STEM Activities for Thanksgiving - Pilgrim and Wampanoag Challenges

Three Great STEM Challenges to Study the Wampanoag

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to try three themed STEM challenges for both the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people! I have come up with STEM challenges to learn about tools used by each group of people, water vessels, and their homes. For the Wampanoag people, that means:

• a bow (hello, elastic potential energy and kinetic energy),
• a mishoon, and
• a wetu

Before getting started, research the Wampanoag people. What materials did they use to make these? What were typical activities of Wampanoag adults and youth at the time they met the Pilgrims? Find out more about the Wampanoag and Pilgrims at the Plimoth Plantation website. Here is a link that describes their homes.

Get Started with the STEM Challenges 

Gather basic materials. I always recommend using what you have. For a bow, a string and a bamboo skewer work well. For the mishoon, you may just want to use aluminum foil or clay, or perhaps if you are doing this at home with supervision you can use wood and carve out a real miniature mishoon. For the wetu, try paper or pipe cleaners.

Another great one to bring outside if possible (remember to roll up sleeves).

A wetu sample.

Get the Supporting Materials

If you would like to download the resources I created to go with the STEM Marvels of the Wampanoag people, you can find it here.

 

Three Great STEM Challenges to Study the Pilgrims

For the Pilgrims, try these three:

• a capstan (awesome if you are studying simple machines),
• the Mayflower, and
• a Pilgrim house

What were Pilgrims used to when they arrived? Were they able to create homes like they had before? Did they need to learn to use different tools and eat different foods? What would that have been like for them?

For this capstan, we used LEGOs and string to haul cargo over 2 feet vertically!

Design and create a mini Mayflower with plastic egg cartons, straws, and plastic bags.

Pilgrim houses were small. Try craft sticks or cardboard.

After trying two of these, students can contrast and compare. Where did the people use each item? How was it important to their livelihood? What materials would you use now if making something similar?

In addition to the challenges shown above, there are also challenge cards for each set of people that allow for further exploration. Here is a photo of the Pilgrim cards:

Get the Thanksgiving STEM Activities download here.

 

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Novels with STEM and STEAM

Novel Studies that Incorporate STEM and STEAM

I know it's not always easy to make time for STEM. That is why it's so beneficial to integrate STEM and STEAM into other subject areas you already have time allocated to. If you do read alouds with your students, why not really dive into the book and make the story come alive with STEM challenges?

Why Reading and STEM?

Maybe you aren't sold on STEM and STEAM education or you want to just stick with the novel studies you have done in the past. Maybe you want to try STEM but don't know where to start. So, where should you start? Start with a novel you love that integrates with STEM. In addition to needing strong literacy skills to succeed in STEM fields, you will also be able to reach kids who may not be all that interested in reading or books.

Stories Come Alive with STEM

Some of the lucky ones have a fabulous imagination and can picture anything in their heads. Others are a completely blank slate up in the old noggin' until they can touch it, feel it, experience it first hand. If you have any tactile learners, they will benefit enormously from hands-on STEM challenges where they can observe a physical manifestation of part of the story.

Teamwork and Growth Mindset with a Story

If you are reading a story where the character experiences a trying situation or there is room for improvement in some way, why not "choose your own adventure" by altering the story with a STEM challenge. Have the students brainstorm a way the character could have approached the problem differently in order to come out with a better solution, or how they might approach the problem differently in the future. How might the character benefit from a new perspective your students offer?

Some Novel STEM Ideas to Get You Started for 2nd - 5th Grade

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - create a wardrobe with a working latch

Charlotte's Web - create a spider web out of string

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle - design and create an upside-down house

The One and Only Ivan - design and create a domain for Ivan

Flora & Ulysses - design and create a comic strip or a stop motion animation film about Incandesto!

The BFG - design and create a suitcase

I have also created more in depth Novel STEM studies which I would love for you to explore. Blog posts about them can be found by clicking on the images below (The Wild Robot, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Hatchet, and Holes):

Do you have a favorite read aloud you keep coming back to? Let me know at meredith@momgineer.com and I will see what STEM challenges I can come up with for it!

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STEM Challenge for Fall - Create a Sports Dome

Sports STEM Challenge for Fall: Design and Create a Sports Dome

A math-centric STEM challenge that is fun to create on both a small and large scale: the geodesic dome!

Why try this challenge? I think this Venn diagram says it all:

On a slightly more serious note, this challenge requires patience to figure out but the reward is great. If you have a lot of space you can even have students create one large dome together and turn it into a reading nook or meeting space.

First, gather up the materials:

This project can be done in two ways - freestyle, or with the measurements provided to create the dome as shown.

What skills do students work on? In addition to following the Engineering Design Process to complete this challenge, they will need to make measurements as well as work together with patience and perseverance.

Add more rigor into this activity with the STEM challenge resource (or get the pack of fall STEM challenges) on Teachers pay Teachers: