5. By applying a case-based learning strategy to “The Last Resort,” I might create a scenario wherein students were vying for funding with other design firms for the right to control the development of an underwater entertainment complex. Anchored instruction could provide an interesting format for the simple machines project. This activity could be couched in the realistic setting of inventing devices that make the everyday tasks of living simpler for a disabled person. The students would be asked to use any combination of the six simple machines to accomplish this. As a group, they must define the task upon which they will focus their efforts and then come up with several plausible designs. They should come up with a creative name for their device and “market” it to the class. Using collaborative learning to conduct the “Bug Builders” activity could broaden it considerably. After the “bugs” are constructed, several crosses among different groups’ bugs could be conducted. Punnett squares could be set up and the class as a whole would be able to discuss what the outcome of these crosses might look like.
