Wind Powered Sailboat - Spring STEM Challenge

STEM Challenge for Spring: Harness the Wind with a Sailboat

A multifaceted STEM challenge that can be done outside on a nice day!

Warning: You May Get Wet with this STEM Challenge

Why try this challenge? In addition to creating something that is useful, students will be honing their spacial reasoning and mathematics skills while designing and creating their garden box. It may even inspire your students to create a full sized garden bed where they can plant their favorite flowers, plants, or vegetables. 

Tie it in to a Read Aloud

If you love STEM books as much as I do, this is the perfect book to read before doing a wind-focused STEM challenge (affiliate links - read disclosure here):

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (picture book)

 

or go more in depth with the full story: 

 

Gather Materials for Sailboat STEM

First, gather all materials needed for the challenge:

You will need a tub, storage bin, kiddie pool, etc. for this challenge. You will also need a desk fan to supply the wind. Please use caution operating the fan near the water. You can partition the container to have racing lanes if you want to let your students race the boats. I used a piece of pipe insulation. Students can create their boats with aluminum foil, Popsicle sticks, plastic egg carton pieces, etc. They will need to use material for a sail and mount it to their boat. Not only does the boat need to float, it also needs to move forward with the wind.

Go Deeper with Science in this STEM Challenge

Have your students research drag and buoyancy. Ask:

Where is drag advantageous, and when do engineers try to avoid it? 

When might you want a water vessel to NOT be buoyant?


What skills do students work on? In addition to following the Engineering Design Process to complete this challenge, students will need to work together and may need to make several modifications to improve their sail designs.

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

Pin these ideas for later:

Garden Planter STEM Challenge for Spring

STEM Challenge for Spring: Garden Planter Box

A math-intensive STEM challenge that can be useful when planning out a school or home garden.

Practical Skills with STEM

Why try this challenge? In addition to creating something that is useful, students will be honing their spacial reasoning and mathematics skills while designing and creating their garden box. It may even inspire your students to create a full sized garden bed where they can plant their favorite flowers, plants, or vegetables.

Gather Materials for Garden Planter STEM

First, gather all materials needed for the challenge:

You can use items like card stock, paper, and tape, or have students use building bricks or blocks. If you want to have them make a scale model, set a scale for them that make sense based on the materials you have. You can even procure seed packets or find directions online for the appropriate spacing of their seedlings and how many they can fit in their box.

Go Deeper with Math in this STEM Challenge

Have your students explore using a fixed set of materials. Is there an optimal configuration to support the number of seedlings and garden planter box size? Are there configurations that would make more sense in real life? A square is the most efficient area you can get with a fixed perimeter, but would that make it difficult to rid the garden box of weeds or harvest vegetables? These are all considerations your students can think about.

What skills do students work on? In addition to following the Engineering Design Process to complete this challenge, they will see that math is important and helpful outside the classroom, 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 Spring STEM challenges) on Teachers pay Teachers:

Pin these ideas for later:

Bird Nest STEM Challenge

STEM Challenge for Spring: Design and Create a Bird's Nest

A nature-based STEM challenge that is fun to create on both a small and large scale: a bird's nest!

Support a Growth Mindset with STEM

Why try this challenge? In addition to creating something that seems simple (but is actually quite difficult), students have the opportunity to observe nests in nature, gather materials, and work on their growth mindset.

Gather Materials for Bird Nest STEM

First, gather all materials needed for the challenge:

This project can be done in two ways - with materials found in your recycle bin or objects found in nature. If you live in an urban area, students may observe that birds often use trash that has been discarded when making their nests. Use paper scraps or go to nature to find grass, twigs, etc. Ask:

What objects do you routinely discard that could be reused or repurposed?

Test the nest with hardboiled, wooden, or plastic eggs filled with pennies (for weight). Can it support the weight of the egg?

What skills do students work on? In addition to following the Engineering Design Process to complete this challenge, they will need to test stability and strength 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 Spring STEM challenges) on Teachers pay Teachers:

Pin these ideas for later:

Simple STEM with Plastic Cups

Plastic Cup STEM Challenges Your Kids will Love

Spoiler alert - there is no basic tower challenge in this list. Building towers is a great way to start off any cup STEM challenge, but I have a list of a few some fun and engaging challenges using primarily plastic cups. Some are oldies but goodies, and others you may not have seen or tried before.

Get Started with Plastic Cup STEM - Materials

Although you can use inexpensive plastic cups for these challenges, I recommend using a sturdy variety. You do not need to get the brand name, most expensive cups, though. I used my local grocery store's version of a heavy duty brand name cup.

Create a Plastic Cup Telephone

A really easy challenge to get started with is a plastic cup telephone. Many kids will have done this before, however try to supply them with a variety of string and/or wire types for the line, and have them test out different versions to see which works best.

Make it easier for little ones: Have a variety of telephones already put together. Use different string types or different lengths of string and have them try to speak messages to each other. Make sure the line is pulled tight for best results.

Another Sound Challenge - Create a Plastic Cup Sound Amplifier (shown above, top)

Smartphone speakers just not loud enough to share your favorite jams with your students? Have them create a sound amplifier! Not only is this a really great hands-on STEM activity to explore sound principles, it is actually useful. The roller, also shown above is included in the plastic cup STEM challenge pack I have linked below. It is simple but includes a hands-on way to explore torque and friction.

Plastic Cup Anemometer

This one is a bit tricky but the result is absolutely worth it. Create your very own anemometer to measure wind speed. Use five cups, some towels, and tape or a push pin and you can create an anemometer!

Try These STEM Challenges with the Engineering Design Process

If you want to add more rigor to these challenges by following the engineering design process, please visit the following resource I put together to support these plastic cup STEM challenges. With this  guided STEM resource, students need to meet the design criteria specified to complete the challenge. Add it to your STEM Friday or Maker Monday rotation, or save it for a sub.


You can find Plastic Cup STEM Challenges here:

Pin these Plastic Cup STEM Ideas for Later:

St. Patrick's Day STEM with a Leprechaun

Fun STEM Activities for Elementary Students on St. Patrick's Day

STEM That is Easy to Implement

This is the fourth installment of the "Pick the Path STEMventure" series. I wrote a short story about a leprechaun called Larry for St. Patrick's Day. No, we are not trapping the leprechaun! That has been done enough. In the story, Larry the leprechaun gets the opportunity to earn gold coins on St. Patrick's day by successfully completing various STEM challenges. Students choose how they want the story to progress; in completing the story students will complete 3-4 challenges. The story not only guides them through the engineering design process, it includes design constraints and areas for them to fill in their thoughts, plans, and testing data.

A Few of the Challenges Included 

Up first, is a rainbow challenge. If you are studying light, this is a great time to do this challenge. In addition to the stories requiring students to design and test structures, they will be exposed to various science and technology concepts, such as dimensional constraints, malware, and the color spectrum.

Another St. Patrick's Day STEM Challenge - Unplugged Coding

Not all kids love coding, but it is still great to expose them to simple logic problems that are the basis of coding. Creating a path is a simple way to have kids think ahead and plan out a set of directions.

This challenge has two versions, plus I included extension options in the digital download for additional challenges. The other challenges include:

• a slide
• a musical instrument
• a bank that holds gold coins
• two bonus challenges, including a gold coin flipping device!

You can do several of the challenges mentioned above (aside from the coding one) without the resource I created, though if you would like it for the story and guided design process, keep reading. Here is an example of the slide challenge:

Watch a Video Overview of St. Patrick's Day STEM

Find this STEM Resource on Teachers pay Teachers

If you would like to use the story and printables I've created, you can find them on Teachers pay Teachers at this link St. Patrick's Day STEM:

or save these ideas for later by pinning this on Pinterest:

Is Tpt for Schools Right for You?

How TpT for Schools Works

• Your administrator joins TpT for Schools (it's free).
• They invite you and your colleagues to join.
• You request resources you need for your students.
• Your administrator approves and purchases resources for you.
• The resources are automatically delivered to your TpT account.

How does TpT for Schools benefit teachers like you?

More resources. Get more of the TpT resources you love. How? Request to have them paid for with school funds.

More inspiration. Find more great ideas for your classroom. How? See what resources other teachers in your school are finding and requesting.

More engagement. Spark more student learning with the most engaging, up-to-date resources. How? Use resources created by educators who understand what works in the classroom.

Get the conversation started! Click here to learn more about Teachers pay Teachers for Schools:

Digital Math Activities for 4th Grade

4th Grade Math Test Prep and Review for Google Classroom

I may be married to STEM, but math and I are BFFs. If you feel the same way about math, high five my friend. If math and you aren't really besties, or your students groan when you start talking about fractions, I have something that will make math just a wee bit more enjoyable in your digital classroom.

Digital math? Hmm, how does that work?

Though I have been creating resources for the digital classroom for years, it's always been more straightforward to create and use text-heavy styles as opposed to entering numbers or creating math exercises. Math, in my opinion, will always need pencil and paper at least some of the time. For this reason I have held off creating too many digital math resources because nothing "felt right."

Where digital and math DO seem to have common ground is in a review format (as well as instructional, but that's a topic for another time). For initial practice, I recommend sticking with pencil and paper. Once students have a reasonable level of mastery, digital review formats are AWESOME!

• Digital formats engage students. 
• Digital practice is imperative if your state testing is computer-based.
• Flexibility to customize math practice for students is useful for student learning and teacher tracking.

State Testing in the 21st Century

Sometimes you HAVE to practice math on a screen. As more and more states more to online testing, it's important to get practice both with pencil and paper, and in a digital format. That's why in addition to having CCSS-aligned digital math practice, I have created this as an editable resource.

Did you say EDITABLE?

Yes! You can add as many new problems as you like. I even created a video guide to walk you through it in my downloadable resource. Another great feature is that these are self-checking so they can be used independently.

Watch the Video  Overview

Get Digital Math Practice for Google Classroom

Click to get this digital math review resource.When you download it, you will have over 65 problems to get started on right away, with the option to add as many additional problems as you'd like.