From the moment the big red boxes came off the shelves, my students were “steaming” with excitement for what they were about to get started doing. The students had been studying about a variety of physics related topics–speed, velocity, acceleration, etc. They had been using mathematical formulas to solve for unknown values for the above topics, graphing, and a variety of concepts to prepare them for the road ahead. When they opened the boxes, several students asked, “Are these new?” My response was absolutely and you are the first of many that will get to work with these materials through the grant that I wrote in the summer. Excitement was surely in the air as they managed to unpack their KNex set to begin building their car for a car company. The prompt instructed them to build a car that was the fastest and cheapest. Along with the prompt, students receive a budget sheet. Each item in their red box was referenced with another sheet for pricing of each of the pieces. Still the excitement was above any normal class, and that made me so excited. However, it was not long that the students began to complain about not having enough money! We had already discussed the criteria in the task and talked about constraints of the project. Students quickly realized that the money restraint was one of great concern to them. After discussing the reality of constraints to our everyday school life, their personal life, and other scenarios, the students went back to building. I heard some of the most interesting comments such as, “This is really hard!” “This so challenging!” “My brain hurts.” At this point, it was not the science that was giving them problems, but it was the fact that they had to work within specific constraints. They made several modifications to their designs and finally came up with a car that met the constraints and criteria for the job. I was so pleased that the struggle was real and challenging for them and they persevered to complete the task at hand. I have loved watching my kids “struggle” through their problems and come up with solutions. At this point in time, the project is not complete, but I am so excited to see how they use what they have learned to improve a product to come up with the best solution! It is certainly exciting times here in the 7th grade at Allen Central Middle School!