35

Lesson 35 of 84 ยท Engineering and Design

Experimentโญ 30 XP๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Engineer Shop

Building Stronger Structures (Part 2)

๐ŸงชLab Brief #35

Engineering and Design.

๐ŸŽฏ Your mission

Set it up. Test it. Be amazed.

โšก The twist

Constraints make you more creative, not less.

๐Ÿคฏ

Mind = Blown

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ The first computer bug was a literal moth stuck inside a machine in 1947.

๐Ÿ”ฎ

Make a hypothesis first

Before you test: how many tries until it works?

What You'll Learn

A prototype is an early version of something you are building. Test it, then make it better!

Key Words

  • build
  • plan
  • problem

Materials Needed

  • pennies
  • plastic wrap
  • cardboard
  • tape
  • scissors

Safety First

  • Protect your work surface with newspaper or plastic.
  • Adult supervision recommended.

Steps

Step 1 โ€” Read

Talk about what you already know about Engineering and Design.

Step 2 โ€” Do

Design a container that keeps an ice cube from melting for as long as possible.

Step 3 โ€” Observe

Compare what happened to what you predicted.

Step 4 โ€” Record

Tell the class one thing you learned today.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What should you do if your experiment doesn't work?

๐ŸŒ

Where you see this in real life

Every bridge, building, and gadget you've ever used started with this.

๐Ÿ†

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Find something that's broken at home and try to figure out *why* it broke.

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘ง

For the dinner table

โ€œWhat's something around the house you'd redesign โ€” and how?โ€

๐ŸŽฏ

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

๐ŸŒก๏ธShare card

Share this experiment

Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

๐Ÿ–จ๏ธ

Checkout complete lesson on Engineering and Design for 2nd Grade

Get the full Engineering and Design track as a printable PDF โ€” all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.

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