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!"

Heading to Global Finals!

To Friends of Creative Problem Solvers:  

Teams from Edgar Murray Elementary Gifted education classes recently participated in the MO state final creative problem solving competition called Destination Imagination (DI).  Both fourth grade teams qualified to advance to Global Finals, an international competition to be held over 5 days, May 24-28, on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  Students from over 15 countries, grades three through university level, will be competing, and 8,000 students and 17,000 attendees are expected to participate.

The four-member team, "Secret Cypher Squad," won first place in the Scientific category, Top Secret, and the five-member team "Red Ripe Potatoes" came in second in the Fine Arts category, “Vanished!”  Because there was only one point separating them from first place, they were chosen as the state "Wild Card" team.

We are very excited to be representing the state of Missouri at Global Finals, but we need help to get there. It costs $750.00 for each student to attend plus one adult team manager.  This includes housing, meals, and activities for the entire stay.  We need to raise $7,500.00 in order to participate in this amazing opportunity!

We are setting up a variety of fundraisers locally, including a lock-in at the school, car wash, flower sale, and bake sale.  Because we are a small, rural community, we are also seeking sponsors.  Several of our team members do not have the financial means to cover the costs involved.  It is our hope that you will consider helping send these talented kids to compete!

Platinum sponsor (Sponsor 1 Student) - $750 or more:  an ad on the back of our teams’ t-shirts, a free t-shirt, a framed 5 x 7 photo of the teams at Global Finals, a team pin, and recognition in the Bulldog Bulletin, our Facebook page, and Twitter.  

Gold sponsor - $200:  4x4" ad on the back of our teams’ t-shirts,  t-shirt, pin, 5x7 photo, and recognition in the Bulldog Bulletin.

Silver sponsor - $100:  2 X 3 1/2" ad on the back of t-shirt, 5x7 photo

Bronze sponsor -$50:  1 line on the back of the team t shirt

If you’d like more information about Destination Imagination, Global Finals, or our Challenge classroom, you can visit the following:  

Global Finals

Destination Imagination

Challenge Webpage

For questions, feel free to contact Jennifer Hawkins:  jhawkins@stcmo.org

Checks payable to:  St. Clair R-XIII

Please send donations to:

Edgar Murray Elementary

Challenge Program                                       

1044 High School Drive       

Missouri Creative Adventures

It was another great year at MOCA, Missouri's Destination Imagination state competition!  All three of our teams earned trophies, and the SelfieZ are advancing to Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee! We're so proud of our creative problem solvers!  

DIgos:  Jace and Tara earned 3rd place for their Fine Arts Challenge, "Get a Clue."  They successfully acted out five characters with two people!  I absolutely loved the performance and the artwork!

SelfieZ:  Oliver and Alana earned 2nd place for their Project Outreach Challenge, "The Meme Event," and they are moving on to Global Finals!  They have been teaching others about self-acceptance!  Everyone should love their "SelfieZ."

Quintuple Quiddities:  Emily, Jolee, Lilly, Ashton, and Alyssa earned 3rd place in their Improv. Challenge, Close Encounters.  Their performance had the audience going bananas!  

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!

Destination Imagination Challenge Previews

The Destination Imagination 2014-2015 Challenge Previews are out!  The previews will give you an idea which challenge your team may want to solve.  Grades 4-5 participate in Destination Imagination.

Creature Feature:  Would you like build a creature that performs a technical task?

Making Waves:  Would you like to design a sound machine?

Lose to Win:  Would you like to build a structure with removable parts?

Feary Tales:  Would you like to create a fairy tale about a phobia?

Brand Aid:  Would you like to address a need in the community?

The Improv. Games:  Would you like to perform improvisational sketches about street performances?  

Heading to Global Finals!

Creative Problem Solvers

All three Murray Destination Imagination, Inc. teams will advance to the state competition in Joplin, MO. The 5th grade team, Super Six, earned 3rd place in the Scientific challenge. The 4th grade team, Renegade Wood Warriors, earned 1st place in the Structural challenge. The 4th grade team, Laughing Lollypops, earned 3rd place in the Fine Arts challenge. MO Creative Adventures (MOCA) will take place April 12th at Missouri Southern State University. Good luck DI teams!

Douglas explains how his shrink ray works while the professor takes notes.

Douglas shows off his Extreme Gear.

Douglas uses his Extreme Gear to for protection.

The Laughing Lollypops get ready to perform.  

Doctor Cat puts the girls asleep for their dental work.  

The Renegade Wood Warriors' structure held 110 pounds.  

The Renegade Wood Warriors discussed their puppet show with the judges.

The Super 6 (minus 3 in this picture) earned 3rd place.

The Renegade Wood Warriors earned 1st place.

Laughing Lollypops earned 3rd place.

The Laughing Lollypops found time to go to the Daddy Daughter Dance.  

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."