A Better catapult
One activity that is always a blast for the kids is creating catapults. The opening unit for the 5th graders involved this very thing. To start with, the kids build identical catapults according to specific instructions. Then they took these catapults and collected data and made observations to see how well they performed in launching marshmallows as far as possible.
Upon returning to the classroom, the students found the average distance of their four best launches. We also noted the pros and cons of this basic catapult. All of this information is important because we want to know what worked from the original design, and what didn't work, so those aspects can be improved.
Now each group was ready to begin the Engineering Design Process. First, each individual IMAGINEd possibilities for the catapult design on their own. When each group member was done with this, groups got together to share what they'd come up with. These ideas were then turned into one cohesive PLAN that the group would follow to CREATE their catapults. I was so impressed with the creativity shown in the reconfigurations of the catapults!
Some groups found that their improved catapult designs were far better than the original plan. Other groups were not able to get their final designs to completely work during testing, however, design "failures" like this teach very valuable lessons! With more time and a little more work, each design would have been successful. However, it was time to move on to the next lesson. No matter what the final results were, each group worked hard and had a lot of fun while learning!