Arms Length
Your challenge is to build a body with multiple arms. The arms will reach across and hold weight.
Time:
You will have 8 minutes to solve the problem. The judge will warn you when 2 minutes and when 1 minute remains.
You are allowed to ask the judges questions and talk to each other at any time.
Supplies:
For Team: 1 piece of paper, 1 piece of aluminum foil, 6 straws, 1 cup, 30 toothpicks, 1 pencil, 1 paper bowl, 1 cube of clay, 2 paper clips, 1 piece of string 3”, 3 cotton swabs, 1 plastic fork, 3 pioeces of tape 6".
For Judge: A table, 15 paperclips, Masking tape, Tape measure
Set-up:
Create a series of taped concentric squares on the table with sides 3, 6, 9, 12 ,15 and 18 inches long.
Label them Body, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
Rules:
There is a series of taped squares.
There are materials on the table you can use to build your structure and paper clips that are used for score
Your challenge is to create a structure with a body and at least 2 arms. You will then suspend chains of paper clips from the arms into the taped scoring areas.
The smallest box is where you will place your structure's "body'. The other boxes indicate the score multiplier you will receive if the paper clip chain touches the table in that area.
You may ask to be scored at any time, You cannot work on your structure after you ask to be scored or when time ends.
Only the paper clips counting for score may touch the table outside of the body area. If there is a break in the body, or the an arm touches the table outside of the body area, then the paper clips attached to that arm will not count for score.
Scoring:
You will be scored as follows:
You will receive 1 point for each paperclip in a chain that reaches a scoring area, multiplied by the point value of that area.
You will receive 1 to 10 points for the creativity of your solution
You will receive 1 to 10 points for how well your team works together.
Debriefing:
Were team member tasks and responsibilities sorted out clearly?
Video the team and review teamwork and problems encountered.
Did the team work out a plan for its solution, was time used effectively?
Did the team use the materials effectively?
Was there a better way to construct the body or arms?
Did the team consider weight distribution/balance?
Would it have been better to focus on height of the body or length of the arms?
Would it have been better to create more than 2 arms?
Did the team use all paperclips provided for score?
Did the team use any of the paperclips provided for score in creating the structure?
What would the team do differently if they did it again?
Repeat the challenge with the same or different setup/materials.