Grindrod’s division 1,2 and 3 students were challenged to build a flying machine that would allow an egg to drop slowly to the ground from the roof of the school without breaking. The design task had two goals, to protect the egg and to keep the egg in the air as long as possible. Students worked in teams of 2-3 to build their flying machines, demonstrating their ingenuity, teamwork and creativity. Students gave their aircraft great names such as “Double Black”, a design using two black garbage bags, “The Mary Poppins”, a design that utilized an umbrella and the “The Popcorn Machine” that used popcorn to absorb the impact of the fall. These represent only a few of the 34 designs created for this project. Part of the Applied Design, Skills and Technology methodology is to test, refine/redesign and retest process so students will go back to the drawing board to improve their aircraft before the retest next Tuesday.
The picture below shows Anson and Nathan with their winning entry “Rough Rider.”
Top designs from each class were (division 3) Anson’s and Nathan’s “Rough Rider” which stayed in the air for 2.79 seconds, (division 2) Payton’s and Justise’s “Helium Balloon Mobile” that stayed in the air for 2.81 seconds, and Ben’s, Quinten’s and Jay’s “Care Package” that stayed airborne for 2.89. Honourable mention goes to Zack’s and Connor’s “SS Eggs Beni” that flew for 2.78 seconds.
Grindrod Elementary School 