Each month, our students have the opportunity to compete in our after-school Engineering Challenge competition.
The goals of the Challenge include providing students an opportunity to:
1) experience authentically and firsthand the process of engineering as they work as engineers to complete a design challenge
2) work as a group to collaborate and communicate to achieve a common goal
3) compete as an academic team in a different type of competition than our yearly science fair, thus expanding the opportunities for students to gain recognition for their accomplishments in science and related STEAM disciplines
For January, students completed the Confetti Launcher Challenge. Students were given cups, cardboard, paper, rubber bands, balloons, tape, and other basic materials. The goal was to create a device to launch confetti so that the confetti would be spread out to cover the largest area possible. The launchers were tested in the hallway, and the designers with confetti landing on the most number of floor tiles were declared the winners.
Thank you to Elsbeth Todd (Art/Technology), Dana Munn (Science), Michael Lavers (Math), and Chris Connors (Art/Technology) for working with me as a team to plan and provide these opportunities.