Lex 8th grade science students were given a performance project to complete their physics unit. The task was to build a working gum ball machine that had one interactive part and a loop or ramp system. They were also required to describe and explain their engineering project and how their machine related to Newton's three laws of motion. The students worked in groups of two or three to design and create their gum ball machine. All the designs were different and all the machines met the design requirements and all the machines worked! What a great way to use the information learned in a practical application, learn to work as a team, persevere when things don’t go exactly as planned and have some fun while doing it all.