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What is the Engineering Challenge?

Working in teams, grade 5-7 students design, build, and test an engineering prototype. Teachers may recruit a volunteer engineer to work with student teams and guide them in the design and construction of the prototype. Engineers from all disciplines (for example, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, civil engineer, etc.) have sufficient background to participate in this activity, and are welcome volunteers.

Learning Objectives

Teachers can integrate the Challenge activity into their classroom curricula to help teach the concepts of Forces Acting on Structures and Mechanisms, Conservation of Energy and Resources, and Form and Function.

Students will:

• plan and design the construction of an engineering prototype,
• apply understanding of the following curriculum concepts: forces acting on structures and mechanisms, conservation of energy and resources, and form and function. STSE: Impact of various factors in designing and building devices to meet specific needs.
• communicate their design plans, explaining their design choices and decisions,
• work collaboratively and effectively in a small group to solve a practical problem.

Teaching Strategies

The Engineering Challenge contributes to a collaborative inquiry classroom culture in the following ways:

• engages groups of students in a hands-on/minds-on, problem-solving activity,
• instills the concept of a team approach to solve an open-ended problem,
• introduces the engineering profession in the classroom.

Activity: Construct a DROP (Disaster Relief Operation) device!

In recent years, many natural disasters such as Hurricane Ike have devastated regions on Earth and left many people homeless. Often, relief supplies must be dropped to survivors by air, as all roads have become blocked. The supplies must arrive undamaged and land as close as possible to the disaster site.

As one of the engineer teams working to assist the international relief organizations, you must design and build a package to carry and drop the “supplies” – a raw egg – down a ramp and onto a target that is 1.75 metres below, and located 1.75 metres away from the drop point. The package must be sturdy so that the ‘supplies’ arrive intact.

Design Specifications:

• The cargo – a raw egg – must be inserted into and carried by the DROP during the test.  HINT: Seal the egg in a Ziplock™ baggie first, in case of breakage.
• Only the listed materials are allowed. Decorations are permitted and encouraged, as long as they do not interfere with the function of the DROP.
• The DROP must not exceed 20 cm by 20 cm by 20 cm. An oversized DROP will be disqualified.

Teams consist of 3 to 5 students with the following responsibilities:

• Designer: With input from the other team members, creates the design and obtains authorization from the teacher or volunteer engineer to proceed with construction. Sketches the team’s design drawing.
• Materials Manager: Collects and keeps a record of all materials used by the team during construction.
• Constructor/Builder: Leads construction of the prototype according to the design drawing plan and includes modifications suggested by team mates.
• Communication Specialist: Spokesperson for the team who presents project to others.

Construction Materials

INCLUDED:

• paper, cardboard, newspaper
• string, yarn, rope, fabric
• glue, play dough, tape
• popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, toothpicks, skewers, chopsticks, dowels
• wooden pencils
• plastics, styrofoam, rubber
• CDs
• spools (wooden, plastic)
• bottle caps (plastic)
• paint, decorations
• straws, rubber bands
• paper clips
• sand and Play-Doh

EXCLUDED:

• glass
• metal (except paper clips)
• mousetraps
• lumber/wood (except popsicle sticks, tongue depressors, toothpicks, skewers, chopsticks, pencils, spools, dowels)
• construction kits (Lego, Meccano, K’nex, etc.)
• batteries
• water

Challenge Construction Tips:

• Accuracy and repeat performance are key to the success of the mission. Find a way to release your DROP so that you obtain similar results with each trial.
• Make sure the DROP is sturdy enough to survive multiple rounds of testing.
• If there are delicate parts on your DROP, make some “spares” that can be easily fitted in case of damage during the competition.

Testing Criteria:

Once construction is completed, teams gather to test their DROPs against the other teams (Teachers: see “Organizing a Grand Finale” for more details). Test your team’s DROP and see if you have successfully conquered the Engineering Challenge!

• Ramp dimensions: 1 metre long, 0.45 metres wide, made out of cardboard and covered with aluminum foil. (see “Ramp Specifications” for more details)
• The DROP must be released at the top of the Launch Ramp and should slide or roll to the end of the ramp without assistance. 

Challenge Construction Tips:

• Accuracy and repeat performance are key to the success of the mission. Find a way to release your DROP so that you obtain similar results with each trial.
• Make sure the DROP is sturdy enough to survive multiple rounds of testing.
• If there are delicate parts on your DROP, make some “spares” that can be easily fitted in case of damage during the competition.

Judging Criteria:

Teams will automatically be eliminated for either:

• A broken egg after testing
• A DROP larger than 20cm x 20cm x 20cm

Volume Score Length x Width x Height Note: No dimension  (L, W, or H ) should exceed 20 cm Points Volume (cm3) Not qualify >8,000 1 ≤8,000 2 ≤7,000 3 ≤6,000 4 ≤5,000 5 ≤4,000 6 ≤3,000 7 ≤2,500 8 ≤2,000 9 ≤1,500 10 ≤1,000

Distance to Target Score Measured from closest point of DROP to target. Mark target with masking tape on hard surface. Each team has two chances and the points are averaged.  Points Distance (cm) 1 >175 2 ≤ 175 3 ≤112 4 ≤72 5 ≤46 6 ≤30 7 ≤18 8 ≤12 9 ≤7 10 ≤5

Ingenuity:	Points
Creativity and attention to detail in construction	0 -5
Presentation by Public Relations Person and quality of poster	0 -5
Total Ingenuity Score	/10

Example:

Team Name	Volume	Distance to Target	Ingenuity	Total Score
DROPEgg1	2,450 cm3	(35+53)/2  = 44 cm	4+3	7+5+7
	7/10	5/10	7/10	19/30

Ramp Specifications

Materials:

• cardboard
• tape or glue
• aluminum foil

1. Cut cardboard or plywood to size shown.

2. Cut 2 slots in the bottom of the ramp to accommodate the triangular support. The distance between the slots should allow the ramp structure to rest on the top of you ladder safely.

3. Assemble the pieces using duct tape or glue so that the final structure is rigid. Cover the ramp surface with aluminium foil to help the prototypes slide more easily.

4. Test the completed ramp on your ladder and mark target area.

Guidelines for Teachers and Engineers are available here.

Assessment grids for this activity are available here.