1. You had to design a trap to ensnare a leprechaun.
2. It had to be a Rube Goldberg inspired invention with at least three steps.
The students brought in recyclable materials and we used plenty of other objects from around the classroom. The reason I like this project so much is because it incorporates everything we have been learning all year long about the design thinking process, namely: Design, Test, Iterate.....repeat!
Too often school is about trying to get everything right the first try. There isn't much room for the allowance of failure and yet we learn so much more when we DON'T succeed rather then when we do. This project experienced many frustrations and failures for my students. But the best thing I heard around my room was when one of my students said, "Let's just try it guys. If it doesn't work we'll try something else!" Imagine if these same thoughts echoed in Math class when trying to solve a problem?
Ya, but what were they learning from this? It looks like a time waster to me........I can totally see some people looking at this project and saying these words.
But they were learning how to take risks, to problem solve, to design an answer to a challenge question, to fail forward, to work together in a collaborative effort, to be creative, to engineer and construct a workable design model......
Measured by an assessment? No. But that doesn't mean learning didn't take place. In fact, if you talk to the students about the project, I bet they'll tell you they learned a whole lot.
"What if it doesn't work?" one of my students said when it came time to show them off. I looked at them and said, "I bet you'll be able to tell me why it doesn't work and what you would do different next time?"
Here's some pictures from our fabulous morning. And yes, we did see some success :)
