Curricular Response

Building both of these crafts improved my understanding about the scientific method. To solve a problem you really have to observe and think about the problem. For example in the golf tower challenge, the problem was trying to get the tower to stand. In order for it to stand we had to make the base bigger and stronger. In the egg drop challenge, the problem was that we had to protect the egg so it didn’t crack. We then had to think and guess what would protect the egg, and then experiment with our guesses.

Core Competency Self Assessment and Creative Thinking

I am most proud of the golf tower challenge because we were able to complete it and get the tower standing. With the egg drop challenge our egg did not survive. Some strategies I used to overcome these challenges were brainstorming and working more with my partner. My partner and I brainstormed before we built so we had an idea on what to do and build. Working as a team helped us complete the build and coming up with more ideas. Based on my experience with the two labs, I feel like I have a better understanding of the scientific method considering I had no understanding of it before. I demonstrated that I can create new things when I am interested in it and take the time to plan it out. I demonstrated that I can build on the ideas of others when I already have other ideas so I can relate and compare both of our ideas. When trying new things, I expect setbacks and failure and use them to develop my ideas. An example of this from the Scientific Method labs would be when I experimented with my first golf tower design which didn’t work. I manipulated and changed my first tower design so it would stand better and hold the golf ball.