For example, students need to learn to work as a team and that takes practice. In one team-building activity, student groups solve a murder mystery in the chemistry lab. Another activity requires students to give blindfolded teammates explicit directions on how to tie a tie or put on a pair of pantyhose. The students love the activities and learn how important it is to listen to others in a team-centered project. As the time for the project approaches, it is important for students to know something about the business and its products.
Students research the company and write a short paper about it.
The next step is the first site visit. Each student is matched with an employee of the business who will serve as mentor. Then students receive a written description of the problem as well as an explanation of their assigned department's role in working on the solution. Students spend seven days with their mentors and learn how to function as a team member. They accumulate data, get samples to test back at the school chemistry lab, and establish their own hypotheses.