WHERE WE'RE GOING
YOUNG ENGINEERS // Sherri Newlin, Lower School Science Teacher The Lower School started our engineering unit by reading The Three Little Pigs and discussing how and why certain houses survived the Big Bad Wolf and others did not. In students’ first challenge of the unit, they had a day of free exploration to design and build houses out of Legos, Ello, and wooden blocks. Once houses were built, the first “Big Bad Wolf” (me, Mrs. Newlin) came and tried to blow them down. Students loved discussing how certain materials aided themselves in being sturdier and how certain design components made a house strong and safe. Subsequent classes focused on the base/foundation of the house and the fact that, when designing something, the purpose of the project, the materials used, and the tools available must be considered. To show an example of this, we built uniform houses
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out of index cards in a second challenge and had another “Big Bad Wolf” (a fan) visit. When none of those houses survived, I sent them back to make improvements that could withstand more huffing and puffing. Students’ third challenge was to design and build their own original structure out of recycled materials. I set size and scale parameters and a sample pig that needed to fit in the house before we began the project. Students had to draw plans for their ideas before construction started. We tested the structures with the third “Big Bad Wolf” (a hair dryer). Despite end results for any of the challenges, one of the most valuable lessons learned was that you must try things over and over to get them right.
