Here's the project in Matthew Flessner, Science Teacher at Jenison International Academy words:

Throughout the past 4 years Jenison International Academy has been working to design an engineering pathway for students K-12 in an online or blended model.  Many of these courses are built using Project Lead the Way (PLTW) frameworks, modified for online access.  

As with schools across the country, we felt the impact of the onset of COVID-19 just as we were moving into the 4th quarter.  One of the biggest transitions we had was moving the blended offerings fully online.  One challenge that was identified early in building the existing online STEM courses was balancing equity in required resources and providing new and exciting projects to capture students intrinsic motivation.  My essential questions are “What does everyone have at home?”  and “How can we make it exciting?”.  

Paper airplanes are accessible to students, but building the plane that flies the farthest does not balance challenge and engagement well.  The project needed a little update.  JIA’s junior level course is Computer Integrated Manufacturing, from PLTW.  The course focuses on manufacturing methods and processes for optimizing efficiencies.  In the fall I watched the engagement from students as they optimized an assembly line making origami boxes.  Tying the PLTW lesson with paper airplanes would create a great challenge with conflicting goals - flight quality vs. manufacturing efficiency.  This way my upperclassman in the high school could showcase what they have learned, while providing important scaffolding to younger students in the middle school.  Tinkering the final project instructions, we added what became an important buy in; students needed to have a 3 person assembly line of family members. 

Students immediately bemoaned the inclusion of family in the project, in that typical teenage way, but their excitement was there.  Over the next two weeks it was awesome to see students videos coming in, hearing the laughter and joy that they were having with their families making these planes.  Students were sending engineering notebook updates with results.  But the best impact was taking a back seat during the collaboration meetings and hearing my high schoolers and middle schoolers collaborating on ideas and critiquing each other's projects.  

As I reflect on the outcome of the lesson, I keep focusing on the intrinsic motivation that students had with a very simple project.  Not every project connects with students well, and no project connects with every student; but whether you're in the classroom or online when you find the motivating factor, the learning will be great.