As we embark on our journey to make our children and students more critical thinkers and problem solvers, we often come upon really fun activities for students to engage in. (Those who know me are cringing because they know how much I hate the word "fun". Fun implies that nothing is being learned, so I much prefer the word "engaging".)
Unfortunately this hazard transfers to students because the engaging activities that we're asking them to participate in really are...um, well, fun. And that's great, but we want to make sure that we don't lose site of the goal to learn so we need to introduce our R into STEM- Rigor.
How do you Strengthen Rigor in your STEM projects? In this series, we'll explore different ways to keep students engaged yet ensure that they are learning and stretching both in content and STEM Skills.
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, lay down your long hair to me! In the story, Rapunzel is taken as a child and forced to live alone in a tower. In this challenge, students will design a zip line that will help Rapunzel to escape her tower.
Materials Kite String Yarn Paperclips Scissors Tape Straws Cargo Other Found Objects
During this challenge, students may work in teams or pairs to design a zip line to help Rapunzel. Students may create any design they want as long as they only use the provided items.
Mathtastical is a fun little iOS app for practicing basic Math skills (i.e. multiplication, addition, etc etc). It has users try to solve problems while collecting gems/power-ups in as fast as time as time as possible. Not only is this a game w/ high replay value but students can tap the hint button to help them solve a problem.
I recommend checking out Mathtastical by clicking here!!!
For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here. For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.
Math File Folder Games is one of my favorite companies for making educational iOS games. These Math games are geared toward students 3rd-8th and are ideal for mobile learning. Also, many of these games are blue tooth enabled to allow for multiplayer across devices. Finally, these games have built in tracking which allows for student assessment by teachers or parents.
5 Dice: Order of Operations Game
(Cost: FREE!) 5 Dice: Order of Operations Game is a math app intended for upper elementary and middle school students that helps students enjoy practicing their order of operations. Read More Here
4 Dice: Fraction Games
(Cost: $1.99) 4 Dice: Fraction Games is a math app for middle school and upper elementary students. The goal of the game is to present fractions in a way that is both conducive to learning and fun. Read More Here
Ordered Fractionsgame begins by pressing the button that rolls the dice. Students then insert these numbers into the boxes on the board, which creates the fractions. Students then position the fractions in ascending order by comparing fractions. Read more here
Tangram Chess: Transformation Games
(Cost: $1.99)
Tangram Chess For Kids, Translations (slides), Rotations (turns) and Reflections (flips). Every game of Tangram Chess has its own story. Some are long-drawn out strategic affairs; others can be quick, but complicated, tactical battles. The winner is the player who can out-think his or her opponent, and make the best plans for attack and defence. Read more here
Skip Math: Skip Counting Games
(Cost: $0.99) Skip Math is a simple math game that helps practices skip counting. Skip Math is a a Doodle Jump style math game in which a girl or boy who jump from platform to platform counting by a certain number. Read more here
Jack and the Beanstalk a Mathematical Adventure
Hi, my name is Jack. I know you have all heard of me before, I'm the guy who climbs an enormous beanstalk to retrieve the princesses amulet. But today I would like to tell you the real story of HOW I was actually able to accomplish such a feat. Read more here
Grid Lines: Ordered Pair Game
(Cost: $1.99)
Grid Lines is a Battleship-style math app used to teach students the coordinate plane. Students will get practice plotting points on a coordinate plane by playing a game similar to Battleship. Read more here
I highly recommend checking out Math File Folder Games by clicking here!!!
*Math File Folder Games is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.
iPracticeMath is a new (beta) site that is perfect for educators or students looking to teach, learn, or reinforce their math skills. Geared towards K-12, iPracticeMath covers a wide variety of subjects such as: Geometry, Algebra, Fractions, etc. Also, iPM has an abundance of resources for educators/students to use such as: worksheets, problem walkthroughs, glossary, and more. Best of all a registered educator/parent can get detailed reporting and track student progres s.
I highly recommend checking out iPracticeMath by clicking here!!!
*iPracticeMath is an advertiser of Technology Tidbits.
To celebrate Yogome's 2 year anniversary they are listing all their wonderful iOS/Android Math games/apps for free. Yogome is one of my favorite companies for making fun beautiful looking iOS/Android apps starring their famous characters Yogotars.
I highly recommend checking out Yogome by clicking here!!!
Be sure to pick up these games if u haven't, as they are all free from Dec 18th-20th.
In the Princess and the Pea, the princess must climb up twenty mattresses and twenty featherbeds and to try to get a good night's rest. In this challenge, students will design a parachute to return the princess safely back to the ground in the morning.
Materials Tissue Paper Glue Sticks Scissors Measuring Tape String or Yarn Cargo
When testing their parachutes, students should take care not to stand on tables of chairs. In order to test from a higher height, a stairwell or balcony can be used. If neither are available, a parachute dropper like this that clips onto the ceiling or onto a basketball hoop may be used.
In the story of Stone Soup, a weary traveler wanders into the village and is told that there is no food to eat. So, the traveler brings out his cooking pot and, with the unwitting help of the villagers, makes stone soup. In this challenge, students will design and build a cooking pot that will hold the most soup.
Materials Tissue Paper Making Tape Straws Mini-Marshmallows
The teacher can choose for student to work in teams, pairs, or complete the challenge individually (if you have enough mini-marshmallows!). This is also a great lesson to incorporate estimation and/or volume calculations.
In the tale of Henny Penny, Chicken Little is convinced that the sky is falling. In this challenge, students work in teams to design a device that will protect Chicken Little in the event that the sky begins falling.
Materials Bean Bags Frosted Wheat Cereal (or similar) Yardsticks (one per team) Found Objects
After reading and/or reviewing the story of Henny Penny, students work in teams to design a device that will keep Henny Penny (one piece of frosted wheat cereal) safe when the sky (bean bag) starts falling.
Students will construct their devices and test them by dropping a bean bag from different heights. Bean bags can be grouped together for more weight if needed.
As students recall the fairy tale of the The Billy Goats Gruff, they will remember that the goats attempt to cross a bridge to seek out a greener pasture. In this challenge, students will design a bridge that will hold all three billy goats for more than 30 seconds.
Materials Books Ruler (1 per team) Toothpicks Gumdrops or Mini Marshmallows Large Marshmallows (3 per team) Tape Stopwatches Billy Goats
First, students will "build" their billy goats by cutting out the patterns and taping each one to a large marshmallow. Students will then work in pairs to build their bridge using the toothpicks and gumdrops/mini-marshmallows.
Math vs Undead is a fun educational iOS app that combines what kids love zombie, w/ Math. This is a great game for practicing basic Math skills such as: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and more. Ideally this game is for 3rd - 8th graders and has students trying to stop zombies by solving Math equations.
I highly recommend checking out Math vs Undead by clicking here!!!
For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here. For my Edshelf collection on Educational iOS Apps click here.
My Geometric Universe is a cool iOS app for helping students draw geometric shapes. This works by supplying a bunch of drawing tools such as: pencil, ruler, compass, etc etc. Once a shape is created it can then integrated into one of three digital environments: kids room, Middle Ages, or Ancient Egypt.
I highly recommend checking out My Geometric Universe by clicking here!!!
For my Pinterest board on Educational iOS Apps click here.
I'll Huff and I'll Puff and I'll Blow Your House Down! In the story of The Three Little Pigs, kids follow the story as our endearing pigs build different houses to try to escape the Big Bad Wolf. In this challenge, students help the three pigs by building a well-designed house that will keep them safe!
Materials Paper or Styrofoam Plates (1 per student) Cotton Balls (3 per student) Painter's Tape (1 roll for the class) Measuring tape (1+ for the class) Other Found Objects Hair Dryer or Fan
After reading or reviewing the story for The Three Little Pigs, students work to design and build a house for their three pigs (cotton balls) that will withstand huffs and puffs from the Big Bad Wolf (hairdryer or fan).
Even though the STEM acronym stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, there are a wide range of skills that this acronym encompasses.
Employers are quick to mention that these are the core skills that they are starting to look for in well qualified candidates. Those "soft skills" are the focus of the STEM Skills Challenges.
This week, students will work with partners to design and build a catapult that will launch mini marshmallows towards a designated target. In this challenge, students will need to make good materials choices as they can only use three of the four materials provided. As students experiment, they will work to build a reliable and well-designed catapult, but also establish consistency in hitting a designated target like a bulls eye. (Teachers may also wish to use small pom poms instead of mini marshmallows.)
This Brown bag series gave me a chance to dig through my files and share some more STEM Challenge oldies-but-goodies.
In each post, I've shared different engineering design projects that are appropriate for a wide age range. All of these activities work to prove that you don't need an endless budget to teach STEM and promote STEM principles and skills.
Here's a recap of the project ideas shared in this series:
This challenge takes a little more time than some others, but it is worth it to watch students build a "stock" hot air balloon then work to design their own hot air balloon that stays aloft longer.
Materials Tissue Paper Glue Sticks Scissors Copy Paper Staplers Hair Dryers (with "low" or "cool" setting) OR Hot Air Popcorn Popper Stopwatches
In this challenge, student begin by building the same hot air balloon. I like to have teams of three for this project, simply because it is more involved and requires students to follow specific directions for this first round. I'm also a bug fan of assigning jobs, so I prefer to divide up the work like this:
Navigator- Reads the directions to the team
Surveyor- Makes any measurements and checks work
Manufacturer- Glues, and assembles materials
Directions can be found all over the internet. I personally like the Junior Balloonist plans or the directions provided by the Civil Air Patrol (who use the directions from Pitsco).
Students follow the directions to build this balloon using the directions and test it, being sure to record their "flights" using 30 seconds of hot air. Once students establish a time to beat (I usually let each team launch once and average their times to get the time to beat.)
Then, students will design their own hot air balloons striving for them to stay aloft longer.
So, what did we learn? Next Generation Science Standards: Planning and Carrying out Investigations, Designing Solutions; Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information CCC- Patterns, Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
CCSS Math: Measurement and Data, Geometry, Ratios and Proportional Relationships
As we embark on our journey to make our children and students more critical thinkers and problem solvers, we often come upon really fun activities for students to engage in. (Those who know me are cringing because they know how much I hate the word "fun". Fun implies that nothing is being learned, so I much prefer the word "engaging".)
