If you’re looking for a plant activity so your students can apply learning in plant needs, parts/functions, adaptations, life cycles, cells, photosynthesis, and/or genetics & heredity, this STEM / STEAM challenge is a perfectly engaging way to get the job done joyfully! The Basics Students will design a plant for the fictional planet, […]
Create-ure STEM Challenge
If you’re looking to apply learning in adaptations, habitats, food chains and food webs, life cycles, genetics & heredity, evolution, and/or human body systems, this STEM / STEAM challenge is a student-favorite way to get the job done joyfully! The Basics In this STEM/STEAM Challenge students will design a “create-ure” that has never […]
STEM Challenge: Boat Building
Ah…the boat building challenge — a total classic! I remember doing this myself in elementary school, though the grade escapes me. The thing is, I remember making my clay boat and trying to get it to hold as many pennies as possible. I do not, however, remember a whole host of worksheets throughout my school […]
Spring / Easter STEM Challenge: Bean Bind
Bean Bind is a bean-sorting STEM Challenge. While it ties in perfectly with Easter, it can really be used any time of the year! Premise Working against a criteria & constraints list, students design a way to sort jelly beans from other types of beans. You can tell younger students the equipment at the bean factory […]
Spring / Easter STEM Challenge: Carrot Carriage
Carrot Carriage is a fan favorite STEM Challenge! Your students will use an unlikely set of materials to create a sweet, new ride for the Easter Bunny! (Read on for ways around the Easter connection!) Premise Working against a criteria & constraints list, students design a vehicle made primarily of carrots for the Easter […]
Earth Day STEM Challenge: New Earth City
Maybe Rome wasn’t built in a day, but New Earth City can be! This challenge is perfect for Earth Day, but it can really be used any time of the year. Fun fact: my master’s degree is in design-based learning, which shares many similarities with the engineering design process. This city-building challenge was my gateway […]
Easter / Spring STEM Challenge: Basket Bounce
Basket Bounce is another of my hybrid STEM / PE challenges. It was definitely designed with Easter in mind, but I’ve got a couple of ideas to get around that if you don’t want to (or aren’t allowed to) link it to Easter in your classroom. (?Note: I recently changed to a new platform for […]
Spring / Easter STEM Challenge: Egg-hanced
This STEM challenge is a classic egg drop, making it perfect for any time in spring, including — but not limited to — Easter! I fondly remember doing this challenge when I was in kindergarten — before “STEM Challenges” were a thing! I also recall the best design (not mine) used blown-up balloons to make […]
Flower Frenzy: Valentine’s Day STEM Challenge
The Flower Frenzy challenge is actually four challenges in one and works well for spring, Valentine’s Day, Easter, or Mother’s Day! Premise In Flower Frenzy, students create a bouquet of flowers with unique attributes within four mini challenges: Floating Flowers, Functional Flowers, Fluff & Flatten Flowers, and Firmly Fixed Flowers. (If alliteration is a problem, […]
Easter & Spring STEM Challenges
Spring is HERE! I am always happy to move on to a new season, because each new season provides inspiration for STEM challenges! I’ve got some super-engaging & fun ways to bust through that spring fever — five collaborative, super-charged critical thinking & problem-solving STEM activities: Nice Nest, Egg-hanced, Basket Bounce, Carrot Carriage, and Bean […]
