This project took over my entire classroom but it was worth it. The amount the students supported each other during this difficult task was amazing.
This project lent itself well to differentiation because the students could judge the level of difficulty they wished to achieve. All students were successful in designing and building a machine. Some machines were more complex than others, but the students learned, struggled, and succeeded all the same.
I assessed students based on their inquiry process and problem solving skills, not on the success of their machine. This removed the fear of failure and allowed students to take risks when designing what their machine would do.