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Mosaic Minutes

Young Inventors at Work Class Summary 4/7/14

4/8/2014

 
with Leigh Ann Yoder

Let the Games Begin!

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As you know, the students have been researching various types of engineering all semester. What we have discovered is that all engineering fields have something in common - mainly that engineers are creative problem solvers. We have been working a lot on problem solving, so this week we began a three week unit that will focus on creativity. Teams of two or three students are designing, prototyping and creating games.  

Today we began by listing questions that needed to be answered during the design phase:

  1. What is the overall goal of the game?
  2. What will the board, card, spinner, etc., look like?
  3. What will be used as playing pieces?
  4. How will the winner be determined?
  5. How will you keep track of the winner during the game?
  6. How will the element of chance be incorporated in the game?
  7. How much skill will be required?
  8. Who will be playing the game? (young children, teens, adults, etc.)
  9. How many players is the game designed for?
  10. Will the game have a theme, and if so, what will it be?

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Teams then broke out to discuss and answer these questions. In addition, they began to prototype their games as well as decide what materials will be needed to create the final product. Each team needs to come prepared to class next week with any supplies they need to create their games. I told them what I will be providing, and they may email me to ask if I have specific supplies. Also, they will be required to write instructions, so they should be thinking about that as well.  

We will have two more weeks to complete this project. Next week students will work on creating the actual game and writing the instructions. The following class will be dedicated to sharing and playing the games. Some teams may need to communicate via email, Skype, or in person, in order to complete their game designs.

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Semester Projects

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While the students were working today, I spoke briefly with each one of them regarding their semester projects. I handed back any work that had been submitted and provided each student with at least one article relating to their field. This can be used on their second panel. We again reviewed in detail the elements of the first two panels. I specifically told the students that the first two panels need to be completed by the end of April. We will need the entire month of May to work on the third panel.

As a reminder here are the specifics:

First Panel: Four main elements: Engineering Field, Why I Chose It?, Job Description (including the one paragraph general description), Research Paper or Interview

Second Panel: Past-Present-Future consisting of articles, text, images, diagrams, etc., of engineering projects relevant to your field.


Homework

(1) Semester Project: You have only two weeks to complete the first two panels. You should be almost finished by the end of this week.  
(2) Game Design: Continue planning your games. Communicate with your partner and have a plan in place to create the game next week. If you need any special supplies, make certain you have them or ask me. Draft your directions.
(3) Story of Inventions (optional): Read chapter 12

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