Team Building

We are starting the school year off with a lot of team building. Team building is important for many reasons. It promotes collaboration between classmates, fosters creativity, enhances leadership skills, and aids overall communication. Each class participated in three team challenges.

 1. Marker Message: Several strings were tied to a dry-erase marker. Each student held a string, and they worked together to write a message. This challenge is much harder than it looks, but all teams were ultimately successful.

2.  Toxic Waste:  A bungee cord was attached around a bucket holding tennis balls.  Ropes were tied to the bungee cord.  Each student held the end of a rope.  The object was to dump the tennis ball into the empty bucket without touching the toxic waste or bucket.  

3.  Hollywood Improv:  This was an acting challenge.  Students had to choose a random character, setting, problem, plot, movie quote, and props to use in an original team-created movie trailer.  

Building a Crane

This week's Instant Challenge required students to build a crane to hold weight.

Ice Cream Cone Stack

We started the year off with some Instant Challenges...SWEET!  This week, students were challenged to stack as many ice cream cones on a basketball as possible.  They were given string, rubber bands, clothes pins, pipe cleaners, spoons, Dixie cups, and a CD to assist with this task.  The cones could not touch each other or the table.  We have some very creative problem solvers!

Junk Box Wars

Junk Box wars are creative problem solving team challenges correlated to the National Science Standards. Students are given "junk" in boxes and a problem to solve. Problems require students to: 

• Identify appropriate problems for technical design. 
• Design a solution or product. 
• Implement a proposed design. 
• Evaluate completed technological designs or products. 
• Communicate the process of technological design.

The Weakest Link--Students were challenged to build the longest chain that would hold the most weight.

The Weakest Link--5th Grade

Whirling Wonders--Teams were challenged to create a wheel powered by water that would hold the greatest amount of string.

Whirling Wonders--8th Grade

Whirling Wonders--7th Grade

Whirling Wonders--4th Grade

Spaghetti Towers--Teams were challenged to create towers out of spaghetti.  The towers were scored on height and weight held.

Ultimate Gumball Machine--Students were challenged to create a machine that would sort gum ball!

Ultimate Gumball Machine-6th Grade

Junk Box Wars

I'm introducing "Junk Box Wars" to classes this year.  What are Junk Box Wars?  They are a more detailed version of our Instant Challenges.  Students participate in creative problem solving challenges using "junk" in their boxes.  It's a friendly competition where students use creativity, problem solving, and teamwork.  In this week's challenge, teams are required to create a chain that will hold weights from anchor points.  The longest chain that holds the most weight wins.  The key is not to have "The Weakest Link."