Ada's Violin

Synopsis

Ada lives in an impoverished town in Paraguay where the main source of employment is a landfill. When a local man offers music lessons, she and other children are enthusiastic to sign up, but soon find that there aren't enough instruments to go around. Her music teacher comes up with a plan to utilize the trash at their disposal to create "recycled" instruments. This is an inspiring story about how with persistence, anyone can rise above their circumstances. It might leave some readers hungry for more information on how specific instruments were made.

Classroom Connection

Have students try their hand at making instruments of their own. Work through the engineering design process twice or more to help them improve their designs.

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