Week 8
Session 2
Guiding Question
How can we make sand stand tall?
Subquestions
What materials and placement work best for reinforcing soil?
Outcomes
Learners will apply and observe which materials and placement work best for reinforcing soil.
CT Components
Communication
Communicate ideas through design, model and poster
Entry Event
Competition Day (20 minutes )
Students will be given twenty minutes to prepare their soil reinforcements for testing. They can make any last-minute changes to their placement/materials, but should be sure to record all materials used, and the placement of the materials in their competition worksheet. This worksheet will be turned in to the facilitator later in the competition.
Cost Analysis
10 minutes
For the final designs that were built, students will estimate the cost of their reinforced soil by using the table in the worksheet (also provided below). The lowest costing design that meets the load specifications wins!
Resources
Paper
Cloth
Plastic Sticks
Wire Mesh
Student Flags
Pencils
Box
5kg Weight
Sand
Presentations and Soil Testing
40 minutes
Once all teams have completed reinforcing, students will be asked to share their designs one by one. Students will introduce their team, explain the materials that they have chosen to use, and reveal the costs of their designs. Once introduced, the facilitator will start the testing process that includes removing the front face of the box and see if there is any deflection. After that a load of 5 kg will be placed on the soil surface and again observed for deflection. This process will be repeated for each group. Each wall will be tested individually with students making observations of each wall’s resiliency.
Judging the Performance
10 minutes
Facilitators will compare the costs and the performance of the bridges and arrive at the winning team. The team will be announced to the class and audience once everyone has returned.
10 minute break
End of Session Reflection and Debriefing
5-10 minutes (will be recorded)
Teacher briefly explains the computational thinking (CT) skill embedded in the Problem Solving Process Diagram. Using the problem solving process diagram, the teacher will ask students to identify what kind of problem solving skills/process/computational thinking they used in this session and explain how they used it. The following are some sample questions that can guide the debrief.
What did I learn today?
What worked well?
What didn't work well?
What can I/we do differently next time?
Do you have anything more to share?