Applied Design

Today we started to look at the concept of Applied Design through the story, The Three Little Pigs.  The challenge was for the children, as a team, to first Plan, then Build, and finally, Test a house designed to safely hold 3 pigs and withstand huffing and puffing.  They all came up with some neat designs, and they all passed the wind test; however, we realized that in all cases, the wolf could easily walk through the building so it wasn't safe at all.  Part of the process is to try, fail, learn from mistakes, and try again so we will be revisiting this activity and others like it all year as we build upon these important skills.