Minot Forest Elementary students became engineers on March 8, using the skills they've learned in science classes to complete a challenge and present their findings to judges during the school's first ever Engineering Expo.

Nine teams consisting of students in grades 3, 4, and 5 participated in the challenges. Grade 3 teams created a "puff mobile,' while grade 4 teams made a confetti blaster and grade 5 students worked to assemble a zip-line that could carry a small ball from one end of the line to the other.

The students had to complete the design process: read a challenge sheet, imagine and brainstorm how to complete the challenge, plan it out, create the challenge item using provided materials, test it out, improve the challenge item, and demonstrate the item for judges.

"This process is endorsed by the National Science Foundation as a link to technology engineering careers," teacher Pam Schluter wrote in a release about the event. "It also supports a lifelong skill of working together in cooperative teams."

A third-grade team revised its puff mobile by adding "more horsepower," with team members on the floor blowing harder to get the vehicle to move faster, Schluter said. The confetti blaster successfully hit the mark of a large tarp on the floor, and students with the zip-line timed the seconds it took the ball to zip from a chair to the floor.

Twelve teachers volunteered to judge the entries, while a parent mentor helped each team. One team from each grade level was given individual trophies, but every student took home a science "dog tag" necklace.

"The expo was a huge success," Schluter said, noting that plans are already in the works for a "mini" engineering expo for students in grades 1 and 2.