Design process to create an amusement park ride using various paper products + a monkey wrench from the instructor!

The Amusement Park Ride is a 2 - 3 stage challenge using the engineering design process to create an amusement park ride using various paper products, 1.5-3V motor, LEDs, AA battery packs, playdoh, miscellaneous pieces.  Teams of 4 design, purchase materials for and create an amusement park ride.  The second stage, adding aesthetic value, of the design process incorporates LEDs lights powered by a second battery pack.  Yay!  All the rides are functional and students enjoyed learning how to secure riders in their amusement ride seats. ;-)

Then the facilitator throws in a monkey wrench!  The battery pack connected to the motor has a defective battery (pre-planned and discreetly pre-marked by small piece of duct tape).  Defective battery is returned for foil, wires and cotton rope.  Students struggle through the process to create a modified battery pack.  (Note: cotton rope is non-conductive and is a distractor.)