Testing is over and as we inch closer to the end of the school year, summer is on the brain! It can be so difficult to keep kids engaged in ANYTHING, let alone meaningful and rigorous lessons/activities! You don’t want to waste instructional time, but you’re a little burned out from fighting the good fight all year long! We have all been there. Every. Single. Year.
Solution: End the school year joyfully AND academically with summer STEM Challenges! They’re collaborative, hands-on, brain-busting work (disguised as fun)!
Here's a very quick visual of each of the 5 Summer STEM Challenges in action:
Use the table of contents to navigate to a quick description of 5 of my fabulous Summer STEM activities, plus video walk-throughs and teaching resources for each one!
Table of Contents
Summer STEM Challenge 1: Wicked-Fast Water Slide
Basic Premise: In partners/groups, students will design and build a water slide built for speed, thrills, and safety.
Special notes: Who doesn’t love a good water slide?! Everyone focuses on height, twists, and turns! Younger students focus on safety (the beads don’t fly off the slide); older kids focus on safety & max speed! Pro-tip: add a little blue food coloring to the water!
Learn more in the video walk-through and the teaching resource below.
Summer STEM Challenge 2: Drippin’ Dash
Basic Premise: Individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build a water scoop purpose-built for volume and stability to be used in a relay race: The Drippin’ Dash.
If students work in groups, it is recommended that they make at least two designs so they have a back up available if one fails during the race.
Special notes: I usually ask partners/groups to produce more than one design in the given time frame. I let them choose which one(s) to use in the race. There are a few options for running the race included in my product, but you can make up your own rules as you see fit. One thing I recommend is that the students bring back-up designs with them to the race to sub-out for another that might break mid-race.
Learn more in the video walk-through and the teaching resource below.
Summer STEM Challenge 3: Amphibious Phone
Basic Premise: Individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build a summer-proof* case for a smart phone. (No actual smart phones will be harmed in this activity; they’ll create weighted test phones!)
= waterproof & retrievable when dropped in a body of water
Special notes: This one is very challenging! Waterproofing is tough! It’s not for the faint of heart! Remember: productive failure is an important goal of STEM challenges. The first iteration may not go well, but give it a second shot and let your students amaze you! Ideas to make the challenge easier will be included in the video walk through.
Learn more in the video walk-through and the teaching resource below.
Summer STEM Challenge 4: Pick & Pack
Learn more in the video walk-through and the teaching resource below.
Summer STEM Challenge 5: Keep It Cool-Make It Melt
Basic Premise: In partners or groups, students will design and build two devices: one to slow the melting process (Keep it Cool) and one to speed it up (Make it Melt).
Special notes: This is one of my favorites, but it incorporates observation, which can be time consuming. My recommendation is to have students run the Drippin’ Dash Relay Race in between observation intervals! See below!
Learn more in the video walk-through and the teaching resource below.
Grab the entire bundle to get all of these Summer STEM activities and make this the best summer ever! 🥰
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