Science Design Project

The Grade Twos have been learning about Position and Motion as part of the Grade 2 Science curriculum.    They had doing some experiments to find out about friction, incline planes and wheel & axles.  As a final design project, they were given the challenge to create a vehicle with wheels and axles that could roll down a ramp.  It needed to have a place for a driver and cargo.  You can read their task below and see the criteria checklist in the second picture.  Materials were gathered and the students went to work!  

Woody was the able driver assigned to the challenge and Pikachu was the cargo!  

  After lots of practise and trial and error, it was time to show off the vehicles and test to see if they met the criteria.  

Following the Cardboard Challenge, the students had already practise in planning and then adapting the plan as needed.  It was a successful project and hopefully inspired the budding designers in the class!

The Cardboard Challenge!

After a crazy week of snow, blizzard and school closure, we finally took on The Cardboard Challenge on March 10th. The "before " pictures below show the great support we received from our community in collecting material for the activity!

Mrs. Milliken heard about the idea at a PD session and we were able to find lots of online examples to share with the Kindergarten - Grade Four classes to get them started thinking.  The idea seems to have originated with a boy named Caine in Los Angeles in 2012 and you can watch his story here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U

The first step was planning as a group - being sure everyone's ideas were taken into the discussion and looking over the pile of supplies for material to use.  Then Mrs. Milliken said, "Go!".

We had several goals for our students with this experience.  We wanted an opportunity for them to work together across grade levels as well as negotiate and cooperate to make a unique creation using everyday items often thought of as "junk".  Older students were asked to be sure to involve the younger students and take on the leadership role in their group.  We were amazed at what we saw! The adults did the difficult cutting as needed but other than that, we stood back and watched their ideas come to life.  We hope it encourages students to try these skills at home to exercise their imaginations.