Discover Engineering in Central Texas

Grade Level:  Elementary School, 1^st-6^th         

Related classroom topics:  General Engineering

Supplies Needed: 

Divide students into groups of 3-5.  Each group will need: 

·        Small container—shoe box or oatmeal container

·        Three-dimensional objects—blocks of various sizes/shapes/colors

Procedure: 

1.      Give each group a container and identical 3-D items.

2.      Discuss with students various experiences with attempting to pack things into a box.  I.e. packing luggage, packing school lunch.

3.      Tell the teams to figure out a way of putting the most 3-D items in their box. 

4.      Discuss with the students any real-life applications where number of objects packed into a confined space can be critical; i.e. aboard a spacecraft, on a circuit board.   

Extensions: 

For more advanced students, 5^th-8^th grade, make this a computational problem:  measuring the dimensions and volume of the box and the dimensions and volume of each block, then finding the most efficient packing method. 

Related topics you could discuss:  Packing many objects into confined spaces:  aboard a spacecraft, on a circuit board.

Hints/Tips:  Make sure there are more 3-D items than can fit into the container so students have to troubleshoot how to fit as many as possible.  You can use legos, wood blocks, marbles, beads, and other objects as possible 3-D objects.