Smashing Albert EGGstein

Rube Goldberg is known for his zany cause/effect inventions.  He was a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist who showed his engineering sense of humor by depicting elaborate multi-step solutions to every-day problems.  Teachers around the world use Rube Goldberg designs to teach physics and engineering.  They even hold Rube Goldberg contests around the world.   

So, my 6th grade students decided to create their own Rube Goldberg machine in honor of Easter. The task...SMASH A RAW EGG!  The students were very creative in using a variety of cause/effect relationships, but they had many technical difficulties.  At the end of the day (about 50 tries), all parts of the machine had worked.  But, unfortunately, they did not all work together at once.

So, today, my 3rd graders tweaked the 6th graders' creation...And, after several more attempts...IT WORKED! Enjoy "Smashing Albert EGGstein!"

Spirit of St. Louis Airport

Seventh grade students visited their engineering mentor at Spirit of St. Louis Airport on Thursday, November 24th. Mr. Ramos gave them a tour of the airport and we even drove on the runway. Students also had the opportunity to sit in helicopters and perform flight simulations.

Flight Simulator

Demolition

Eighth grade students were excited to demolish their old cities, Bondidag Cove and Triana.  I can't wait to see where their imaginations take them this year!  The Future City theme is "Rethink Runoff!"

What is Future City?

The Future City Competition is a national, project-based learning experience where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade imagine, design, and build cities of the future. Students work as a team with an educator and engineer mentor to plan cities using SimCity™ 4 Deluxe software; research and write solutions to an engineering problem; build tabletop scale models with recycled materials; and present their ideas before judges at Regional Competitions in January. Regional winners represent their region at the National Finals in Washington, DC in February.