Design a Grape Smasher
Watch the activity overview video. This video shows staff facilitating the activity featured in the skill video.
As you watch the skill video below, think about these questions:
- What questions did the staff person ask that helped youth think critically in their design?
- How was this activity both hands-on and minds-on?
- If you were leading this activity, what would you do differently? What would you do the same?
Now that you’ve watched the video, reflect on what you saw and post your responses.
- What strategies do you use to give youth time to reflect upon questioning and process their answer?
- How could you tell that youth were engaged in the design challenge?
Explore Engineering Practices
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Learning from Failure
Lemond uses questions to help youth learn from failure during an engineering design challenge.
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Balance Criteria and Constraints that Require Trade-offs
Engineers make trade-offs to balance competing factors as they solve problems. As youth create enrichment toys for zoo animals, they balance the animals’ safety with keeping them engaged.
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Bringing in the Experts
Facilitators of STEM activities can help youth connect to STEM careers by providing opportunities to introduce STEM professionals to youth.