MIT Challenge #1: The Delay Box

Mar 25, 2020 | Home, MIT Challenge, News

MIT Challenge #1

Introducing: MIT Challenges for Students from the World Peace Game Foundation

Mystery, Intuition, and Technology projects (MITs) are higher level critical and creative thinking activities. These stimulating, out-of-the-box challenges are from John Hunter’s 40+ years of creating novel curriculum for children in grades K-12.

Much like the #WorldPeaceGame, MITs are problems that cannot easily be solved, but attempts to do so by students have been yielding astonishing, humorous, eye-opening, and hopeful results for decades. This kind of empty space thinking (allowing children to make their own meaning out of chaotic circumstances) is the subtext of the World Peace Game experience.

In the coming weeks we will be releasing a series of MITs for students to try on their own, without the help of an adult. Our first MIT, The Delay Box, will be posted momentarily.

MIT #1 The Delay Box Instructions

Delay Box

This challenge is for students, without adult help! However, please make sure to have adult supervision to avoid any unhealthy situations, substances, materials or contacts. Do not use anything with sharp edges, anything which may break and cause injury, or anything alive. No motors or electricity allowed in your Delay Box.

You will need:

  • Any sized cardboard box with 2 holes cut into the box large enough to allow a marble (or ball bearing) to pass through. You can place the separate holes anywhere on the box surface you like
  • 1 marble or ball bearing
  • A way to time (timer, stopwatch, etc.) the marble’s time in route inside your Delay Box

Rules and conditions:

  • Using a system of tunnels, ramps, tubes, or WHATEVER, your marble must take as long as possible from the hole it is dropped in, to exiting from the other hole!
  • The box or anything touching it cannot move, be jiggled or touched once the marble is in motion. The time starts when the marble is dropped and stopped when the marble comes out. You have 3 chances to time your marble run. The winner will be the box which takes the longest interval between marble entrance and exit.
  • 24 Hour time Limit – If the marble does not exit the Delay Box in 24 hours, the box is disqualified.

Tips:

  • Think of many, different, varied ways to make the marble move slowly!
  • Decorate your box with great elaboration, color or style!

Like what you did? Share it with us by posting on social media and tagging #WorldPeaceGame. Make sure you have your parent’s permission to do so.

**The Delay Box (used with permission) comes from my old teacher-colleague Don Ziegler of the Special Program from Creative Excellence (SPACE) in the Richmond Public Schools.