Some Engineering Lessons From The Pros

By Susan Coney

The students at Middle Gate School recently participated in engineering workshops designed and presented by the IBM Corporation to encourage kids to take math and science classes.

The workshops instructed by IBM Software Engineers Carolyn Schreiber and Allan Linden helped to teach the children what an engineer does and that being an engineer can be fun.

Two sets of workshops were presented to the students, one for Heather Zaza’s second grade class and a more complex workshop for fourth graders from Linda Baron’s and Josie Schmidt’s rooms. The IBM engineers started out the workshops discussing how many different types of engineers there are and what they do. The students were shown a PowerPoint presentation and also watched a short video.

Then the students broke up into two smaller groups to conduct two separate experiments. Mr Linden challenged the students to build the strongest structure possible using 25 toothpicks and 11 gumdrops. The goal was for the three dimensional design to hold as much weight as possible.

The students broke up into smaller groups of three to four children and brainstormed how to build the structure. Seeing that some were stuck, Mr Linden clued them in that forming triangles might provide a strong building structure.

After all the models were complete Mr Linden went around and tested the strength of each structure by placing continually heavier objects on top of them to see which would collapse and which would bear the weight. The strongest structure constructed with these sparse materials was a dome structure using five triangles. After the exciting testing portion was completed the group discussed the experiment and reflected on what they had observed. Mr Linden pointed out that the children had in fact been doing the job of an engineer, similar to one who might design or construct bridges.

Fourth grader Mackenzie Hoctor said, “It’s great how much fun you can have with gumdrops and toothpicks. I was so nervous because I didn’t want it to collapse!” Teammate Melissa Davila said, “OK, it looks sturdy. It would be so exciting if we win. We’re so nervous.”

Carolyn Schreiber presented the students with a second opportunity to test their thinking skills, by constructing a glider using simple materials such as a plastic drinking straw, tape, and paper. The students were provided with a prototype to follow and then made adjustments with the goal being to design a glider that would fly the longest distance.

All of the students met by with both Ms Schreiber and Mr Linden to discuss what they had learned and to be given the opportunity to ask questions. Several students indicated that they would like to someday be an engineer and that it seemed like an awesome job. At the close of the workshop each student was given a certificate of completion.