Solid Edge Garage

Today I thought I would mix it up a little and bring you another game because I know it’s been a while since I’ve done that.  Put out by Siemens, Solid Edge Garage can be used in virtually any class, even though on the surface it lends itself very well to a physics or physical science class.   You may want to consider using Solid Edge Garage any time you want to break up your class or have students work on their collaboration skills, reasoning, problem solving, or critical thinking.

The idea behind the game in Solid Edge Garage is that there is a Rube Goldberg machine set up in the garage but it is not working.  You need to adjust the various parts of the machine to allow a ball bearing to pass through the machine and release a scooter that is parked in the Solid Edge Garage.  There are twelve components of the Solid Edge Garage machine that can be adjusted when a wrench icon is visible, but all twelve do not have to be tweaked to solve the puzzle.

The difficulty in the Solid Edge Garage arises when students need to start to think through and observe the mechanism as they begin to work on solving the puzzle.  After each unsuccessful attempt, the machine resets to its default, requiring students to observe and take notes about what did and did not work in each trial run.  Planning is essential to success in completing Solid Edge Garage.  Also, observation and deductive reasoning as well as critical thinking and logic are all tested in Solid Edge Garage.

There are hints provided along the way to help you solve the puzzle, but they will not provide the answer.  I think you might enjoy Solid Edge Garage more for the fun the students will have at being allowed to play a game while at the same time honing critical thinking and logic skills that are oftentimes neglected.