5th Grade Innovation Challenge

Each year, as part of the iLab curriculum, all 5th graders participate in the Innovation Challenge. This challenge takes place at South School on a regular school day in the spring. Students are presented a challenge with specific criteria and constraints. They work through the design process with their teams to come up with a solution. They document their process in an engineering journal and present their designs to a panel of judges on event day.

The challenge is always based on a real-world problem, and children are encouraged to think about how their small-scale solutions could be adapted to solve actual problems. The emphasis is placed on PROCESS. This means that as long as students are working collaboratively toward their goal, and as long as they are continually trying to revise and improve their design, then they are successful in our eyes. Some past challenge topics have included: assistive game controllers, earthquake-resistant engineering, assistive devices, removal of waste from oceans, safe delivery of scientific equipment...

Our event at South will take place in May or June. Volunteers are always needed for this event. Please contact me if you are interested in helping.