This term, all year 9’s were able to participate in an engineering challenge during Science. Throughout the 4 weeks we were given to complete this project, we needed to research the best building designs and features that would create an earthquake-proof building, before drawing a few different designs then finally building a model out of spaghetti. We would then test our structure on a shake table (a table that simulates the same ground movements happening during an earthquake) and get one more chance to improve our design as much as we could. The aim was to create a building that could withstand the equivalent of a major earthquake, or, 10 seconds on the shake table. However, there were a few requirements our design would have to comply with, these included, a minimum height of 60cm, a maximum base of 30 x 30 and finally, it had to cost less than $60 to build, given that spaghetti was $1 per 10cm and blue-tack was $1 per gram.
In teams of 4, we each brought a variety of different strengths to the group that would help us create the perfect design. Before we began our research, we were given a few general titles to assign to each member of our team based on their abilities and skills. These would help us to work more efficiently and overall, improve our design. They included, project manager (who would ensure everyone understands the challenge and keeps the team on track), equipment manager (who would make sure that the equipment needed was available and that everyone cleaned up after the lesson), speaker (they would seek help from the teacher, other class members, or outside experts), and finally reporter (who would make sure the final presentation is ready by the deadline). Along with these, we also displayed a range of more specific assets during this project. One member was extremely good at drawing, and so was allocated, ‘the drawer’, while the rest of the team narrated the concepts of the design. We also had one person who would listen to all the ideas before working them into our final model to create a stronger and more stable structure. Another teammate was very proactive while displaying great leadership, and would direct the more shy teammates so we all contributed equal amounts. Overall, everyone was given a chance to pitch in with their ideas which would create the best design.
Although our team did complete a very good project in the end, there were a few things we could have done to improve our overall design. During the first 3 weeks, we focused significantly on all the little details in our designs and drawings as well as our research. This only allowed for one or two weeks to build our two designs as well as complete the stile which left us stressed and affected our overall result. If we had been a little less thorough in our research, therefore allowing us more time to work on our final models, we could have had a stronger structure that could withstand a larger earthquake. Another category we did not excel at, was our time management. While other teams were looking forward and had already started to build their first structure, we were far behind finishing the Stile questions. Because we did not think ahead and only of what was happening at that moment, there was a huge rush at the end to finish both the questions and the two designs. If we had kept track of time and how much longer we had left to complete the project, we could have finished with a higher quality model.
