Seasonal STEM/Maker Challenges!
Scroll down!!!
Watch If I Built a School above!
Using what you have, build your own school...or classroom!
Write to tell us all about it!
BACK TO SCHOOL/FALL STEM CHALLENGES...
Choose one or all!
Listen to Ten Apples up on Top by Dr. Seuss below and do this STEM Challenge!
A quick and easy STEM Journal Template!
STEM Journal.pdfChallenge cards that can be used with ANY material!
Copy of Mystery Card Set 1.pdfSUMMER STEM!!!
Use these ideas and/or make your own!
AND...
GET YOUR READ ON!!!!
So many awesome books, activities, and prizes at the public library (click for events calendar)!!!
Scroll for...A SHOWER OF APRIL & MAY STEM & MAKERSPACE CHALLENGES!
To find more, just internet search your subject and STEM!
Scroll down to use ideas from past months!
Bird House STEM Challenge!!!
At home OR at SCHOOL!
Could also do IN the MAKERSPACE with non-consumables (Lego, Brainflakes, etc.) as a Design Challenge! Then students make at home with recyclable materials!
Click the link to allow students to plan their bird house using this STEM Design Planning Sheet!
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW BEFORE STARTING!
EARTH DAY is April 22nd!
Click on the packet to the right for LINKS to SO MANY AWESOME STEM IDEAS!!!!
So many other read alouds to choose from, too!
See/read doc below for kid-led MAKERSPACE IDEAS!
Earth Day 2021 Garfield MakerspaceEarth-Day-Ideas-Project-Pack.pdfSPHERO Coding Robots...Life Cycles!!!
Click on the SPHERO Life Cycles Lesson Plan below!
Use the LOOPS, ROLL, and SPEAK block coding for students to code the Sphero to each part of their life cycle to explain how the life cycle they research works!
Found in ALL Medina Elementary School Libraries!
Read How to Catch the Easter Bunny!
Talk about all of the special abilities the Easter Bunny shows throughout the book!
Share that they get to design a kind, fun trap to be able to ask the Easter Bunny whatever questions they would have! Keep in mind his special abilities!
Split students in groups of about 2-4. Give them 5-10 minutes to go in a circle to share their ideas for a trap. Tell them to ASK their teammates what their ideas are! They are welcome to pass and just listen to help others build their ideas, too.
Give them a piece of paper, pencil, and crayons to start drawing and labeling their group's ideas...a trap map! The final trap should incorporate ALL team ideas...like an obstacle course!
Give students a bin or 2 of Makerspace materials to build their team traps, or let them choose! Give about 15-20 minutes to build!
Do a gallery walk and let each group have 1 minute to show and share! At each group, someone from the class can ask a question! At each group, someone can share a compliment!
1-2 minute quick, quiet cleanup and criss cross at their area! Call quiet groups to put away the materials, then sit down where we read the story!
Reflections...What went well? What was difficult? What could we learn for next time?
ANYTIME Curriculum with ANY Makerspace MaterialsBY GRADE LEVEL CURRICULUM MAKER/STEM Slideshows!
Ready to use with your class!
Email gollj@medinabees.org if you have a topic you'd like to teach/reinforce/enhance with Maker/STEM!
K-5 MAKERSPACE with Curriculum!Social/Emotional Picture books with Maker/Curricular activitiesSocial/Emotional Life Skills & Growth Mindset Read-Alouds in Every Elementary Library! Use with Makerspace ideas included for many OR focus on the highlighted skills during open Makerspace time!
Narrative Nonfiction Inspirational Read-Alouds with Curricular Tie Ins!
Narrative Nonfiction picture book list w/curriculumINFOHIO AMAZING RESEARCH & VIDEO RESOURCES for ALL GRADES!!!!
Click here for 5 minute or less video overviews of EACH RESOURCE!!!
March Maker STEM & Design Challenges!
To find more, just internet search your subject and STEM!
Read aloud in EVERY elementary library! Or choose another St. Patty's book!!
LeprechaunTrapEngineeringChallengeProjectGreatSTEMActivity-1.pdfStPatricksDayScience-1.pdf
Pi Day
You might also make and eat pie, but we really like this hands-on activity to help students "discover" Pi for Pi Day on March 14.
Mario Day
In the world of video games, Mario is a true classic. Try one of these activities for a unique science or engineering experience with students to celebrate Mario Day. (Tip: March 10 is Mario Day because the abbreviated date Mar10 looks like it spells Mario.)
Women's History Month!
Secret Engineer: How Emily Roebling Built the Brooklyn Bridge- Right from the beginning this book grabs you, with pictures of workers hanging from the Brooklyn Bridge´s cables! What a great start to a STEM Design Challenge of Bridge Building! You could mix this with a Lego Masters clip of the bridge building challenge that tested how much weight their bridges could bear, then give the kids Lego, or ANY material, and time to plan, and it's off to the races to build the strongest and longest bridge! In the pictures, terms such as arch, radius, degrees, tension, compression, and weight are mentioned, which are perfect for geometry and forces units, as well. Socially/emotionally, the way this book highlights learning in the face of adversity is also beautiful to share with students.
10 Activities that Celebrate Women In STEM
1. Explore the Apollo lunar landing
Meet Margaret Hamilton, the programmer and mathematician who saved the first lunar landing.
Kids can do a range of Apollo mission STEM activities, and elementary students will love this book and partner activity. To learn even more about the women who saved the “Space Race,” check out this video.
2. Design a video game like Carol Shaw
She created the first console game to be designed by a woman and was an early trailblazer in the gaming industry.
Learn to design a video game. Shaw famously retired at the age of 35 thanks to her successes.
3. Tap into the inner workings of the human brain
Temple Grandin has gained international recognition for her work in neuroscience, particularly in understanding Autism. Thanks to her research, we have a better understanding not only of how the brain works. Grandin also advocated strongly for embracing differences and treating others with empathy, a valuable and timeless legacy.
4. Understand computers inside out like Grace Murray Hopper
She worked on the first commercial computer and was instrumental in devising computing and programming systems that made technology more accessible. In fact, she wrote the world’s first computer programming manual. Explore the world of computers with low-tech activity or project- based deep dive.
5. Launch into space with NASA mathematicians
Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan were pioneering Black mathematicians whose work was critical to space exploration. Check out these activities from NASA and Scholastic to learn more about their courage and contributions to science.
6. Celebrate the first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace
As one of the first people to ever recognize the infinite potential of code, it’s no wonder that Ada Lovelace has her own holiday, October 13th.
From making binary bracelets, to themed coding projects, there are lots of ways to celebrate her visionary ideas.
7-10...To see more amazing women in STEM and activities to go with them, CLICK HERE!
Women's History Month Read Alouds found in EVERY elementary library:
Click on the Narrative Nonfiction Google Doc below. Curriculum/STEM ideas...
FEBRUARY STEM CHALLENGES!!!
Read ANY Valentine's Day book! Then...
Another idea...Click on the site below for this Create-an-Animal Adaptations STEM project! Great for 4th grade! Click on THIS link for the READY-TO-GO student printable packet!
Great read alouds for Animal Adaptations...find in the library or click below!
African American History Month MAKER STEM below! Use ANY Makerspace material! Look up awesome books & biographies in your library!
Claudia Alexander | Make a NASA paper model.
June Bacon-Bercey | Create a weather instrument using household items.
Bessie Coleman | Make a paper airplane and add weights to different areas to test for speed and distance during flight.
Henrietta Lacks | Learn how to extract DNA from strawberries.
George Washington Carver | Learn about the history and process of peanuts.
Madame C. J. Walker | Make your own invention! Download the worksheet here.
George Franklin Grant | Create your own golf tee with injection molding.
Read this passage about Cupid! Use the materials listed to attempt the STEM Design Challenge!
ValentinesDaySTEMCupidsArrow (1).pdfOr try this below...CODING Unplugged! Print and let students try!
CupidsCoding.pdf
Go to CLEVER--InfOhio--K-5--Bookflix for the BEST reading of Snowflake Bentley...a biography about the man who figured out how to photograph snowflakes!!! Then read the nonfiction book on SNOW that is paired with it!
Use COFFEE FILTERS, PAPER, OR ANY MAKERSPACE MATERIAL to make symmetrical snowflakes!
A WHOLE CALENDAR of January STEAM Activities...
January-STEAM-Activities-Calendar-2021.pdfSPHERO SNOWFLAKES using coding robots and angles...
"Ice" & Igloo STEM Challenges...
Read Jan Brett's The Three Snow Bears!
After reading, follow this doc...
For this next team building challenge, use sugar cubes OR Makerspace Minecraft Unplugged station unifix cubes!! Questions and data chart included!
Makerspace STEM mini cube team stacking challenge - Listed on TpT - Do Not Delete.pdf
Read Santa's New Jet, OR Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Sleigh, both found in your library, or on the link above! THEN, use any Maker materials or whatever you have to reDESIGN Santa's Sleigh!!! You can also try the One Scoop Lego Challenge below! How can you make Santa's job easier with your design? WRITE a story about spending Christmas Eve with Santa in the new sleigh!!
Use any of the ideas on the site below! Use the materials noted, OR use ANY Makerspace Materials OR ANYTHING you have! Does not have to be the exact materials listed!!
DECEMBER Maker STEM & Design Challenges!
DESIGN an ornament as a gift for your family, friends, or teacher, then MAKE a card to go with it! WRITE a message!
An AWESOME story with a train that is based on a true story...Silver Packages! Use the same Forces & Motion DESIGN challenges as The Polar Express below! WRITE about what you can do to bless others! Then do it!
Read The Polar Express, found in your library, or watch the AWESOME animated reading of it on the link above!! Then DESIGN a train track using whatever you have! For FORCES & MOTION, use ping pong balls or marbles to show how your train would go! DESIGN a setting around your track! MAKE a MAP to show all of the places you would go on a magical train!
Read How to Catch an Elf OR How to Catch a Reindeer, both found in your library, or on the link above! THEN, use any Maker materials or whatever you have to DESIGN a way to catch an elf or reindeer! WRITE a story about what you would ask your elf, what you would do together, and what the elf's job is once they return to the North Pole, along with any other adventures! Would you go with your elf back to the North Pole?? Would the reindeer you caught take you both back? Make a MAP of your adventures!!!
STEAMChallengeCreatingtheLongestChain (1) (1).pdfAfter doing the TEAM Longest Chain STEM Challenge above, use the chains to decorate your classroom for the holidays!!
Read 'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving!
Then, using ANY reusable Maker materials or consumables...see below to save Henry!
SavetheTurkeyFromDinnerSTEMProject-1.pdfSPHERO CODING ROBOTS! Make a tape maze on the floor...Design a plastic cup turkey to cover the Sphero...Code your Sphero turkey through the maze using Block code! Sphero EDU app.
NOVEMBER Maker STEM Design Challenges!
WRITING
Read How to Catch a Turkey or Turk and Runt or RUN, TURKEY, RUN!
Then...Design a marble run (using ANY reusable Maker materials or consumables). Could also measure and label the ANGLES, use for FORCES and MOTION, or draw and label places on your marble run to create a MAP and KEY!
Read this book, found in EVERY MCS Elementary School!
THEN, click below for Design Challenges to go with the book!
Click the slideshow above for Maps and...
Forces and Motion:
Use any Makerspace material to...Design a "train" track that can have a marble roll on it!
Harder: How many "mountains" can you build and how long can you make your track and still have the marble go after only 1 push?!?
Creative process and imaginative writing:
Use any Makerspace material to...Design your own train with imaginative places along the tracks! Where will your train stop!? Draw or build a map to show where your train goes! Write to tell us all about it!
OCTOBER MAKER STEM Design CHALLENGES!
Leaf Man is also in EVERY MCS Elementary Library!
Choose any of these leaf rubbing activities!
Read the book, then click here to print and create another adventure for Leaf Man using Leaf Rubbing!!
You just need: Linked paper printed, crayons, baskets of fallen leaves, a pencil!
Pumpkin Bag Design Challenge:
Design a unique bag from any consumable OR reusable Makerspace material that can hold pumpkins...
How big of a pumpkin, or how many pumpkins can your bag hold if you're just holding it by the handle...no hand support on the bottom! (Teacher: Have a few sizes of pumpkins ready to test!)
Click here for 5 more October STEM Read-Alouds and Maker Challenges from Carly and Adam!
4th Grade ONLY...Click here for a Maker Lesson on Fossils/Thermal Energy!
February Maker STEM & Design Challenges!
With all of this snow, keep enjoying the January ideas below, as well!
Or, look up other ideas by searching your subject then "STEM"!