Tonight we were able to investigate landing on the moon. We had to build a rocket that could drop a marble on a target as it was flying down a piece of string. My group decided to build a rocket using a cup and an index card as a wing and as a door. When the rocket flew down the string it would stop hard enough for the marble to push open the door and land on the target. When we tried on the first pass our marble landed too far away from the target. We were given some great advice from our classmates that helped revisit the drawing board and fix our rocket. We were able to land on the target on our second pass thanks to a revised wing on the back of the cup.
This lesson helped me realize that it is a great idea to always give students the ability to revisit their ideas in order to redesign. Trial and Error is a key element of STEM and allows for the students to really put their own ides to work and use their problem solving skills.
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