Last week's Fun Friday engineering project was based on the tall tale of John Henry. During the week, the girls first watched a short video and then read this book by Julius Lester as well as this Mary Ann Hoberman book. After learning all about John Henry and his story, the girls were challenged to make a 2 foot train that could stand on it's own, using only duct tape and toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls. (Many thanks to everyone who sent in supplies for this!). Once they created their trains, they had to measure them to make sure they were the correct length and we checked to make sure they were sturdy and free standing. Just like our other engineering projects, we emphasized the importance of planning, trial and error, and working together.
Here are the girls working with their partners and using the plans they designed to make their trains.
The final product--- a group of very proud train engineers!
