Third Graders Discover the Truth about Assembly Lines
Which is more efficient - four individuals working individually at a task, or four individuals working together in an assembly line to accomplish the same task? Third graders in all three classes set out to find the answer. First, they set up a four-step task, which consisted of cutting foil, placing Hershey kisses on the foil, wrapping the candy in the foil, and then checking it for quality. Next, they timed an individual for three minutes to see how many candies were wrapped and passed inspection. After that, they formed four-person assembly lines and after three minutes of hard work, measured how many candies were wrapped properly. Then, using Smartboards to tally the results, they analyzed their data and learned that the assembly lines produced more than four times what one person accomplished alone. So it's true: assembly lines are a productive way to work!
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