Tuesday, we had the opportunity to connect our Motion and Design unit with our history unit about the Lewis and Clark Expedition. We love to make connections! Last week, I showed several photos of a variety of boats and ships, so today students used what they learned to design their own crafts. The challenge was to design a floating vessel to hold as many little green dinosaurs as possible. In our challenge, each student sketched his/her idea. When it was time to make a prototype, groups had to choose which design elements to use. Then a thin sheet of aluminum was provided for the actual construction of the teams' ships. | |
| After naming the ships, floating them in an aquarium, and placing dinosaurs into them (two at a time), one boat - Titanic - stood above the others, holding 208 dinosaurs before succumbing to the sea, barely eking out the second place team with their 206 dinosaurs. All of our boats were a flat-bottomed boat with high sides that held more of our precious cargo (They must have been listening to last week's lesson.). |