Tech Challenge 2016 Recap 2

Here are some of the designs a fourth-grader team designed and built over the course of the Tech Challenge 2016.

A team member got this glider idea from the Maker magazine. It was a good start to learn about gliders and center of gravity.

Comparing the flight of our bird gliders to the store-bought balsa wood gliders.

We got the idea from one of the library books a team member borrowed from the library. This glider is made out of  foam plates.

The same design different material. Foam gliders flew better than the paper plate gliders.

The goal for our team is to research (online, library, books, magazines, etc.) and learn about the subject matter as much as possible. We also watch a lot of youtube videos, too. 

Try some of these with your kids today.

Tech Challenge 2016 Recap 1

I've been an advisor to a tech challenge team for four years, and this was the most difficult challenge to date. 

The 2016 challenge: Build a glider to deliver supplies to a remote location!
This year, you tell the story! What is your glider carrying? Where are you going? Why?
New award for 2016: Top Tech Challenge story! 
Who: Students in Grades 4-12
What: A team engineering design challenge
When: Event Days are Saturday, April 23 (Grades 4-6) and Sunday, April 24 (Grades 9-12 and Grades 7-8)
Why: To develop creative solutions to a real-world problem

A glider, which weighs less than a pound, must carry payloads (ping pong balls), gain 6 inches of lift in 6 feet, make a turn around a storm column, and deliver payloads to a "remote" location 26 feet away.

Not only did teams have to build their gliders, but they must incorporate a launcher, which will have a trigger mechanism. Then it's got to gain lift and turn. What a challenge for a fourth-grade team.

Yes, since last year, the Tech Challenge has been opened to fourth graders, and it was a welcome change for those kids who were eager to form their own teams after watching their older sibling's teams compete for years.

A 4th-grade team was talking with the judges at a test trial at the Tech Museum. You can clearly see the launch platform, the mountains, and the storm column that the glider must clear before landing on the target (26 feet away) successfully.

The glider must be launched at 0 degrees launch angle and have a trigger.

I think elementary students, as young as Kindergarten students, can get a lot out of this program, but I think the fourth-grade cut-off is a logical one, especially with the Engineering Design Journal requirement.

I didn't have the time to blog about this great program while it was in progress. Next year, I'm going to put forth extra effort to blog about this AWESOME program in more timely manner.

Tech Challenge Update - 10/24/15

It's that time of the year, again. The start of another Tech Challenge at the Tech Museum of San Jose.

This year's challenge is... (from the website)
http://www.thetech.org/tech-challenge-presented-emc

The 2016 challenge: Build a glider to deliver supplies to a remote location!
This year, you tell the story! What is your glider carrying? Where are you going? Why?
New award for 2016: Top Tech Challenge story! 
Who: Students in Grades 4-12
What: A team engineering design challenge
When: Event Days are Saturday, April 23 (Grades 4-6) and Sunday, April 24 (Grades 9-12 and Grades 7-8)
Why: To develop creative solutions to a real-world problem

Please check out the challenge and join in on the fun.

I think this is one of the best STEM programs out there, and kids learn so much from the process. Not about STEM, but about very important life lessons such as perseverance, teamwork, problem-solving, leadership, and dealing with multiple, repeated failure.

Sure, it seems like a lot of time commitment, but our teams have spent between 36 - 57 hours (that's from October to April) and attended 3 - 5 test trials in the last three years.

But how much time you spend with your team depends on your team's schedule and availability. I've known teams that attend every test trial each year, and other teams that barely attend one. There is no correct formula to experience this wonderful learning process.

Have a great day.

Tech Challenge Update - 4/26/15 (competition day)

It was a crazy weekend.

We arrived at the Tech Museum ~9:20am on Sunday (4/26), but we didn't get through the competition until 11:30am! I don't know why the progress was so slow, especially when the Tech Challenge organization got rid of the Design Journal Interview section. I guess the success of the program caught up with the organization, and that's a good news. I hate to think what it'll be like next year, but I hope more kids will join the competition.

Either way, my team finished well, but more importantly, they had a lot of fun. They danced, they laughed, and they had fun with their team. I hope you and your kids will join us next year.

Preparing for the competition in the Pit

Getting the structure weighed

Participation medals

Getting ready for the interview

Getting in line for the structural performance/device testing

Setting up the structure on the shake table

End of competition interview

Award ceremony

Tech Challenge Update - 4/15/15

Please come join the fun at the Tech Museum this weekend (4/25 - 4/26).
 
2015's the Tech Challenge competition is taking place, and the admission to the competition and the museum is free.
 
It's always very interesting to come and see all the different designs the students from all over Northern California have come up with to solve this year's challenge, which is Seismic Engineering in Action. And the award ceremony takes place at 1pm (4/25) for the elementary school division, so if you can, stay and support the youngsters.
 
The competition for the middle school division takes place on 4/26, and the high school division is competing during the afternoon on 4/25.
 
Here are some pictures from our team:

 

For more Tech Challenge 2015 competition day information, please check out the link below.

http://thetechchallenge.thetech.org/important-dates/event-day