We've just completed our Materials Engineering Story, and Yi Min has done some wonderful  materials engineering.  She experimented making different mixtures of mortar and eventually created a successful mortar for her wall.  Yi Min's classmates are impressed when they discover the solution she's created to keep the bunny out of their garden works--their vegetables have been saved!  

First graders also had the chance to build some of their own walls with a man-made material.  After building their walls, they did two tests.  The first test was the "hop test."  Could a bunny (spring toy) jump over the wall and still get to the garden?  And the second test was a "crash test."  Could a bunny (wooden car) run into the wall and knock it down?  Did the way we put the Legos make a difference in our tests?  Way to go materials engineers!

First graders are working at identifying the problem that Yi Min faces as a materials engineer!  This means they have to find a way to get a bunny rabbit from eating all the vegetables that are growing in her school garden.  They've focused on figuring out which materials would be best to use in a technology.  This means our focus this week has been on identifying natural and man-made materials.  Natural materials can be found in nature, like rocks, sticks and mud.  Human-made materials are made by people and include materials like plastic, fabric, and glass.  

Yi Min is a young girl living in China.  She and her friends keep a school garden, yet find that an intruder has been stealing all the vegetables they have planted.