Week 1: Project Ideas
PBS Kids Design Squad Parent and Educator Guides
Guides . DESIGN SQUAD GLOBAL | PBS KIDS
PBS Learning Media/ Zoom Science Activities
All Activities | Zoom | PBS LearningMedia
Rasmussen Simple STEM activities for kids
https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/education/blog/simple-stem-activities-for-kids/
Science Buddies
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities
Teach Engineering Maker Challenges
Browse K-12 STEM Curriculum - TeachEngineering
MIT- Full STEAM Ahead Projects
AIC Past Projects:
Grade 3:
During week 8 of a 10-week course of weather and climate, third grade students will explore how people can prepare for natural disasters. Through hands-on exploration students will create a flood resistant shelter by designing, building and testing a flood barrier.
Grade 7 ELA:
Project Summary: Students will learn about the day to day issues in the country of Southern Sudan while reading the book A Long Walk to Water. Throughout the unit they will learn to understand, specifically, the issues that arise when there is a lack of clean drinking water. Students will explore ways in which Sudanese people access water and programs in place to build wells that provide water to those in need. Projects will allow for hands-on exploration and inquiry as well as collaboration and critical thinking.
Overall Driving Question or Design Goal: How do we create a system that provides water to those in need in Sudan?
Grade 4:
1. Project Summary: As an introductory 4th grade unit to engineering, students will learn about and research structures of strength with the goal of completing the culminating project of designing, building, testing, and modifying a free-standing structure that is capable of supporting weight.
2. Design Goal: Given 10 sheets of office paper, how do you create a structure capable of supporting weight (a minimum of one 2lbs text book) at least 6 inches above the tabletop surface?
Grade 1:
How do we use sound to communicate?
Project Summary: This STEM-based unit is designed to allow students to analyze and test ways to solve a communication problem. Students will have opportunities for brainstorming, sharing ideas, and testing their solutions. There will be multiple ways for students to design and build a device that uses sound to solve their problem.
Grade 9-12 ELA
1. Project Summary: Students will be investigating how one is perceived on social media, either of themselves or of a celebrity of their choice. They will then convey what they have learned through creating a short video (2-5 minutes), using the video editor WeVideo.
2. Essential Driving Question or Design Goal: What is the social media presence cultivated by you (the student), or by a celebrity? Is this presence based in reality, or is it solely imagined?
Kindergarten
How can we build a house that can withstand wind?
Project Summary: ?Students will try different engineering designs for this activity. They will first use material selected by the teacher and then materials selected on their own to help redesign a structure that will support the wind. Students will do a variety of math activities followed by writing assignments with the writing prompt “write your own version of the Three Little Pigs”
Grade 2
1. Project Summary: After reading Cinderella, students will be challenged to create a carriage that will bring “Cinderella” to the ball before time is out. This lesson will cover literature through the reading of Cinderella, measurement of the road to the ball, time and engineering of a carriage.
2. Essential Driving Question or Design Goal: What materials and what design will bring Cinderella to the ball the fastest?
Grade 9 Biology
1. Project Summary: Students will work in small groups to develop a public service announcement to inform the public on an environmental issue and how it is impacting the earth. They will include possible solutions or remedies to this problem. Students will have a choice of multiple forms of media to design their project (recordings, videos, collages, posters, slideshows, etc.).
2. Essential Driving Question or Design Goal: How have human interactions with the environment upset the balance of Earth’s ecosystems? What are possible consequences of human activities on the environment?
Grade 11 ELA
1. Project Summary: The witch trials in Salem, MA is just one example in American history that explores how fear can create critical issues in society. Using the allegorical play, The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, students will be able to examine how the mass hysteria of human beings can be recognized throughout history using the examples of McCarthyism, Islamophobia, the Ebola outbreak, and most recently, the Coronavirus Pandemic. Students will create a commercial/public service announcement incorporating these concepts with that of either The Salem Witch Trials or The Red Scare.
2. Overall Driving Question or Design Goal: How do integrity and reputation influence a person's decision making?
Grade 2
1. Project Summary: Students will be read “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” and will identify its story elements. After reading "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," students will identify the problem in the text as the bears furniture is broken by Goldilocks. They will then build a new bed or chair for the three bears that Goldilocks cannot break. Students will analyze building materials as a group and select which materials they would like to use to build their own design. Students will then create an illustration of their design and label what materials they are choosing to use. Students will build their design. As a class we will observe the first round of testing and give suggestions for how to improve our design. Students will add changes to their illustration and the design they’ve built. We will then complete a retest of designs that failed. Students will then create an advertisement for their chair or bed design once successfully tested.
2. Overall Driving Question or Design Goal: How can we help solve the Three Bears’ problem using engineering?