The images above describe in detail one of the lesson plans that Master Builder uses for its younger age group, the Explorers program. The lesson plan is to have students cut out the helicopter design, test out how long it can stay in the air, and then modify the design as need be. Usually, the best way to motivate children of this age is to hold a competition to see whose design (length, size, weight of propellers/tail) holds up the best. Generally, we hold two different age groups (grades 1-2 and 3-5). The only difference for this lesson plan would be to have the older age group draw and cut out their own designs as opposed to only cutting out the pre-set template.
The younger age group cuts out this template twice:
… while the older age group simply uses the template as a base for more conceptualized designs:
Below is a video of the Master Builder program in action at the Pan Am Recreation Center.
As always, a strong emphasis on group interaction and teamwork helps facilitate the learning process.
I’d like to go a little bit into what Master Builder does. Pip Start basically has two separate programs under the Master Builder emblem—Master Builder Explorers and the Community Club. They are separated to group the students into two age groups, but they’re based around the same concept.The Master Builder Explorers program is for elementary school students from grades 1-5 while the Master Builder Community Club is for middle school students from grades 6-8. The Explorers program is mostly just making the concept of math and science fun for children, while the Community Club moves into the actual concepts of math and science for the advanced material students will eventually learn in high school.Part of what makes this program really stand out is the real world applicability of the lessons each of students are able to take from this program.
Both programs focus a good majority of attention on helping the underserved segment of the student body, but many of our students also come into the program to improve what they already know.And they do get a lot out of it. We’re looking to eventually incorporate a feeder system that allows students to go through Master Builder all the way from K-12 (it’s still a long way off, but we’ll get there!)
We’ll be posting videos of actual lessons soon in our next few posts, so keep a look out for them!
Also, just some fun facts about Pip Start:
Did you know all of Pip Start’s programs and motto came from specific biblical passages and references?
The term “Pip” comes from the concept of nurturing the seed (Pip) of God’s Purpose for youth to be fruitful (1 Cor 3:6).Thus, the term “Pip Start.”
The term Master Builder is taken from the bible as well (1 Cor. 3:10)
Master Builder’s pledge also comes from statements transcribed from the bible:
Welcome to Pip Start’s blog! We are a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the children of the Austin community through free tutoring and mentoring programs that teach math and science, as well as community events that celebrate our youth as well as educate children about the choices they make. We’ve created this blog as a place for you to catch up on the latest happenings in Pip Start’s programs as well as a place for you to post feedback on any of our programs or events. We’ll also be featuring videos of some of the engineering projects in our Master Builder program that explore math and science differently and stimulate the mind.
My name is Thomas Chen and a communications intern for Pip Start. I will be moderating the blog throughout the summer, and I hope you’ll subscribe to our blog!
