On Friday we finished our Structure and Function unit in science by designing and building paint brushes.  We revisited a story that we read at the beginning of the unit about a girl who likes to paint, but feels frustrated because she wants a paint brush that can paint thin lines, thick lines, and dots.  Students were presented with the challenge of designing a better paintbrush, one that could meet all three of these functions, and maybe even more.  We first looked at multiple paint brushes from our classroom collection and talked about their functions.  Some had wide brushes for thick lines and some had very small brushes, good for thinner lines.  One had a round brush that might be good for dots.  We also noticed that while they all might have slightly different functions, their were some similarities in structure, most notably they all had a long handle.  Children were then invited to sketch their idea for a paintbrush.

After lunch they were invited to choose from a variety of materials to build their paintbrushes.  Some of these included dowels, craft sticks, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, Q-tips, foam, pom-poms, pieces of sponge, and feathers.  We talked about the importance of working with mistakes and having perseverance during this task.  (It turns our ripping tape is perhaps the most challenging aspect, even for adults!)  Once their paint brushes were complete they had the option of testing them out.  This was an extremely fun and engaging task, with lots of perseverance on display.