Quinn (Yoshi) and Reid (Mario) teach about the Engineering Design Process
On Friday, October 31st (Halloween!) the Rafael Hernandez Dual-Language (Spanish) school came with 45 x 4th graders to campus for a day on engineering and to do hands-on engineering activities related to what they’re learning in science in school: forces and motion.
Students used what they learned about forces in two ways: designing devices to prevent a falling egg from breaking (i.e. reverse egg drop) – and by using torsion and tension to power catapults built out of popsicle sticks. For the reverse egg drop, students used a bill of materials to purchase specific materials with a $100 budget and design their device to be effective and cheap.
Sumaya helps students design and build catapults
The best design featured not just squishy landing areas (like cotton balls and paper scraps), but was elevated off the ground – so the egg remained intact. Of the 15 designs tested, 6 of the designs protected the egg fully, with the cheapest design being $47. For the catapults activity, students used rubber bands to power their designs and shot skittles at the target (me).
Thank you to the Northeastern students for leading this day, as I had lost my voice recently – Quinn and Reid led the intro (dressed up for Halloween), Claire led reverse egg drop, and Sumaya led catapults.
