Lesson 8 of 10 · Engineering and Design

Experiment⭐ 30 XP🛠️ Engineer Shop

When Models Get It Wrong

🧪Lab Brief #8

Engineering and Design.

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

The first design always fails. That's the point.

🤯

Mind = Blown

🚀 The Saturn V rocket burned 20 tons of fuel per second at liftoff.

🔮

Make a hypothesis first

Guess: what's the weakest part of this build?

What You'll Learn

Every model leaves something out, and the thing it leaves out is where its predictions fail. A flat map of the world is useful for finding countries and useless for comparing their sizes, because flattening a sphere always distorts area.

Key Words

Tap a word to see its definition.

Materials Needed

flat world map
globe
string
ruler

Safety First

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Steps

Step 1 — Read

Read the explanation above and note the two key terms before you start.

Step 2 — Do

Compare Greenland and Africa on a flat wall map, then on a globe. Measure both on each and work out how many times the flat map exaggerates Greenland.

Step 3 — Observe

Record what actually happened, including anything that did not match what you expected.

Step 4 — Record

Write a conclusion that answers the question this lesson opened with, and state your uncertainty.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 2

Flat world maps distort:

How sure are you going to be?😐 maybe

🌍

Where you see this in real life

Your phone, your bike, your shoes — all designed with this idea.

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Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Build something — anything — out of stuff in your recycling bin.

👨‍👩‍👧

For the dinner table

“What's something around the house you'd redesign — and how?”

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

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

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

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