The Design Process and the Marshmallow Challenge

Today was the second day of school and in staying with tradition, my students were given the Marshmallow Challenge.

I use this challenge for two main purposes.

1) I want to see how my students will perform in a group within a not mathematical setting.

2) I want my students to learn the importance of the design process and how we can use it in other aspects of their lives.

My students are given their kits and the timer is started.  It never fails that one of the groups will have a student who pulls out all the spaghetti sticks and breaks them in half in the first 5 seconds of the challenge.  Then said group will spend the rest of the time trying to tape the sticks back together as they build their structure higher.  Most structures do not remain standing after the time is over...but this is not where we stop.

After the timer goes off, we measure the structures and talk about what happened during the 18 minutes of the challenge.  After some reflection, I ask my students who they think does better on this project.  I list their answers on the board and then have them watch the first few minutes of the ted talk video.  Do you know who performs best???  Watch the TED Talk Here 

But this is where I add a little twist.  We talk about the engineering design process.  At our school we have a flow chart on display in our rooms:

Imagine--Plan--Design--Improve--Share (Repeat if necessary)

We talk about each part.  I ask them questions about what the word means to them.  The answers I got today were tremendous.  And we have great discussion on why that step would be important, and when have they used it before.

Then I ask them if they would like another chance at the challenge.  They emphatically shout, "YES!!!".  So I give them their second kit...

The change is almost immediate.  When I told them their time has started, no one reached for the bag.  Instead they talked it out.  Pictures were being sketched, great discussions took place.  Then they began to create some amazing structures.  And at the end of 18 minutes, every single team had a freestanding structure holding up their marshmallow.

This is when the real learning becomes real.  I ask them three questions:

1) What do you think is the most important step in the design process and why?
2) What made you 2nd chance better than the 1st?
3) How can we use the design process to help use solve a math problem?

The discussions we had after they had time to reflect and write were the best I have ever had on the second day of school.  My students are primed for some learning and I am excited to give it to them...

Can't wait for tomorrow!