Duration: 90 minutes (70 min. challenge + 20 min. reflection)
SPIRIT Skills:
- Emotional awareness, regulation and communication
- Empathy
- Resilience
- Problem-solving
Brief Description:
Teams must build a bridge over a “lava field” (area marked on ground) using limited materials. Then, they pause for emotional reflection and share how the challenge made them feel and how they supported each other.
How does this develop particular SPIRIT skills
- Encourages empathy by having team members notice stress or frustration in others and support them.
- Builds resilience and emotional regulation when parts fail or designs don’t work.
- Promotes collaborative problem-solving, where success depends on listening and adapting.
What do we want to achieve regarding SPIRIT skill development (student understanding and/or behaviour)?
- Students learn to handle frustration and regroup collaboratively.
- They build sensitivity toward teammates’ emotional states.
- They practice balancing technical demands with emotional awareness.
- They articulate emotional coping strategies in real time.
Academic/Curriculum Objective connection
- Mathematics / Physics: force, tension, load distribution
- Engineering / STEM: prototype design, material constraints
- Science / Earth: thinking about structural solutions in nature or other worlds.
Materials and tools needed for implementation
- Sticks, cardboard, tape, string
- Small object (rock, bottle) for testing
- Emotional check-in cards (emoji, weather icons).
Preparation notes
- Define the “lava gap” clearly with tape or markers
- Ensure each group has same material set
- Remind students that partial failures are opportunities to iterate.
Guided Questions
- Which part of your bridge is the strongest? Which is weakest?
- How did your team react when a piece failed?
- What emotion are you feeling right now?
- What could someone in your team say or do to help at this moment?
Stage Debriefing Questions (Optional)
- If you built this again, what changes would you make?
- Did your emotional check-in help your team stay focused or calm?
Tips and Tricks for dealing with stage challenges
- If a team can’t complete a full bridge, encourage them to test smaller spans
- Remind them to pause and breathe if frustration levels rise
- Encourage cross-team sharing of small tips when stuck.