Today was project day! After learning about the various body parts animals use to protect themselves from danger (turtle shells, thick fur, big ears, etc.) I posed this question: Can you design a prototype that will protect you from danger? There was some discussion about "prototype", but luckily we had just read the book Papa's Mechanical Fish.
In this book, Papa makes a mechanical fish which sinks on its first outing. It also sinks on its second and third outings. But Papa keeps redesigning his mechanical fish and eventually it works! So when they set out to design a prototype on paper, I asked them to think about how animals use their body parts to protect themselves from danger. We brainstormed several dangers (sun, cold, rain, falling things like rocks or hail) and each child chose one to use in their design. This was very serious work and they worked hard the entire time. I operated the "heavy machinery" during construction (sharp blade for cutting cardboard, tin foil box because that cutting strip is so sharp) and helped cut the tape, but they did all the hard thinking! Check out these engineers at work!
