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A Handle for Beach Sand Stamps

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A Handle for Beach Sand Stamps

Use test evidence to define a problem magnets could solve.

What Needs to Change?

Read about the beach station. Decide what a successful design needs to do.

Prints Beside the Tide Pools

At a beach activity station, visitors press stamps into trays of damp sand. The stamps make outlines of animals people might see in nearby tide pools. The station is well away from the pools, and no animals are collected. Imani helps visitors choose from several light wooden stamp plates. Each plate has a different animal shape underneath.

The station has one wooden handle. Visitors need to move it from plate to plate. Right now, they rest the handle on a plate and press down. When they lift the handle, the plate stays in the sand. Visitors must reach around the plate to pick it up, sometimes smearing the print.

Imani wants a connection that keeps a plate attached during eight out of eight test lifts. Visitors also need to remove one plate and attach another in six seconds or less. The team must keep the original handle and plates. It may add no more than one large, enclosed magnet to the handle. An adult will firmly attach any added parts. The handle and plates must remain separate pieces that visitors can switch.

1.
Which design problem best fits the station's needs?
Question 1 options
2.
Sort each requirement. A goal describes a result the design should achieve. A limit restricts what the team may use or change.
3.
Which check would best test whether visitors can change plates quickly enough?
Question 3 options

Plan a Connection

Use the material-test evidence to decide how a magnet might help.

An adult tests three loose samples: steel, aluminum, and wood. The adult places each sample on the same smooth surface and holds the same enclosed magnet the same short distance away. The steel sample moves toward the magnet. The aluminum and wood samples do not move. Three repeats give the same results. The adult keeps the magnet enclosed throughout the tests.
4.
A helper says, “An aluminum patch should work just like a steel patch because both are metal.” Which response best uses the evidence?
Question 4 options
5.
Which plan best uses magnetic attraction to connect the handle to a plate?
Question 5 options
6.
A helper finds a brass patch. Brass was not included in the material tests. What should the team do before planning to use it?
Question 6 options
7.
The team puts a magnet under the handle and an aluminum patch on a plate. The plate does not lift with the handle. What change should the team try? Explain using the material-test evidence.

Check Goals and Limits

Compare the designs with both the goals and the limits from the passage.

The team compares four connections. Narrow Patch uses one enclosed magnet and a narrow steel patch. Wide Patch uses the same magnet and a wider steel patch. Two Magnets uses a wide steel patch and two enclosed magnets. Elastic Loop uses a stretchy band around the handle and plate, with no magnet. An adult securely attaches added parts before testing.
The team changes the connection but keeps the wooden handle, stamp plate, damp sand, lift height, and tester the same. For each design, the tester presses the stamp into sand and lifts the handle eight times. The team counts how often the plate lifts with the handle. It also times one complete plate change for each design.
Plate Lifts with the Handle012345678Narrow PatchWide PatchTwo MagnetsElastic LoopConnection designSuccessful lifts out of 8
Time to remove one plate and attach another:
Narrow Patch: 3 seconds
Wide Patch: 5 seconds
Two Magnets: 4 seconds
Elastic Loop: 14 seconds
8.

How many more successful lifts did Wide Patch have than Narrow Patch? lifts

9.
Consider just the TWO performance goals: eight successful lifts and a plate change in six seconds or less. Sort the designs by their test results. You will check the magnet limit in the next question.
10.
Which tested design meets both performance goals AND follows the limit on the number of magnets?
Question 10 options
11.
A helper says, “Elastic Loop is finished because it held the plate during eight lifts.” What is missing from this claim?
Question 11 options
12.
The team wants to check whether patch width caused the difference between Narrow Patch and Wide Patch. Which comparison would give the clearest evidence?
Question 12 options
13.
Write a design problem for the beach station. Include what needs to improve, both performance goals, and one limit on the design. Then use a test result to explain why a magnetic connection is worth trying.