Adventure In Adventure OutThe Launch – NORA Conference at UMASS Amherst
In mid-June, we ran a program for attendees of the NORA conference, which took place at UMASS Amherst. NORA stands for “North American Center for Research on Advanced Materials” and is a research initiative established by BASF SE, Harvard University, MIT, and UMASS Amherst. We wanted to put together something intriguing and thought provoking, but also fun. So with James at the helm, we ventured into the creation of a new activity called “The Launch”.
In this activity, participants are in small groups and tasked to put their heads together to create a catapult out of a variety of starting materials. They can gain access to more of certain types of materials by solving riddles and puzzles, gaining chips to spend at the materials store.
To start, the groups are given criteria for these catapults. There are rules that the catapults need to adhere to, and the participants are creating these devices with the goal of scoring the highest in four separate categories: Distance, Accuracy, Innovative Use of Resources, and Aesthetics. The groups can also gain more points by “selling” their product to the judges with a 60 second commercial, right before the launch competition starts.
Once the competition starts there are two rounds wherein the teams take turns launching their tennis balls as far as possible, followed by two rounds wherein they aim to launch their tennis balls as close to a target as possible. After that, the judges deliberate about the Innovation and Aesthetics, and the winner is crowned.
Working with the folks from NORA was a privilege; we saw so many clever innovations, and they rose to the challenge with fervor and a healthy competitive and playful spirit. This was our first execution of the Catapult Challenge, so we didn’t quite know what to expect – and we saw many different shapes and sizes of catapult, all of which used the resources in a unique way. The groups worked hard to gain more materials by coming to the puzzles station and working on brain teasers and riddles. Not to mention their commercials were hilarious. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought we were working with a theater group or a comedy troop.
The folks from the NORA conference really rose to the occasion and it was clear that they had a great time. We’re very much looking forward to doing more of this activity in the future.