Engineering & Design Introductory Task
Problem: Two Lego men named Bob and Jack aren’t getting along. They are about to go to battle. The town has decided that they may design a catapult to help them in battle. The town council agreed that they may both only use the supplies provided by the town.
The supplies each man will receive are:
- Rubber Bands
- Two sizes of popsicle sticks
- Mini Marshmallows
- One bottle cap
If you were Bob or Jack how would you design your catapult so you would have the best chance of winning?
The students spent several days going through the engineering and design process to create a catapult and go into battle! There were some frustrations, celebrations, suggestions, and loads of supportive cheers!
Building prototypes:
Testing Prototypes:
And the Battles Begin!
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| The final round! Natalie verses Liam! |
Champion Liam
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| And the WINNER is... LIAM! |
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| Honorable mention goes to Norah for teacher voted: BEST DESIGN! |
Taking the Battle Outside with 5B
And now, for the students reactions to this whole process:
Adrian - I realized when I put my mind to something, I can do what I'm doing. I was confused when my catapult didn't work like I planned.
Cavan - I was impressed when Natalie's hit my lego man.
From what I noticed, my catapult did well.
Frank - It frustrated me when I was building the catapult because the rubber bands
and the sticks and my design wouldn't work.
Gigi - I used to think my catapult would work very well, but now I realize my
catapult could've been a lot better because it was very short and it shot
marshmallows to the sides.
Bryan - I realized that numbering the popsicle sticks helped.
To make it better, I would have made it taller.
Owen - I was confused when my catapult fell apart in battle.
I wonder what the most effective catapult would be.
Liam - I realized my 3rd catapult design did not work so well, so I stuck with my 2nd design.
From what I noticed my catapult was not the most accurate.
Norah - To make it better, I would have tested it more to find all the flaws.
Maya - I was impressed with Ashley's model because it was put together well.
I was frustrated when my model didn't work in the beginning.
Maura - I used to think my catapult was never going to work, but now I realize tweaking one small thing,
my catapult worked better because I think using your imagination and being encouraged by
other students gave me courage to fix my catapult and make me win a couple rounds.
Andre'a - To make it better I probably would have made it more simple instead of using 20 popsicle sticks
and 30 rubber bands.
Janabeth - I loved it when we got the challenge to create our catapults.
From what I noticed, everyone tried their best.
Natalie - I loved it when we battled with our catapults.
Coda - To make it better, I would have worked on my accuracy.
From what I noticed, the class did an outstanding job.
Ashley - I wonder if I made a bigger base, it would have worked better.
From what I noticed, my catapult can go far, short, or high.
Liberty - I used to think you could not make catapults our of rubber bands, sticks, and a bottle cap, but
now I realize you can because I did it, so now I know I can.
Harper - I loved it when I got my catapult to fire.
Have you considered, Norah, to use your hands to fire your catapult instead of using a rubber
band?
Matthew - I was confused when my design didn't work as well as I had hoped.
To make it better I would have changed how the tension was stored.
Brookelyn - I loved it when I saw the final model of my catapult, I was so proud.
From what I noticed, the simplest catapults worked best.
I realize that if you try your best you can accomplish the most darndest
seeming things!
Looks like they had a blast. I am impressed with their comments!
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