Instant Challenge

4th and 5th students attempted a balance of power instant challenge this week. The task: Build a structure that only touches the "ground" on the red square, but can suspend pennies over purple squares. Check out the problem solving and solutions from both classes.

Tunnels and Dams

Students explored the engineering feats of tunnels and dams today and had a chance to create models and face some life-like challenges. Check out their progress in the video!

WeDo ArtBots 2.0

Fourth graders had a very challenging engineering task today! They designed a robot that can be programmed to create art. There were no plans to follow - they used their knowledge of gears and Lego mechanics in order to build a unique robot. We actually focused on our mistakes today and used what didn't work to figure out and re-design. Check out our "reflect and re-design" projects by watching the video!

Vibrobots!

Fourth graders really had an "educationally amusing" challenge! We definitely had to have a growth mindset by figuring out what wouldn't work in order to get things to work! After all, we are hear to learn from our attempts! Students engineered robots out of some basic materials. The question this science experiment asked was "How does changing the counterweight on the motor effect the performance of the robot?" Most predicted a balanced weight (3 cm) would create the best performance (art). Watch the robot performances as they create art with the counterbalance at 1 cm, 3 cm, and 5.5 cm.

The OREO Caper

Wow! Today 3rd graders got a chance to put their sleuth skills to the test in order to solve this real-life mystery! Someone stole our OREOs! Check out their adventure!

Skyscraper Explorations!

To start off our unit, we explored skyscrapers! Students figured out what it would take to have strength and stability. Then that was put to the test as "hurricane winds" approached the towers. Check out a bit of this awesome day in the following video.

Building a Growth Mindset

Today, after an introduction to Growth Mindset, 3rd graders practiced learning from failure and celebrating and learning from the success of others. Their challenge was to create the tallest tower they could using limited materials. The kids were so engaged and concentrating so much - you could hear a pin drop during construction phases. Check out their towers in the video below.

Fred Sails Around the World!

Fred learned from his mistake! Now he always wears a life preserver around water! Fred has decided to sail around the world. Watch the video to see his big adventure! BEHIND THE SCENES EXCLUSIVE! Check out our third graders hard at work preparing Fred for his journey. To be successful they showed problem-solving skills, collaboration, attention to detail, and creativity as they build, modified, and programmed our Lego WeDo robots.

Save Fred!!

Poor Fred (the gummy worm) didn't put his life preserver on when sailing the ocean blue! Now his boat has capsized! Our third graders used the scientific method to save the day. Check out Fred's wild adventure.

Coaster Craze

Check out our young 5th grade engineers! They had to design a coaster that they think will be able to come to a stop at the end of the track without flying off.They tried their plan on a coaster simulator and will then be creating 3D models - all while staying under budget! Coaster Craze part 2 Using the design from the coaster simulator, students created 3D models. The challenge: Create a coaster with just enough energy (kinetic/potential) to have the train (marble) make it to the end of the track without going over. Safe brake systems and energy manipulation had to be used to survive this challenge.

Monster Robots!

Today students built robots from a plan,modified monsterfied them, and programmed them. Check out the crazy monster robots!

Coaster Thrills!

5th grade engineers designed roller coasters today to test some physics. Take a peek!

4th Cup Collaboration Challenge

Check out this video of the kids working on collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills! It feels good to accomplish difficult things!