The Challenge Activities:
Welcome to our STEM Lab blog! I want to begin my first post by letting you know what we did for our first lessons in Grades 3 and 4 STEM Lab in September. I started with an engineering challenge. The performance expectation from the brand new Next Generation Science Standards was to:
"Define simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost."
3rd Grade Challenge:
Since the primary job of engineers is to brainstorm, design, and create, using whatever resources they have available, I gave the 3rd graders some 81/2 x 11 paper and a full water bottle. Their team challenge was to build a tower that held a full water bottle off the table at least 12 inches. Check out this slide gallery to see some results:
Welcome to our STEM Lab blog! I want to begin my first post by letting you know what we did for our first lessons in Grades 3 and 4 STEM Lab in September. I started with an engineering challenge. The performance expectation from the brand new Next Generation Science Standards was to:
"Define simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost."
3rd Grade Challenge:
Since the primary job of engineers is to brainstorm, design, and create, using whatever resources they have available, I gave the 3rd graders some 81/2 x 11 paper and a full water bottle. Their team challenge was to build a tower that held a full water bottle off the table at least 12 inches. Check out this slide gallery to see some results:
The 4th Grade Engineering Teams
Performance Expectation:
"Define simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost."
The Challenge:
Using only two pieces of newspaper, build the tallest free-standing tower you can.
Criteria:
Constraints:
Here are some results:
Performance Expectation:
"Define simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost."
The Challenge:
Using only two pieces of newspaper, build the tallest free-standing tower you can.
Criteria:
- Free-standing for 5 seconds
- As tall as you can
Constraints:
- Only two pieces of newspaper
Here are some results:
My Reflections on the Lesson:
These students love to create and build stuff! The lab was abuzz with activity: students brainstorming ideas, drawing possible towers in their notebooks, trying out their designs, and watching them fail. A big lesson I teach in engineering labs is that failure is necessary - it is an opportunity to find the design problem and improve it. I ask students to celebrate failure! I also noticed that they love the constraints - the constraints became a challenge that drove them to brainstorm ideas even more.
I encourage students to communicate their ideas during the brainstorming before they build. Listening closely to other's ideas is the other part of brainstorming - say yes to ideas!
In one of the labs I noticed that a student had built a very tall (46 inches!) free-standing structure.
"How did you get the idea?" I asked her and her team member.
"I noticed the book on tall buildings you had in the classroom, Mr. I. So I looked through it for ideas!"
This is one of those moments that make me smile.
Some learnings I noticed :
These students love to create and build stuff! The lab was abuzz with activity: students brainstorming ideas, drawing possible towers in their notebooks, trying out their designs, and watching them fail. A big lesson I teach in engineering labs is that failure is necessary - it is an opportunity to find the design problem and improve it. I ask students to celebrate failure! I also noticed that they love the constraints - the constraints became a challenge that drove them to brainstorm ideas even more.
I encourage students to communicate their ideas during the brainstorming before they build. Listening closely to other's ideas is the other part of brainstorming - say yes to ideas!
In one of the labs I noticed that a student had built a very tall (46 inches!) free-standing structure.
"How did you get the idea?" I asked her and her team member.
"I noticed the book on tall buildings you had in the classroom, Mr. I. So I looked through it for ideas!"
This is one of those moments that make me smile.
Some learnings I noticed :
- brainstorming
- cooperative teamwork, which involves listening/sharing ideas
- geometry-which structures have more strength
- failure as an opportunity to learn
- perseverence
- joyful tinkering
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