Making Widgets Assembly Line Style

Widget: noun a small gadget or mechanical device, 

especially one whose name is unknown or unspecified.

Task: 

• Make as many widgets as possible in the time allotted. 
• Use only the supplies given (packing peanuts and toothpicks) 
• Follow the blueprint. Each widget must be uniform. No defects.
• Toothpicks cannot protrude out of peanuts

So we chose our groups, decided who was going to do what task, set up our work areas and began!

Some chose to work alone. 

Although he made his widgets correctly, he only made a few widgets. 

This group had one person do quality control. Their product turned out correctly but with one less person, they didn't get very many widgets made. 

This group chose to work individually but fast. They were able to get a lot done and most of their inventory was uniformly made. Quality control happened as they worked. 

This group worked individually and got a lot of product but many of them were not made correctly. 

This group divided out the jobs and had an true assembly line working. They ended up with lots of usable widgets. 

We then gathered around and discussed what worked best and what didn't work.

It was amazing how the students bought into the idea of making widgets, even though they had no real purpose.
We talked about potential uses of these widgets: What if they were part of an airplane wing and were designed to attach the wing to the fuselage. Would you want it to be correctly made? 

We also talked about the research done by the students on inventions and advancements made during the Industrial Revolution, including Eli Whitney's interchangeable parts and Henry Ford's Model T assembly line.