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The Feedback Loop-the-Loop


This week I want to teach the kids a more advanced version of cause and effect, primarily to help me when I say, “if you do X again, you will go to time out”, but also to further develop their thinking skills in general.  They understand simple things like if they push a button on one of their toys, a lion will pop up and I want to take that a step further.

In this case, the thing that I wanted to teach the kids was the feedback loop.  In other words, it’s one thing to think through the steps to get something done.  What I find interesting is the ability to foresee how those steps will make the final result turn out and then, ahead of time or after a trial run, revise the steps to optimize the final result.  Did I lose you?  In the lion toy example for instance, I want the kids to be able to think “I want the lion to pop up and throw me a piece of paper.” and then realize that they need to wad a piece of paper up of the correct size (experimenting to find that size) and put it in when they push down the lion so that it can pop up when you push the button and throw the paper out versus just pushing the button and being frustrated not to have paper pop out too.   Now are you with me?  By the way, when we tried that exact example, we found that post it notes worked great and if you stuck them to the lion’s chest it looked like he was holding it for you.

I think that this is actually the crux of any good engineering curriculum, and the precursor to understanding experimentation.  It’s also the core of one of my favorite engineering classes – controls. 


Since we were going to a friend’s birthday party this week, I online ordered his present the week before, and it came in a big cardboard box.  I swooped the present inside into another room to avoid having my kids tear the box open, and the kids were left looking curiously at the remaining box. 

“What should we do with this big box?” Briana asks.  I tell her that we should make it into something fun.  What can we make?  “An airplane is fun.” She answers.  I think quickly that we can make some facsimile of an airplane out of a cardboard box with a few add-ons and I think this will be a great way to work on the feedback loop.  I send Abby for the paper that was strewn about the room and Briana for some markers and I grab some tape.  Off we go…

I ask the kids what they think that we need to make an airplane.  “Wings!”  both girls answer.  I write WINGS on a piece of paper.  What else?  Blank stares.  No one can think of anything on an airplane other than wings.  Finally Bree says, “You tell me.”  Nope.

I help them a little.  What will happen if we have a plane and all it has is a body and wings?  I mimic a plane flying around and landing on the table with my hands.  “It will crash if it tries to land on the smoother bottom part.”  Bree guesses.  Funny since I had the plane sliding down the table to not introduce the idea of plane crashes since we travel often.  What is on the bottom of an airplane that helps it land?  “A foot” says Abby.  It’s not a foot, what is it?  “Wheels!”  Bree says excitedly while Abby sings, “Wheels on the bus go round and round…”  Abby talks in constant word association these days.  I write WHEELS under WINGS.   How can we control the wheels?  “Brakes to stop them and...a key to start them.”  I add BRAKES, and KEY.  I resist the temptation to add other components since I want the kids to think that through.

Getting “wheels” all figured out starts the ball rolling and new ideas come flooding out.  I write down COLOR, SEATS, ENGINE, DRIVER and PROPELLER after defining the word from Briana’s “things that make a loud noise and go round and round in a circle”.  That’s a pretty good list and we get to work engineering our plane.



  
As we go we realize that we need other things like buttons for the pilot, a steering wheel, and a gas pedal (Do planes use that or do they use a lever?  I don’t think I know.  Good thing the kids don’t ask me that.).  Abby insists that there be a phone too because she wanted to talk to Daddy while she drives (Oops, guess that’s my fault.  I use Bluetooth so we’re being safe! J ). 

We also needed a name for our plane and we settled on “2 Kiddies Airline”  Then Bree wanted a logo (well, a picture by the name) so I strung two hearts together and explained that businesses call that picture a logo so that even if you don’t read the words, you know it’s their product.

The kids are super happy with their plane all finished.


I push the kids around the kitchen in their plane.  They make up destinations and get out do something at the destination and reboard to fly elsewhere.  Since it's not a real plane, they can't get feedback on their design, but if the success criteria was fun, we excelled.

Alas, Abby has taken quite well to our little dabble in engineering.  This week she disassembled her child lock on her door.  Luckily my husband and I were able to quickly think through what we could do about it and were able to use cable ties to make it impossible for Abby to open the childlock.  But knowing Abby’s ability to think through things, I don’t know how long our invention will last.

<3 Pedigreed Housewife

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