Subject Area

Engineering

Age or Grade

Eighth Grade

Estimated Length

120 minutes

Prerequisite knowledge/skills

Students should have a basic understanding of geometric shapes

Description of New Content

Blackboxes and design limitations.

Goals

Students will be introduced to the engineering concept of a “black box”,the limitations they can present, and methods for bypassing these limitations.

Materials Needed
  • Rectangular, closeable box (e.g., a soap dish)
  • Cardboard rectangular, triangular, and square wedges
  • Marbles
  • Tape

Procedure

Blackbox Procedure

Evaluation

Review of students drawings of contents of the blackboxes

Extensions

An Introduction to Reverse Engineering.  An introduction to “black boxes in nature”.