Engineering Fun at Orchard Gardens

one of our club members showing off her pasta prototype

On the surface, engineering may feel like an overly complex discipline limited to mathematical and scientific geniuses. After all, engineering is frequently associated with countless infrastructural, technological, medical, mechanical, electrical, and scientific fields. However, as middle school students at Orchard Gardens K-8 School are learning, engineering is an accessible specialty that we all have (unknowingly) practiced in our daily lives! Engineering is a way of processing information and creating solutions for various tasks, including building and cooking!

During CitySprouts’ Winter Program, our students were asked to design two types of towers made from unconventional materials. In the first trial of towers, they were instructed to use index cards and tape to create a structure that would be able to support the weight of a 8oz cup filled with water for at least ten seconds. During the second round of towers, students had to create a tall structure that could support a marshmallow using a limited number of uncooked pasta, a piece of string, and tape.

admiring the stability of this unique tower

Throughout both trials, our students asked themselves a variety of questions relating to their towers: “Why does it keep falling? Why is it all wobbly? How can we balance it?” These inquiries would lead to several solutions that they would apply to their prototypes! 

While some students added more index cards at the bottom of the structure to provide more stability, others utilized their surroundings and attached their pasta towers to their desks (and even the ceiling)! In the end, nearly all of the towers exceeded our set goals! After celebrating our achievements, we revealed that the critical thinking skills are part of The Engineering Design Process, which are a series of steps that can be used to solve problems. These steps are:

working on creating a stable structure

1) Define the problem

2) Identify constraints (e.g. time, money, materials, etc.) that may impact the solution

3) Brainstorm multiple solutions for the problem

4) Select the “most promising” solution

5) Prototype a solution

6) Test & evaluate the prototype - this may include gathering feedback or asking questions

7) Iterate to improve the prototype

8) Communicate the solution

Upcoming projects at Orchard Gardens:

Brainstorming our sauce flavor profile based on findings from our hot sauce exploration

As an expansion of the tower design project and Pizza Science Unit, our students are currently designing their own sauce from scratch. So far, they have already researched various spices and recipes that could serve as a stepping stone for their own creation. In addition, they were able to taste several types of hot sauce and wrote down the qualities (e.g. heat, texture, aroma, etc.) that stood out and may be included in their own design.  Over the next few weeks, our students will continue to design their original recipe through research, taste-tests, and feedback. We are optimistic that the CitySprouts Orchard Garden club will have a delicious sauce!

Researching flavor and taste for our recipes