Mystery Bag STEAM Challenges
Fill lunch bags with materials and a STEAM challenge card. Let the creation fun begin! Place about 8-12 items into each bag. You’ll want to be sure the items are varied. Each bag should contain at least one larger item that can serve as a base for the design, and then an assortment of smaller items. Make sure no two bags are filled with exactly the same items. You can use any materials you have on hand- be creative! Save up recyclables for a few weeks: egg cartons, cardboard boxes that we cut up, plastic containers, plastic lids, empty paper towel rolls etc. Use small sheets of paper that students would be able to cut up and use, small paper plates, plastic cups, random craft materials like popsicle sticks, straws, buttons, rubber bands, pipe cleaners, string, yarn etc. Challenge Cards are attached below.
Coding without a Computer
All you need are a few cups! Program a human robot to build a pyramid of cups in as few steps as possible.
Build a Catapult
Using rubber bands, craft sticks, and plastic spoons to construct a catapult. Launch pom poms, marshmallows, or other items. Measure how far the items are launched and compare with other catapults. Experiment with catapult designs or simply let students design and build their own! Graph distances as a class and develop mathematical question and answer skills.
Engineer a Frog
This STEAM activity allows students to design their own frog! This makes a good long term, take it to your seat activity for students to work on when they have finished other work. Good activity to accompany animal adaptations.
Egg Drop Challenge
Students can work in groups and use recycled materials to create a container to protect a raw egg. Work as a team to design and build. Test container by dropping from a set height. Materials: recycled materials tape glue raw egg newspaper, cotton balls, bubble wrap, etc. straws, craft sticks, pipe cleaners Science: Bring in the concepts of gravity. Art: Encourage creativity in design and decor Engineering: Design and construction of container Extend by including rules such as no parachutes or size restrictions. Adjust according to your students’ needs. Balancing Towers
Students use cubes, craft sticks, and small cups to build a variety of towers exploring the concepts of balance and counter balance. Build the tallest tower, build towers with protruding parts, build links between towers, the possibilities are endless. |
LEGO Challenge Cards
Use LEGOS and these challenge cards to engage your student is building creativity! Awesome fun and enriching activities.
Build a LEGO Vehicle
Use LEGO blocks to construct a vehicle. Tell what vehicle you built and what it does. This can be applied to many concepts. The picture is an example of a space vehicle that would explore a planet. This activity is easily adaptable to meet the needs and curriculum of your students. CUPID’S ARROW BALLOON PHYSICS CHALLENGE
SUPPLIES FOR Long, skinny balloons – these were surprisingly hard to find! Construction paper String Straws Tape Scissors Binder clips or kitchen clips (we found these worked best) Anchor points – could be chairs, tables or even people holding the string DIRECTIONS
Questions for Conversation What happens if you move the anchor points farther apart? Record the results and determine the distance your balloon can travel. Or change how much you inflate the balloon. How does that affect the results?
LEGO Brain Puzzles
This Tetris like activity requires students to plan, build, and write the solution for a LEGO puzzle. Check it out! frugalfun4boys.com/2015/08/30/lego-brain-puzzles/ Rainbow Butterflies
Color Chromatography Butterflies
1. Choose one marker to experiment with. (Black and Brown are most exciting) 2. Take one coffee filter and place on top of newspaper or other material used to protect the table. 3. Find the center of the coffee filter and use ONE marker color to draw a thick ring, about the size of a quarter, around the center point. 4.Write the color name in the center of the color ring with a pencil. 5. Fold the coffee filter in half. Fold in half again to form a cone shape. 6. Fill the glass about ¼ full with water. 7. Pull apart the cone shape coffee filter so it balances right on the glass with the tip of the filter just touching the water. DONOT LET THE MARKER CIRCLE GO IN THE WATER. 8. Let sit and watch what happens as the water begins to flow up the paper. 9. After water reaches edge of filter, remove and spread out to dry. 10. Observe the results. 11. Repeat with different colors Now, turn your color creations into beautiful butterflies! |