Building a Better Mousetrap Offers Cross-Curricular Connections

"If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door," Ralph Waldo Emerson is often credited with saying. In today's world, that might more likely be "if you build a better cell phone..." or maybe "a better vehicle..." But as an 8th-grade design project, the author challenges his students to build that better mousetrap. In this case, "better" means that the mouse will NOT be injured in the trapping process. The author and his students find this a great activity for learning about design, collaboration, and problem solving--and it offers several cross-curriculum connections.