The first week of our Weather Warriors academy just ended this Friday! We began with an introduction to the field of engineering, as well as a basic chemistry lesson. We talked about the elements, followed by descriptions of two types of engineers who work with the elements: civil engineers and chemical engineers. For the challenge activity, the students built a marshmallow tower using spaghetti and masking tape. The students created innovative designs for the towers with strong supports. The winning team for this challenge was the Co-Leaders.
The second lesson of the week started with a recap of the first, as well as an introduction of new concepts: buoyancy, density, and hydropower. The students learned about the significance of dams and the enormous power derived from harnessing water. Students also learned about the career options involving water, specifically shipbuilding and naval engineers. Finally, the students sketched isometric models of their tinfoil boats (where the objective was to hold the most coins without capsizing), constructed their boats, and tested their prototypes, all while following the engineering design process to build the optimal boat. The students made very successful boats with the winning boat being able to hold 174 pennies!
Overall, our first week of Weather Warriors was a great success. The students had a wonderful time participating in the challenges and learning the lessons. We were super excited to meet the students and had an incredible time teaching them. Week two of Weather Warriors begins this Tuesday, 5/24 and we are incredibly excited to introduce the students to our next lesson and challenge on Bridges!
Thanks for the blog. I enjoyed reading it.