Phase 1: Simple Machine Ride Analysis

Introduce the challenge by examining familiar amusement park rides, ideally using images or videos from a local park such as Playland. As a class, students identify the simple machines they can see or infer within each attraction and discuss how multiple simple machines work together to make the larger ride function.

The goal is to shift students from seeing a roller coaster, Ferris wheel, or other attraction as one machine to recognizing it as a complex machine made from many interacting components.

Phase 2: Reverse Blueprint Challenge

Before students design their own attraction, introduce the purpose of blueprints by examining several real examples. Students then reverse-engineer the design of an object they already have: their water bottle.

Using rulers and grid paper, students measure and sketch their bottle, label its dimensions and features, and, where appropriate, draw individual components such as the lid, handle, or straw. This helps students recognize how much information a useful blueprint needs to communicate before they are asked to create one for an invention that does not yet exist.

Phase 3: Design & Blueprint Approval

Students work in pairs to choose an amusement park ride, game, food machine, or other attraction to design. They create a detailed blueprint showing how their prototype will work, clearly label important components, and identify the simple machines incorporated into the design.

Before construction begins, each blueprint is reviewed by the teacher or Classmate team member acting as the amusement park's Board of Directors. Students should be able to explain what their machine does, how its simple machines contribute to its operation, and what they intend to demonstrate through their physical prototype before receiving approval to build.

Phase 4: Prototype, Test & Iterate

Students construct their prototype using primarily recycled materials. Throughout the build, they continually test mechanisms, troubleshoot problems, revisit their blueprint, and modify their design as they discover what does and does not work.

The finished prototype does not need to make every imagined feature fully functional. However, students should physically represent important features and ensure that the prototype contains enough working components to demonstrate the core mechanics of their invention and their understanding of simple and complex machines.

A midway Classmate visit is particularly useful during this phase for checking in with groups, asking students to explain their mechanisms, and providing feedback while there is still time to make meaningful changes.

Phase 5: Investor Pitch

On the final day, groups pitch their attraction to the amusement park's Board of Directors in hopes of having it approved for the park. Using their prototype and any optional supporting materials, students explain what they created, demonstrate its working features, identify the simple machines incorporated into the design, and explain how those machines work together.

Students should also be prepared to distinguish between features demonstrated physically in their prototype and features that would exist in a full-scale version. The pitch provides an authentic opportunity for the teacher or Classmate team member to ask follow-up questions and assess whether students can clearly explain the Science and design thinking behind their creation.