Engineering Enters The Classroom—

St Rose Of Lima Students Design Jelly Bean Dispensers

By Eliza Hallabeck

Aunt Laura needed to dispense four to ten jelly beans at a time to give her store’s customers a taste of some new jelly bean flavors she developed; chocolate ice cream, hot dogs with ketchup, and a peanut butter and jelly flavor.

That was the problem put before St Rose of Lima seventh grade students recently in their engineering by design class. In groups, students were then given paper plates, two tongue depressors, two paper clips, four straws, and four Dixie cups to build a jelly bean dispenser. The candies themselves were also given to the students to test the designs.

“I’m their engineering teacher,” said St Rose of Lima science teacher Marde Dimon. “I am not their science teacher during this period.”

The program is relatively new at the school, and throughout schools in the diocese, according to John Cook, assistant superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Bridgeport.

“This is real, even though it is just a jelly bean dispenser,” said Mr Cook while visiting the school for the start of the project. “It is real engineer thinking.”

In fifth grade students taking the course called exploring technology begin the engineering by design program by developing an understanding of the progression and scope of technology through exploratory experiences, according to a write-up about the program. Through group and individual activities students learn how technological knowledge and processes contribute to effective designs.

By seventh grade students at the school take the technological systems course, which teaches students how systems work together to solve problems and capture opportunities, according to the write-up. The course gives students a general background on the different types of systems, like biological and electrical systems, and concentrates on the connection between those systems.

And in eighth grade students at St Rose are learning in the foundations of technology course how to apply technological concepts and processes that are the cornerstone for the high school technology program.

“It will develop an understanding of the influence of technology on history by exploring how people of all times and places have increased their capability by using their unique skills to innovate, improvise and invent,” the write-up reads.

After one week of working on their designs, the seventh grade students were ready to present their jelly bean dispensers before their class.

Some names for the projects the students came up with included “Put Back, Have A Snack Jelly Bean Dispenser,” “The Double Take Dispenser,” and “The Jelly Bean Eater.”

“We are required to make six ideas for the project, and we choose one of the six for a final idea,” said student Jeffrey DePinto, as his group worked on designs. “So we came up with a few, and we evaluate them by looking at the materials we have. Some ideas didn’t work as well as we wanted them too.”

Students worked in groups to create a design that would allow only the desired number of jelly beans out of the dispenser at each turn of the device.

Pointing to his group’s design Daniel Colucci said, “The tongue dispenser will go here, and when you pull this, the tongue dispenser will release. Then the jelly beans will go through.”

Ms Dimon said the class was questioning at first where the steps and procedures for the project were.

“And I said, ‘There is no procedure. Take the materials out, start to manipulate them, handle them, move them around and it will come. If you follow the steps for the engineering design process it will come together, and you will have a working machine.’”