Step 4 – Collaborative Engineering
Students first determine how to engineer a zip line that models the given
situation. The picture shown below shows how one team of students tied
and taped string to an upside down stool placed on top of a table four feet
above the ground and then tied the string to the bottom of a table leg
which was three feet away.
Referring to their team’s collaborative design plan, teams engineer a carrier as shown in the picture below.
This activity, which reinforces math concepts while using art
and engineering, provides students with the opportunity to
visualize equations while making connections and initiating
problem-solving and communication skills.
Step 5 – Testing and Modifying
After engineering a transport carrier, students determine how to connect
the carrier to the zip line and test the carrier’s movement, first on its own,
and then holding a (toy) soldier or princess (figurine). Students make
modifications as necessary to successfully transport the toy soldier or
princess down the zip line.
STEAMed Magazine
14
October 2016 Edition