or five, at the most) taking a simple item such as a straw, craft stick, or a spoon and designing a new item that is useful out of it. This week they were guided through the process of identifying the problem, and brainstorming (as a group) ideas of other uses for their selected item. Next week they will begin narrowing their list of ideas and choosing the best idea, then blueprinting their design and listing the materials needed to create their new item design. Some students are also learning other concepts along with the Engineering Design Process, such as working as part of a team, and that all students have value (or all ideas have value). This loop will carry them through the next couple of weeks. After this, we will begin our Simple Machines unit.

 Kindergarten is still exploring the Fall season, learning about how scientists make careful observations, using magnifying glasses, identifying and writing about different textures, and learning about realistic colors found in nature (coloring things as we really see them, as they really are, and not how we would like them colored with shades of blues, pinks, and purples). The students have also been learning about how life carries on as they have been finding pine cones and prickly seed pods of maple trees. They have seen how the seed pod exterior dries and opens to release hundreds of tiny maple tree seeds (usually all over our tables), and while using the magnifying glasses, been able to see their rougher shapes. They have been enjoying spending a few minutes of each lesson outside in the cooler fall air and finding colorful fall leaves and seed pods. As a teacher, I always enjoying watching their wonder and excitement as they explore the beauty in the fall colors.

BRE celebrates TSA Week

Today officially kicks off National TSA Week (Oct. 3rd - Oct. 7th). For those new to TSA, Technology Student Association, TSA is a national Career and Technical Student Organization that focuses on advancing and improving student achievement in the areas of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). It is dedicated to serving middle and high school students in 47 states, with a few fifth grade clubs around the country. TSA fosters personal growth, leadership, and opportunities in technology, innovation, design, and engineering through spirited competitions at District, State, and National levels. Students learn through hands-on projects that teach them about engineering design, team work, computer & technology skills, parliamentary procedures, problem-solving, robotics, and many more STEM skills that they can take with them into college and careers in their future. Manatee County schools have a commanding presence at both State and National levels. (Let the results speak for themselves, check out the results from the 2011 National TSA Conference.) There are currently six elementary schools in Manatee County with fifth grade TSA clubs. Braden River Elementary is proud to be counted among the six.

As part of the kick-off to National TSA Week, our chapter of TSA welcomed Mr. Jon Edwards, an electrical engineer working with Smith Seckman Reid, Inc., and one of our BRE parents, to share part of what he does as an electrical engineer with us. He showed us some of the blueprints of one of the projects he is currently involved with, and talked to us about the importance of teamwork. For most of the students, it was the first time they had seen a set of blueprints so close up. He pointed out some of the areas where the engineers and architects had to make changes to the design to fit the electrical needs of the room, indicating the inserts in cloud-like bubbles, and talked to the students about how the engineers were able to use computers to make and print out the blueprints.

The students now have a better understanding of the design and technology that goes into the making of blueprints, thanks to Mr. Edwards.

After that, the students worked on designing posters to celebrate National TSA Week, as well as to advertise and draw in more attention to their club. Look for their posters posted around the school this week.

National TSA Week concludes with a CTSO (Career and Technology Student Organization) Rally on Saturday morning for middle and high school students at Braden River High School. Elementary school advisors will be on hand at the rally to discuss the possibilities of our elementary students attending this rally for next year. Among the festivities at the annual rally are the spirited club specific canned food drive, and spirit stick contests at each level.

For more information about TSA, check out the national TSA site: http://www.tsaweb.org/ and Florida's TSA site: http://www.floridatsa.com/, or check out BRE's own TSA page.

Spotlight on STEM

It is the sixth week of school and our STEM classes have all gotten under way. The students have been learning a lot of background information about engineering, technology, and what engineers (in general) do. Almost every student now has their own STEM science journal. We use these in each class to write down keywords, vocabulary and definitions, processes, blueprints and diagrams, and reflections. The students are all becoming acclimated to a more scientific style of writing over the more creative style of writing they have become used to in their language arts times. This is a more direct and specific style of writing based on observations.

Kindergarten students while practicing their headings with the date at the top of each entry have been working on going through a modified engineering design process as they take a page from Dr. Seuss and have been designing their own version of the Cat in the Hat's moss-covered, three-handled family gredunza (cleaning machine). Some of them are quite ingenious with separate compartments for soap, window cleaner, paper towels, hoses, and ice-cream cones (for when they are finished cleaning).

First, second, and third grade students have been concentrating on the engineering design process using the Manatee County Design Process model for elementary students: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve. They are learning that engineers are problem solvers, and need to identify the problem they are trying to solve first, before brainstorming solution ideas.

Meanwhile, fourth and fifth grade students have been learning about problem solving as they have been working in teams trying to devise a plan to escape an island in which they have been shipwrecked on with only one precious item each. Many of the items the students wanted included video game consoles, iPods, computers, televisions, beds, books, and their families, including family pets. They are learning to work together and realizing its not as easy to text their way to help without any electricity, cell phone towers or internet connections.

Finally, today marks the kick-off of our Technology Student Association (TSA) enrichment club. This is the school's second year for a TSA team, and our hopefully, our first full year of a year round club dedicated to the enrichment and extension of technology, science, mathematics, and engineering skills. A couple of our planned competitions for the year is the catapult competition at TSA Districts in December, and a Water Tower competition for 5th grade elementary students in April. Other competitions are in the works, but not confirmed for the moment.

Simple Machines Game

I've found a new favorite game - it's called "Simple Machines" and it's from The Museum of Science + Industry in Chicago.

 

This is a wonderful game for introducing or reviewing simple machines with students. It's night time at the Museum of Science and Industry, and there is work for Twitch to do. But Twitch doesn't like work and tries to find the easiest way of getting things done. Students will have to help Twitch select the simplest ways to complete his tasks in collecting the items he needs. The game takes them through 4 simple machines - inclined plane, pulleys, levers, and wheels. Students are given a choice and must select the item that will make a simple machine which requires the least amount of force to get Twitch across the obstacle to his desired item.

I really like how the game uses pictures of real items that can be used as simple machines, and then draws an outline of how they will look as the machine when you hover over each item. I also like the way the game explains each of the machines and what is needed to exert the least amount of force in each of the situations. After the task is completed, the game also gives examples of each of the simple machines. If the student makes a mistake in the selection of the item, it allows the student to continue and shows the student the amount of force that is being exerted to move an item, or Twitch. The game will also explain why the item was not a good choice, after the failed attempt, that is. And, it allows the student to try again.

At the end of the game, it shows the total amount of force Twitch had to exert through the whole game. Any force left over is totaled and points are given based on the amount of force that is left over after all tasks have been completed. Then there is a little fanfare celebration, which is sort of fun and cheerful.

Unlike some of the other interactive science games on the web, I feel this game does an excellent job of allowing the students to learn about some of the rules of physics and engineering by doing, and performing everyday tasks. The characters in the game are computer generated; however, the rest of the items and backdrops in the game are photos of real items. This is another cool feature to the game as it allows students to really visualize how things work in the real world. They are also able to identify real objects within the game. (I spotted an Einstein Action Figure doll in the game just like the one I have sitting on my desk at school!) Besides the Einstein figurine, there are many technical items in the game such as a volt meter that Twitch must lift to get to the desire object on the other side.

Museum of Science and Industry - Chicago - Simple Machines Game

http://www.msichicago.org/fileadmin/Activities/Games/simple_machines/

Girls STEM Camp Video

Video from "STEM Camp 2011" at Normandale "Engineering is Science and Math and Creativity Too" of girls building hovercrafts. How cool is that?!


Mind you, this is not from our area, and does not involve our students - but with USF's Girls STEM Summits in May every year, this could happen. :)

Inspiring Elementary Engineering

You may be reading this today thinking there is something different about this blog. Very subtle changes, mind you, but big changes in store for this coming school year. You may have noticed the name has changed. That's right, the name is changing from Engineering by Design to Inspiring Elementary Engineering. We want to inspire elementary students to think-outside-the-box, and problem solve like so many engineers in the field often have to do on a daily basis. Along with the name change, I've changed the logo and banner a little. This is not the "official" logo for our District's Inspiring Elementary Engineering course that is being taught in some elementary schools throughout the district this coming school year; however, while I wait for the official design to be created and circulated, I came up with my own design using Photoshop CS5's 3D tools.

I also thought it was only right to change the name in the address to this blog, just slightly, to reflect the new class. Traditionally "EBD" has another acronym meaning used in ESE (special ed) classes. While we were trying to get away from this meaning, I thought we should stress the Engineering factor of the class. Since I will be teaching this course at Braden River Elementary, I added the BRE part to the address link.

I've also made a few changes to the left sidebar by adding links for teachers, and students, and included a news feeder to Discovery Science. It is my goal to not only make this a place for parents to read about their students' progress in my elementary engineering class, but to also make this a resource site for other engineering, especially elementary engineering teachers, and a fun site for students to visit and learn more about what goes into design and engineering. Please bookmark this page and visit it often throughout the year for updates in our engineering process as well as other reference information in STEM education (Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math).

Mini-Catapults, part 2: Marshmallow-flinging showdown

Today was our final Engineering club meeting for the year. But excitement filled the air as our young engineers arrived eager the finish their catapults and start flinging marshmallows. We were equipped, today, with more Gorilla tape, a few designer rolls of duct tape (plaid and tie-dyed), and the ever-important hot glue gun, to help complete our miniature catapults.

Some groups finished early giving them extra time to practice their aim and trajectory using miniature pom-poms. Other groups really needed all of the allotted time to perfect their machines using the hot-glue-gun and duct tape. The teams were aware that they would be competing in two different categories: distance, and accuracy, using the district competition rules that some already discovered earlier this year. A target (and different colored mini-pompoms for each team) would be used to determine accuracy.

Finally the time came for the battle of the marshmallow flinging machines. The students all gathered around the double doors to the Media Center in the hallway with their miniature catapults to put their design skills to the test. Each team was allowed five launches, each for distance, and for accuracy. Marshmallows were launched first. The Victorians were victorious in the first round, with Team Science and Technology following up behind them.

Engineering by Design teams gathered for the final showdown
of engineering design wit and skill

Next up was the Accuracy Round. A target was placed 15 feet in front of the launch line (doorway entrance) - if the team's pompom landed anywhere on the target they received 5 points. The winners from the first round were able to launch first. Each team received 6 miniature pompoms, with each team receiving a different color.

Team Science and Technology won the accuracy round with 15 points, while The Engineers placed second with 10 points. All teams enjoyed a handful of miniature marshmallows for their efforts.

Black Ops Bros. practicing with pompoms	The Victorians practicing their accuracy before- hand were firing shot after shot off in the same area.
Science and Technology Team posing with their mini-catapult.	The Engineers trying to work out last minute details to their design.
With a couple members of Leonardo's Assistants already competing earlier in the year with TSA, they decided to try their luck with a similar design they used in TSA, mainly, no stopper bar allowing their beam, or spoon in this case, to continually spin around in its torsion.	The Victorians design included an inclined base rather than a flat base. They thought this would give them an edge in distance firing.
Team Science & Technology prepares to launch a pompom going for accuracy.	The Black Ops Bros. demonstrate that you can create a catapult out of just about anything as they use a small wooden crate for their base and sides.
The Engineers work as as team as Sara holds the posts apart at the top, while Lily releases the spoon to fling their marshmallow down the hall.	Leonardo's Assistants preparing the launch their pompoms for accuracy the trials.
Team Black Ops firing another pompom at the target.	The Victorians trying their hand at accuracy with their catapult.
Leonardo's Assistants shooting pompoms at the target for accuracy.	The Engineers taking aim for accuracy.
Team Science and Technology members, Nicolas, Max, and Tucker fire a blue pompom at the target.

Mini-catapult videos

I found a couple of miniature catapult videos that may be of interest to my students. They are in no means meant to be the absolute directions on how to build a miniature catapult, but rather a guide to possibilities.

Mini-Catapults, part 1

Well, we are dwindling down to our last two weeks of club; and it's been a very engaging experience for all of the students. They came to club this afternoon very excited about working on catapults these next couple of weeks. Many of them have heard much about marshmallow-flinging catapults from fellow classmates that participated in the TSA (Technology Student Association) in February.  All session they asked me when they would get to make catapults, and now its finally time!

We began our meeting today with a keynote presentation taking a brief look at the history of catapults, learning about how it was a derivative of the ancient cross-bow, viewing its basic design, seeing video clips of the catapult's use during the Crusades and modern day uses at "Punkin' Chunkin", and finally watching a few amateur tutorial clips on creating miniature catapults. However, they were so excited to get started it was hard to watch the tutorial clips and dive right in to some hands-on ingenuity. After all, this is Engineering by Design - what better way for them to really understand the ins-and-outs of torsion-controlled catapults than to put their heads together and build some!

Along they way this afternoon the teams came across a few hiccups as they tried to engineer their precision machines. One such hiccup was the lack of a hot glue gun. (Will have to remember that for next week.) Another was the discovery that our scrap wood pieces were not as flat, as tall, or as chunky as they would have liked them to be for their bases. They did, however, discover the wonders of Gorilla tape! In fact, I saw a team try to fold up a small strip of the tape and wind it up between two popsicle sticks for the torsion band. I think they later decided against the tape idea and went with several rubber bands twisted together.

The teams did not finish their catapults today, but were promised time during next week's club meeting (our last one for the session, and the year) to finish their catapults before the trials. Below are a few shots of the teams as they work to put together their catapults:

The Black Ops Bros. working on their design.

The Victorians using some Gorilla tape to help
stabilize their cross bars.

 

 

The Engineers piecing together their catapult.

Engineer John testing out their catapult arm.

 

 

The Science and Technology team pausing in their construction for a quick shot.

Team S.A.T. working together to construct their mini-catapult.

 

 

Leonardo's Assistants testing the power in their skein.

Apollo Astronaut Egg Drop

Today the companies were given the task of designing and constructing protective capsules capable of safely landing their "Apollo astronauts" (eggs) back on earth (or the tile flooring in the Tech Lab) when falling from the upper atmosphere (or dropped from the top a ladder).

Each team was given a raw egg to protect, and added their astronaut's face onto the egg with a Sharpie marker. The teams were provided with packaging materials and a pre-cut plastic two-liter soda bottle (for their capsule). Then the teams set to work preparing and lining the inside of their capsule with enough insulation to protect their egg astronaut from the impact of an 8-foot drop.

The students were also asked to write their prediction of the outcome of the drop and explain their thinking for the prediction. Every group predicted their egg would have a safe landing because of the materials they used in the insulation of the capsule.

The Engineers:

Materials used: Foam star stickers, for decoration; craft foam sheets to line the inside of the capsule and keep the egg safe; small cloth tote bag, to protect the egg; Styrofoam packing peanuts to protect the egg and catching air; plastic straws to catch added air for insulation; duct tape, to keep it all together; yarn, used to attach the parachute to the capsule; felt fabric sheets, used to create a parachute to attach to the capsule; and air pillows, to protect the egg.

The Engineers protected their astronaut egg by wrapping the egg in a felt sheet, then stuffing the wrapped egg inside a small cloth tote bag to keep the egg snug. After lining the inside of the capsule with craft foam sheets they put the egg inside the capsule stuffing foam peanuts and straws inside the capsule, taped the capsule closed, decorated the outside of the capsule, wrapped air pillows around the outside of the capsule, constructed a parachute from felt sheets, and used yarn to attach the parachute to the capsule.

They predicted that their egg was going to land safely, and said they were 95% sure of this. Their prediction turned out to be correct. Their egg was very well protected inside of layers of insulation.

Engineer John trying to hold the stuffed capsule together as another member of the Engineers goes to get the Gorilla tape.	Engineer Lily proudly holding their egg capsule complete with air bags and a cloth parachute.

The Victorians:

Materials used: Cotton balls, for the comfort of Jeff (their astronaut); Styrofoam peanuts, for Jeff's protection; felt sheets, for comfort and protection; plastic Easter egg, to contain Jeff; paper clips, for added weight; air pillows, for a safe landing; plastic grocery bag, for a parachute; and duct tape, to hold everything.

The Victorians began by wrapping felt sheets around the inside bottom of their capsule, then stuffing cotton balls inside the bottom half of the capsule. They put Jeff, their egg, inside a small plastic Easter egg, leaving his face peeking out the middle, and also because he would not fit all the way inside the plastic egg. Then they crushed up Styrofoam peanuts and filled the inside of the capsule, making sure they fill every available space with the crushed Styrofoam. Next they taped and sealed the capsule closed, wrapped the air pillows around the outside of the capsule, and added their parachute made from a plastic grocery bag.

They hypothesized that Jeff the egg would survive because he was very well protected, and wished him luck. Jeff was well insulated and so survived the impact after being dropped 8 feet from the top of a ladder.

Markella and Kennedy stuff crushed Styrofoam inside every possible spot in their capsule.	The Victorians showing off their cushioned Apollo Egg Drop capsule with parachute.

Leonardo's Assistants:

Materials used: Plastic bottle for the capsule; Styrofoam peanuts, for protection; 1 raw egg, as  the astronaut; tape, to hold it all together; a plastic bag to slow the fall and act as a parachute; yarn, to hold the bag to the bottle; and felt sheets, for protection.

Leonardo's Assistants assembled their space capsule by putting the Styrofoam peanuts and felt sheets inside the bottle halves, adding the egg inside, and then taping the bottle together with Gorilla tape. Next they created a parachute with yarn pieces and a plastic grocery bag, securing it to the bottle, then wrapped felt sheets around the outside of the bottle.

They predicted that their egg would live because of their protection and the resistance from the bag.
Their prediction of the surviving egg was accurate. (No egg "juice" here!)

Ben proudly showing the Assistants space capsule design.	Ben, Tyler, and Jayden stuffing Styrofoam peanuts inside their space capsule.

Black Ops Brothers:

Materials used: tape, to hold it all together; piece of cardboard, to provide a large bouncy base of the space capsule to land on; felt sheets, for protection; plastic drinking straws, to hold up the parachute, air bags, for protection, and plastic Easter eggs for material and style.

B.O.B.'s constructed their space capsule by adding the raw egg slightly inside a smaller plastic Easter egg, stuffing felt sheets inside the bottle halves for cushion, and placing the egg inside the bottle before taping it shut with Gorilla tape. Airbags were then wrapped around the bottle with a cardboard piece added to the bottom of the capsule for a wide base to land on. Extra airbags were added to the bottom of the capsule providing a bumper to cushion the impact. A parachute was constructed from drinking straws and a piece of felt fabric.

The company predicted that the egg would not break because it would be such a soft landing. Their wide base bumper design worked. Their egg survived the landing.

Jack and Eric stuffing felt sheets inside the capsule of cushion.	Black Ops Brothers' wide base bumper design showing the air cushions under the base and a small parachute on top.

Science and Technology:
Materials used: Styrofoam "icemers", to cushion the fall; felt sheets, to protect the egg; plastic Easter egg, to hold the egg; plastic straws, to hold up the yellow cloth (more felt); yellow cloth (felt), to act as a parachute, to slow the capsule down as it fell.

The "S.a.T." Team formulated their space capsule inside by putting styrofoam into the bottle, inserting their brave egg astronaut inside a plastic Easter egg - being careful to tape around the edges of the two eggs to hold their astronaut safely inside the outer plastic egg. Then for added protection, they wrapped the egg inside a sheet of felt, and carefully nestled the wrapped egg into the styrofoam in the bottle. For even more protection in the top half of the bottle, they stuffed more felt sheets. Then they used Gorilla tape to secure the two halves of the two-liter bottle together, then removed the bottle's cap for a place to hold their straws. Then they fashioned a parachute out of another sheet of felt and attached the felt sheet to the straws sticking out of the bottle to create a parachute.

They made an educated guess that the egg wouldn't break because of all the soft cushion they used inside the capsule. Their educated guess paid off; their brave little astronaut egg landed in one piece.

Science and Technology Team give their capsule
the thumbs up, all systems set to go!

It was a good day for all teams as all eggs safely landed in the drop zone in the Technology Lab, despite repeated chants to see some spilled "egg juice" from the crowd.

Straw Rocket Science

Today the students took a look at some elementary rocket science, beginning with Newton's Third Law of Motion (For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.) and ending with some straw rocket blasting fun. We talked about some of the forces necessary for a rocket to lift off from their pad at Kennedy Space Center, defined thrust, drag, angle, and trajectory, then set about the build some of our own rockets - straw rockets, that is. We wondered if there was a relationship between the length of the straw rocket and the distance it could travel when launched from a Pitsco Straw Rocket Launcher.

Each group worked under a few simple design constraints - rockets should have a minimum of two fins and a maximum of five fins; the body of the rocket should be a minimum of 10 cm and a maximum length of 20 cm; and each group MUST work as a team with no less than two people working on a rocket. The rockets were constructed of plastic drink straws (non-bendable kind), index card cut fins, and clay for the nose.  Although the students ran out of time before they were able to scientifically prove whether the smaller rockets went further than the long or uncut straw pieces turned rockets, they did enjoy trying to shoot their rockets down the hallway. One thing they discovered was that not all straws are exactly the same size. Some of the straws, even though they were all from the same package, would not fit over the metal tubing on the base of the rocket launcher loosely enough to be ejected into the air. Some of the straw rockets got stuck on the launcher at lift off.

Alex prepares to send off his straw rocket as Ben, Jayden, Cooper, and Sara watch.	Alex gives his straw rocket another chance as Cooper looks on.
Ethan and company set the launcher for maximum thrust.	Ben and Eric setting up the rocket launcher to send off Black Obs Brothers' straw rocket.
Sara and Lily getting ready to launch their straw rocket as Alex, John, Ethan, and Eric watch.	Jamie, Ben, and Kennedy waiting their turn for the straw rocket launcher.