• How did having limited time to play the game impact your teamwork? It kind got some of us stressed out, which made us want to split up so we would be able to get it done faster. 
  • What strategies might you use to help this? Maybe not watching the timer. 
  • What tips would you suggest to others? 1. Make sure that you click on everything. 2. Think outside the box. 3. Don’t take it too seriously. 4.  Don’t stress. 5. Don’t overthink it. 
• How did having limited time impact or shape your thinking during the game? It kind of made me rush a little more than usual, because it made me worry about this Blog Post, and not finishing in time. 
  • What strategies might you use to support your thinking? 
    • 1. Making sure that I click on everything. 2. Think outside the box. 3. Don’t take it too seriously. 4.  Don’t stress. 5. Don’t overthink it.
• In what way(s) were your critical thinking and strategies different during the timed games than they were during the initial games? The strategies were more focused on the timer. 

What Top 3 strategies/tips would you suggest to others when playing a timed game? 1. Not watching the timer. 2. Try not to get stressed. 3. Pretend that there’s no timer. 

• What did you notice or observe during this challenge? That some of the questions took a while for me and my group to figure out and then I split up from my group, because we argued too much.  

• What kind of questions did you ask yourself (meta)? Is there anything else for me to click on, and did I do/listen to all of their clues. 

• What was your “aha” moment during this challenge? How did this impact finishing the challenge? When my friend gave me a clue and then I realized what I should do nearly right away. 

• How did this challenge compare to the other two we have completed?The question took a lot longer. 

• What was the most challenging aspect of this challenge? The 8 word lock until my friend gave me a clue. 

• What two strategies helped you and your team the most when completing the challenge? (Use the strategy sheet for this! If you used a different strategy, list it here as well) Using the sites clues, and making sure that we/I clicked on everything. 

• What did you notice or observe during the challenge? I noticed at the beginning of each mini challenge it was really hard to figure them out but once you caught on, it got really fun and it got easier. 

• What kind of questions did you ask yourself (meta)? I asked myself what do I think relates to the story/problem? 

• When did you first begin drawing connections between the different puzzles and pictures? I started to begin drawing connections towards the middle of the challenges. 

• What were those connections? That all of them kind of relate to the dinosaurs. 

• What were your biggest clues? The pictures. 

• What was most challenging? The 9 word lock. 

• What was your biggest ah-ha moment? Why? When my group and I figured out the 9 word lock. 

• What thinking moves did you use when playing this game (questioning, connecting, listening, observing, deducing, reasoning, etc? Some thinking moves I made were figuring out what cards other people had. 

• How did organizing your information impact your experience playing the game? It told me what some cards other people had. 

• Where else do you use these thinking skills (at school, at home, on sports teams, etc)? At school.  

• When might you need this kind of thinking? When your playing Clue, or maybe if you become a policemen. 

• What did you notice or observe during the game? I noticed that it took a while to catch on to remember the game from last time I played it, and at the beginning it was pretty boring but then it got more fun as we played. 
• What kind of questions did you ask yourself (meta)?I didn’t ask myself any questions. 
• When did you first begin drawing connections between different characters, clues, pieces of information? About half way through the game. 
• What were those connections? They were knowing some of the cards the other people had. 
• What were your biggest clues? When people started guessing what the secret cards were. 
• What information seems most important to collect? What people were guessing. 

*What is the difference between an observation and information? Observation is what you think. Information is what you know. 

What materials did you choose for your build and why? I chose wood for the base, and cardboard for the people. 

Here is a picture of my plan: 

Here is a picture of my first attempt at the building process: 

While you test:

What are you noticing? I’m noticing that it looks really weird. 

What things are working? It’s staying stab;e and together. 

What things are not working? It looks like a big mess, and it’s not working because I thought that it was just supposed to be a model that doesn’t do anything. 

How will you tweak this? Make this better? (Be specific and detailed!) I’m gonna make it so Repunzol can slide down the rope, and put her bed or pillows or something fluffy so she doesn’t get hurt when she comes down. 

Do you need any new materials? If so, WHY? Yes, I need something soft so she doesn’t get hurt when she comes down. 

Sketch your new design with labels on a piece of paper. 

Insert your sketch here:

Why will this new design work better than your first attempt? What is your evidence? It’s better because Repunzol can actually slide down the rope, and there’s extra protection on the bottom.  

What about the building process was challenging? At the beginning, I couldn’t figure out what I was gonna build. 

How did your build differ from your plan? (If your build was different than your plan, update your plan!) I used different materials, and I kept changing my plan. 

How did your group work well together during the build? What would you do again? I was working alone. 

How did your group struggle during the build? What would you change? I was working alone. 

Title: Cereal Box Challenge

Category: ETC

Today’s Challenge: Create a new kind of cereal and its box. Using a piece of poster board, you and your team need to create your own box, with the goal of having the largest possible volume.

Teamwork Rubric Focus (Participation):

My goal for participation today within my team is to not hog the job that I end up getting/doing. 

My Individual Plan

My individual plan is to make a design on the poster board. And then fold, and crease the poster board, but make sure that the length, an the width, are really long and thick so when it gets measured, it will be a really high volume. Then tape the 2 bottom parts that I folded, and then do the same thing just with the sides. Then I’m going to fold the extra paper into smaller parts, and put it inside of the cereal box, for extra weight, so it stays down and flat, so it stays balanced.

Why I think my plan will be successful: I think that my plan would be successful because it should be a high volume, and it will stay balanced. 

Our Group’s Plan: Our groups plan is to make the cereal box extra long, wide, and thick cylinder so it has the highest volume, and so we can take a lot of time with the coloring, and while were coloring we can talk about our plan, and then at around the last 5 minuets, we can easily make it a cylinder, and then use all of our tape to maker sure it holds/stays together.

We chose this plan because if it’s long, wide, and thick, it will have the highest volume. 

Possible challenges that may come up during construction: Our plan might fail, Our group might argue, or it could fall because it might not be totally stable. 

Each team member will be responsible for building, taping, material passer, and coloring. 

After the Build

Here’s a picture of our finished cereal box:

Our design worked well because we made it a cylinder, which is balanced, and a cylinder is pretty easy to make, so we could take a lot of time drawing it, and coming up with the cereals name and the brand, and we could talk about what shape the cereal box will be in. 

This activity was challenging because at the beginning we were arguing about some of the jobs and how we should shape the cereal box. 

This activity was comfortable because when we stopped arguing, we worked well together, had fun, and compromised. 

I met my teamwork participation goal by not hogging the job that I did. 

A strength of my team was working together at the end, when we needed help. 

An area of growth for my team is to focus better while were working. 

For our next challenge, my new teamwork participation goal for myself is to focus better. 

Today’s Challenge: Using only an index card and a scissors find a way to cut your index card so you can fit your entire body through it.

Teamwork Rubric Focus (Organization/Planning):

My goal for organization/planning today within my team is to be descriptive in my plan. 

My Individual Plan: 

My Individual Plan is to cut out the index card into the widest circle ever, and then make sure that it can go through my arms, legs, head, and around my whole body, and then put it on the ground, and then pull it up all the way to my head.

Why I think my plan will be successful: I think that my plan will be successful because before I try putting it around my body, I will make sure that it fits around my whole body separately. 

Our Group’s Plan: 

Our groups plan is to cut a hole in the index card, and then fit 1 of our heads through the index card and if the rest of the body doesn’t fit, then cut the hole bigger, so everything fits.

We chose this plan because We chose this plan because it’s a combination of both of our plans and we have a lot of testing in it. 

Possible challenges that may come up during construction 

Each team member will be responsible for…

After the Build: 

Here’s a picture of me inside of the index card (Well, not really an index card anymore).

Our design worked well because we made sure that it was wide enough to go around my whole body, and we tide it really tight at the end. 

This activity was challenging because at 1st, I had no idea how to do my plan, but luckily, around 30 seconds after we got the index card, and idea popped in my head, though I started it before I okay-ed it with my group, but then, around half way through I started doing it, my other group member also had an idea, and told me it, so then we just combined the idea’s and it ended up working.  

This activity was comfortable because I’m not sure about my other group member, but I had fun, and my group member and I didn’t argue, and we just agreed on basically everything. 

I met my teamwork organization/planning goal by being descriptive in my plan. 

A strength of my team was we worked fast, didn’t argue, and we helped each other when we needed help.  

An area of growth for my team is to make sure that we stay focused and on task. 

For our next challenge, my new teamwork organization/planning goal for myself is to make sure that I can do all of the stuff in my plan.