Elsa High Section’s annual Design Challenge took place in February, hand-in-hand with the Elementary and Preschool STEAM activities. Elsa students were tasked with designing, making, and pitching an airboat capable of navigating terrain to simulate delivery of rescue supplies. Unique to this year's challenge was access to First-Person-View (FPV) wireless cameras and head-worn displays, as well as the specification that their designs must use upcycled packaging materials as hull components. This technologically forward and eco-friendly approach encouraged innovative engineering and promoted sustainability.

Pre-K to Grade 5 participated in a challenge centered around disaster relief operations, in line with their High School peers. This engaging activity empowered students to showcase their creativity and problem-solving skills. 

Situation
Step into the shoes of real-life heroes in this Design Challenge centered around disaster relief operations! A devastating flood has left an entire community stranded, with no means of transportation. Your task is to design and construct an airboat capable of navigating through floodwaters, debris-filled streets, and reaching isolated areas to provide essential supplies and rescue stranded individuals. Are you ready to make a difference and be part of a life- saving mission?

Challenge
Get ready to engineer innovative airboats that will restore hope and save lives in times of disaster! In this challenge, you will create a First Person View (FPV) remote control airboat using only reused packaging materials as the building material. This eco-friendly approach not only demonstrates your engineering skills but also promotes sustainability by repurposing materials.

Your airboat will be capable of navigating a treacherous obstacle course, made up of land and water! It will also be instrumental in delivering aid packages, rescuing stranded individuals, and ensuring their safe passage to security. Let your creativity and resourcefulness shine as you embark on this mission of compassion and environmental responsibility!

Student Reflections:

Peter, Grade 9: Coming into this year's Design Challenge, I did not know what to expect. When it was revealed that we were meant to build an Airboat, I was surprised. I expected it to be difficult: how were we going to be able to build a vehicle that goes both on water and on land and can transition between them? Thankfully, we were provided with a starting kit, which we could then build upon. 

My Team and I divided into two initial roles, one group working on the Product Pitch and one team working on the Airboat. At the start, when we just had to build the kit, we split off into teams. However on the second day we all worked on building the airboat and contributing all of our ideas to create the team's Airboat. Some challenges with my team specifically was the weight of the Airboat. Our Airboat has an elongated front and pontoons on the side, like a catamaran. However, due to the use of lots of material, our Airboat was significantly heavier than other team's airboats. We changed and modified our airboat to have a slicker bottom and removed unnecessary weight from the front of the boat to counteract this conundrum. 

My Highlight of the week so far has been seeing our work culminate into a final product. Seeing our airboat being able to slip and slide on the track and float on water has been amazing. With all projects, seeing your vision finally come to life is an amazing feeling.

Lili, Grade 10: An atmosphere of immense excitement and anticipation led up to the Design Challenge, and it only continued throughout the whole experience! My initial reaction to the Design Challenge brief was nervousness but excitement as I’d never heard of what we were making or its incredible purposes. The challenge was to create an airboat that could skim above the water and pass through debris and other obstacles. We were given a starter kit that gave us a base for our design, but the details and design were entirely designed by the students. 

We faced several challenges throughout the creation process, including our boat's design being too heavy or our presentation and pitch not being detailed enough. Our group took time to communicate and adequately assign roles to solve all of our problems, which helped us create a boat that we were proud of and brought us all closer together as a team. My personal highlight of the week was the first test of our boat, as the suspense and slight worry only made the boat's success in being able to move all the more exciting.

Trisha, Grade 9: This is the first time I’ve ever taken part in a Design Challenge. I was quite excited to collaborate with students across grades to learn about each other's strengths and interests. I think I was anticipating the end of the challenge, just to see how well we could do in the challenge. Through discussing we figured out everyone’s strengths. I researched about the boat, and made a couple of sketches with my teammate, and we gave them to the others to build. Overall, we had a great balance between the building, researching and presenting part of the project. When the final Airboat was brought inside the auditorium, freshly coated in spray paint, I felt nothing but pride. My team had really pulled it off! 

Cedric, Grade 9: I was really excited and eager to participate in the challenge and push myself and think outside of the box. The challenges we faced in the beginning was how we should make our airboat since everyone had their unique ideas and we were contemplating about which would be the best for us with the limited resources and time we have. The highlight of the week for me was the second day of our build and testing day. I was really excited and nervous about testing our airboat for the first time but it turned out way better than we expected and even others! We were the fastest on track and the only one that managed to get over the pond.