Discovery Activities: Blocks and Marbles

Find a solution to an engineering problem.

Contact Information

For more information about this program, contact:

Menzel Smith-Jones
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Bldg.400C – P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000
631-344-4495 (phone)
631-344-7098 (fax)
scl@bnl.gov

Students work in design teams to develop a solution to an engineering problem. Teams will construct a “ride” for a marble that must meet specified design criteria. Students will be introduced to the law of gravity.

Vocabuary

gravity, engineer

Audience for This Program

Elementary Grades: 1-3

Program Benefits

Lesson Objectives

1) Develop a solution to a problem and discover that one problem has many solutions.

2) Discover what a structural engineer does.

3) Complete a task in a specified period of time

while meeting specified criteria.

Rules & Eligibility Criteria

Minimum group size 15, maximum 30, up to 3 groups at a time.