| This event is a little unusual,
because it is not based on material in the school science curriculum.
The activity is based on some of the work being done in large companies
who wish to increase the skills of their employees in the whole area
of team skills and problem solving. These and similar exercises are
metaphors for the kind of problems that people have to face daily
in their jobs. We hope that you will help identify parallels between
the problems we set for you here, and the issues you have to deal
with in school.
Take turns with each member of the group building a K'nex model
and playing ‘Dante' with the group to see if they can build
it from identical components within a set time. Remember, Dante
can't help with building and the others can't see the design.. Start
with simple models and work up to those with more parts. The actual
model in the competition will be pretty difficult.
Try assigning different roles to group members, or assigning people
to work on different sections. Decide who is best suited to each
role. Hint: Find the best ways of describing how to build with this
system.
Try to think up some unexpected conditions that might happen in
a real scenario. The competition will have a few surprises. Warning:
the judges have evil imaginations.
References:
The Flight of the Phoenix an old movie starring James Stewart.
Creating a book by Robert Fritz
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