Volleyball Machine Challenge for Grades 3-5

Overview

Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build two "volleyball machines" that launch a ping pong ball back and forth over a net. While the 2019 Fluor Engineering Challenge is over, your students can still try this project and compare their scores to top scores from around the world! Teachers, note that middle school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available.

Looking for this year's challenge? Check out our main Fluor Engineering Challenge page for all the latest information, including for a chance to win a cash prize for your school or nonprofit!

NGSS Alignment

This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations:

• 3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

This lesson focuses on these aspects of NGSS Three Dimensional Learning:

Science & Engineering Practices	Disciplinary Core Ideas	Crosscutting Concepts
Planning and Carrying Out Investigations. Make observations and/or measurements to produce data to serve as the basis for evidence for an explanation of a phenomenon or test a design solution.	ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions. Tests are often designed to identify failure points or difficulties, which suggest the elements of the design that need to be improved.	Cause and Effect. Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified, tested, and used to explain change.

Materials

Note: material costs are not pro-rated. For example, if you use any tape, it still costs the entire 10 points, even if you do not use the whole roll.