What does it take to be a scientist?
Well, Mrs. Hays’ 8th grade students studied just that this past week. All the classes were presented the problem of Fred, the sailing worm. In the humorous scenario, Fred the Worm has decided to go sailing on Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, Fred forgot his life preserver and he doesn’t know how to swim. Of course, his little boat capsizes and his life preserver is trapped underneath. Using gummy worms, plastic cups and paperclips, teams of students put on their scientist thinking caps to try and figure out how to get poor Fred’s life preserver from under the boat and onto Fred who’s clinging to the capsized craft.
It was a test of problem solving skills, ingenuity and team work. The students had a bunch of fun, learned some interesting things and on top of everything else got to eat some candy! So, it was a good day for all!
