Welcome back to the Home of Good Ideas . . . where this week we're featuring the testing of the second round of Balsa Woods Towers.
To the left, you'll see one strategy employed by some of the teams: girders! Students are multiplying the inherent strength of the balsa wood members by combining several thin strips (about 1/16" thick) into more "muscular" posts.
To the right, you'll see a more "elegant" approach: pyramidal bracing. With light, thin pieces, these students are wagering that their "strength to weight ratio" (more formally the load mass to frame mass ratio) will exceed the bulkier designs of their competitors. Tougher to see here, but just as impressive: the bottom ends of the pyramid members sit in a recessed slot on the frame. As Willy Loman told us, "Attention must be paid!"
Though most designs will be tested this week, a few have already been tested by the tail end of last week . . . one 50-gram structure held up under the strain of over 400 pounds before . . . well, before "pancaking" spectacularly under the weight!
Coming up next week: student teams will be presenting their designs for more public consumption. If you're in the area during D and F blocks next week, stop by to see what students have learned about structural integrity and the engineering design loop.
This should be an exciting week in our IDEA classes as all of our teams will be creating their second round of Balsa Wood Towers!
It's already obvious that, aesthetically, our second round towers will be huge improvements over round one . . . the benefits of ACTUAL RESEARCH are astounding - students are implementing geometric shapes that are both appealing (due to symmetry, clean lines of sight, etc.) and structurally sound.
Prototyping will be the main order of business early in the week with testing to proceed as the week wears on . . . stop by if you're in the neighborhood to see our Woodstock IDEA students (boy, we need a name for them ..."IDEARS??") moving from concept to creation!
An example of a Round One Tower: "The Lasher"
Hi! My name is Tim Brennan and I'm a Science Teacher at Woodstock Union High School in Woodstock, Vermont. I am the teacher for a new course called "IDEA" (which stands for "Innovation, Design, Engineering, and Action") and this is where I hope to record our successes and struggles throughout Year One.
We're about 3-4 weeks into the year, so I'm already behind, but I hope to post soon about the truly remarkable first few weeks. In just this short time, we've done the following:
- built balsa wood towers that routinely held 1000x their own weight
- introduced and personalized 16 "Habits of Mind" that will lead to success
- considered the Innovation Venn Diagram and linked it to the 16 HOM
- tied our work to an Engineering Design Cycle
Students are currently:
- creating their own blogs about their own work in this course
- researching new ideas about structural integrity
- developing possible engineering projects for long-term work, including several 'social engineering' projects
Not twenty minutes ago, I spoke with three IDEA students who showed me a project they're working on in their Advanced Agricultural Studies course . . . which is just begging for an engineering solution! In addition, an IDEA student who is also part of our Student Council has approached me about the possibility of "engineering" the lunch rooms to make them more conducive to "hanging out."
Needless to say, I'm pumped about all this activity and can't wait to bring you thoughts on a regular basis . . .
