Volleyball Machine—2019 Engineering Challenge Results
Build a Device to Pass a Ball Back and Forth
The 2019 competition is over, but you can still try this challenge for fun! Can you build a volleyball machine that will pass a ball back-and-forth over a paper net? What is the longest passing sequence you can achieve in five minutes?
Full details, including the building, testing, and scoring procedures, can be found in these formats:
- Instructions for Students
- Elementary School Lesson Plan
- Middle School Lesson Plan
- High School Lesson Plan
Congratulations to All Participants
More than 4,300 students from 10 countries participated in the 2019 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge—our fifth anniversary of this annual event. Challenged to create a volleyball machine consisting of two devices, separated by a paper net, which could launch and return a ping pong ball, students brainstormed and built innovative solutions out of simple materials like cups, rubber bands, paper, tape and craft sticks. Striving to minimize the materials used and maximize the number of successful back-and-forth volleys required iterative problem solving and persistence and led to some truly creative solutions.
Figure 1. A few of the teams who submitted Ball Launcher solutions for the 2019 Engineering Challenge
Drawing Winners
All eligible team entries were placed into random prize drawings based on geographic location. Congratulations to the twenty winning teams listed in Table 1 whose names were drawn from the eligible pools! Each of these teams earned $1,000 USD from Fluor Corporation for their school, organization, or afterschool program.
| Team | School / Program |
|---|---|
| Houston, TX | |
| MKG 6Enrichment | St. Laurence Catholic School |
| Greenville, SC | |
| Candy Gods | Summit Drive Elementary |
| Orange County, CA | |
| David | Samueli Academy |
| Calgary, Alberta | |
| Guide Group 3 | Cybermentor – Pathfinder STEM Day |
| United States (including Puerto Rico) | |
| Team Fluff | Wedgwood Elementary School |
| Sra Batista – Malia, Lola & Lalaih | Viejo Elementary |
| IBA Tanks | Unioto Elementary |
| Science Experts | Jonesboro Visual & Performing Art Magnet |
| Unbeatables | Bess Campbell Elementary |
| Caesar Dressing Lovers | The Moriah School |
| CF & TR | Slavens K-8 School |
| We Don't Know What We Are Doing | Horton Middle School |
| Team Team | Arizona Agribusiness ad Equine Center |
| Rosie Gar-bage III | John Curtis Christian School |
| Team DEAW | Halifax Elementary |
| The Ballers | Wayne High School |
| International | |
| Taylor & Olivia Team | Goomeri State School |
| Super N | John De Graff Elementary School |
| Team #craftycandygirls | Cloverdale Traditional — SD 61 |
| Cupaccino | Chinook Council Scouts |
Top Ten Scores Overall
The 2019 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge was open to students in grades K-12. The top 10 scores, overall, are shown in Table 2. All scores were validated by Science Buddies staff based on submission photos and the Challenge rules. Regardless of score, all entries that met the geographic requirements were entered in the random drawings.
"The best thing about the Volleyball challenge was that it gave us a realistic look at what engineers have to face from the actual building to deciding between costs and value to teamwork. We learned a lot."
(Team Spike, St Clare School)
| Top Volleyball Machine Scores | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | Age (average) |
Score |
| Decomposers | 10 | 2,881 |
| Team Golden French Fries | 10 | 2,545 |
| Nightmare | 14 | 2,004 |
| Rabbit 101 | 9 | 1,998 |
| Demons | 15 | 1,951 |
| Udaan | 16 | 1,881 |
| Fresaiah | 15 | 1,877 |
| Rainbow Warriors | 8 | 1,560 |
| Team Hat | 12 | 1,547 |
| Team GG | 14 | 1,527 |
Top Scores by Age
Students entering the 2019 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge worked in teams of up to four students. To recognize the hard work students did creating and testing their solutions and to give students a better sense of how their solutions and scores compare to other students of similar age, the tables and graphs below show the top scores and score distribution for submissions from ages 6-10, 11-14, and 15-18. (Note: The age used for each team is the average age of all members on the team.)
"Our favorite part about this challenge was the building and trying to work together and learning from our mistakes."
(Junior Rainbow Magic Keepers, Rio Vista Elementary)
| Top Volleyball Machine Scores—Ages 6-10 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | School/Program | Score |
| Decomposers | St Mary Star of the Sea School | 2,881 |
| Team Golden French Fries | Rio Vista Elementary | 2,545 |
| Rabbit 101 | Brainworks International School | 1,998 |
| Rainbow Warriors | Brainworks International School | 1,560 |
| The Engineers | Rio Vista Elementary | 1,463 |
| HTET MYAT KO | Brainworks International School | 1,193 |
| NYAN YE LIN | Brainworks International School | 1,103 |
| Dream Works | Brainworks International School | 1,101 |
| Just Us | Brainworks International School | 1,053 |
| Starlight | Brainworks International School | 1,027 |
"Our favorite part, was having the satisfaction of having something we built work and work well. After, going through many steps of trial and error, and even using different designs to optimize the affect of our machine, it was pleasing to see that we could shoot the ball over the net many times."
(Team Epic Gamers, Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School)
| Top Volleyball Machine Scores—Ages 11-14 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | School/Program | Score |
| Nightmare | Brainworks International School | 2,004 |
| Team HAT | Brainworks International School | 1,547 |
| Team GG | Brainworks International School | 1,527 |
| Team SM | Brainworks International School | 1,385 |
| The Chow Chow | Brainworks International School | 1,379 |
| The Group 42 | Brainworks International School | 1,279 |
| The Girlz | Brainworks International School | 1,200 |
| THET PAING TUN | Brainworks International School | 1,186 |
| Fish Lasagna | Brainworks International School | 1,184 |
| Violet | Brainworks International School | 1,184 |
"Our favorite part of the 2019 Engineering Challenge was when our machine finally worked. We tried multiple different designs and strategies, but it proved to be much harder than we originally thought. When we finally got a good volley going, we were extremely excited. Every time we beat our top score we'd jump around and cheer."
(Team Beta, Governor's Career and Technical Academy for Engineering Study)
| Top Volleyball Machine Scores—Ages 15-18 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Team | School/Program | Score |
| Demons | Brainworks International School | 1,951 |
| Udaan | Swatantra Talim Foundation | 1,881 |
| Fresaiah | Brainworks International School | 1,877 |
| Team Sandra | Brainworks International School | 1,385 |
| Team H & MS | Brainworks International School | 1,289 |
| Lethal | Brainworks International School | 1,244 |
| Doldaegalreedul (rockheads) | AG Admissions | 1,242 |
| Team N.J.S | Brainworks International School | 1,070 |
| The below city | Calamba City Senior High School | 1,038 |
| Jaku | Calamba City Senior High School | 1,000 |
Figure 2. Some of the teams who submitted Volleyball Machine solutions for the 2019 Engineering Challenge
Students Embrace the Challenge
Students who entered the 2019 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge had the chance to explore, firsthand, what it means to be an engineer and to collaborate with others to solve a problem and improve a solution. Here are a few examples of what students (and their teachers) told us about their experience doing this year's Volleyball Machine Challenge:
"My favorite part of the challenge was the 'team-building' skills that each member of the team acquired. Each member had to find their own 'role' and carry it out to help the team achieve success. It was amazing to see their enthusiasm and the creative thinking involved in each team's design. Students took ownership of their machines and took pride in what they were able to accomplish." (Teacher, Clara Barton Elementary School) |
"Super pumped to be able to accomplish this challenge even though it took a LOT of trial and error before finding a design concept that worked." (STEAM Team Color Code, Stillwater Christian School) |
"Love all the science and math tie ins!" (Teacher, William Mason Cooper Elementary) |
"Never have I seen this group of students so off the charts excited about accomplishing a STEAM challenge. They wanted to keep trying to increase the number of times they could volley their ball, but alas, I had to make them leave so they wouldn't miss their lunch time." (Teacher, Barton Creek Elementary) |
"I saw enormous growth in their thinking and reasoning skills as they worked through issues with their designs." (Teacher, Brookstone School) |
"My class is always excited for hands-on science activities, but nothing prepared me for their enthusiasm towards this challenge." (Teacher, Garden City School) |
"Our favorite part of the [Engineering] Challenge was the ups and downs of the project. We really enjoyed when our contraption worked but found that when the contraption didn't work we could always find a way to fix it. We really liked how we could work together to complete a task like this that we never imagined we could do." (Team AME, Punahau School) |
"My favorite part of the 2019 [Science Buddies] Engineering Challenge was the limit in the amount of materials you can use. In other engineering competitions, usually the teams with the best materials won, but the point penalty for using too many materials led this to be a fun challenge. Everyone has an equal chance to win, and innovation was tested, rather than the quantity of materials. Making the challenge a goal to make a cheap and effective mechanism is what allowed me to enjoy this project. Thank you!" (Educator, AG Admissions) |
"TEAM work rocks! We loved the challenge and 'doing science.' We demonstrated what we CAN DO and loved the results. Thank you for challenging us to do our best!" (Team Bayou Boys, John Curtis Christian School) |
