Saving Fred!

Saving Fred is a creative problem-solving activity using a gummy worm, life saver, a cup, and some paperclips. 

The Story: Fred has been spending his summer boating on the Great Lakes. But he’s not too bright (after all, the brains of worms are pretty small). He’s never learned how to swim and he never wears his life preserver. The worst has happened! His boat has capsized and he’s stuck! Fortunately, his life preserver is in the boat, but unfortunately he does not know how to reach it without falling off and drowning. Source

Problem: How can you and your partner save Fred using only 2 paper clips? You may not touch Fred, the boat, or the life preserver directly with your hands! 

The Rules: 

• Fred may not fall into the sea (table) more than one time. If he does, he drowns.
• You may not injure Fred in any way - Poor Fred.
• You may use only 2 paper clips to move Fred, the boat, and the life preserver. You may not touch anything except the paper clips.

We paired up with students from the 5th grade class to test our life-saving skills.

 The great news was that we came up with loads of different methods to save Fred.

 Remarkably, some of the groups came up with a process within minutes. 

The goal was to use teamwork and cooperation to figure out how to save Fred. Everyone was able to find at least two ways to save him which means, lots of Fred's got to carrying on with their boating excursions.