Mystery Tube (Courtney Carpenter)
Author
Courtney Carpenter
Principles Illustrated
Cooperative Learning
Backward Thinking
Engineering
NGSS Standards
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems
ETS1B: Developing Possible Solutions
ETS1C: Optimizing the Design Solution
Questioning Script
Prior knowledge & experience:
Students have experience with general problem solving in everyday life, not necessarily in the classroom. Furthermore, they may not know the benefits of working with others to solve a problem.
Root question:
How to replicate mystery tube? Without looking inside the tube, how can we create a system that replicates the same mechanism?
Target response:
See Youtube video below (although there are other variations that can be correct as well).
Common Misconceptions:
- students think working alone is better than working in a group
- students tape one or both of the strings to locked positions and they cannot move
- etc.
Movies
Reference
Unknown speaker at a Science Teacher Convention had manufactured mystery tubes and had us do this activity as a group. I did not come up with any of these ideas on my own (except how to make the mystery tube out of household items).