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You are here: Home / Products / St. Patrick’s Day STEM Challenge: Get the Gold

St. Patrick’s Day STEM Challenge: Get the Gold

March 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment

ST. Patrick's Day Activity

$3.98

In this St. Patrick’s Day STEM Challenge, students will design and build one or more devices to transfer leprechaun gold from his pot to their own.

Categories: Printable, St. Patrick's Day, STEM Challenges
  • Description

Description

Looking for St. Patrick’s Day activities that your students will love but are more than just a craft or activity to pass the time? This St. Patrick’s STEM Challenge (or STEAM Challenge) will keep your students engaged in brain-busting work disguised as fun!

The basic premise: 

Working against criteria & constraints individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build one or more devices to transfer leprechaun gold from his pot to their own.



Note: If you are in a 1:1 classroom, you may prefer the
digital format, compatible with Google Slides ™.


Resource includes:

  • NGSS aligned standards, Grades 2 – 8

Teacher Tips:

  • Links to my 5-part video series on getting started with STEM challenges
  • Materials and timing
  • Criteria & Constraints (including modifications to increase difficulty for older students)
  • Measuring results
  • Universal STEM Challenge Notes & How to Use Student Handouts
  • Post-design extension activities list
  • Link to a video walk-through of the challenge

Student Handouts:

  • Criteria & Constraints List (in color and B&W; editable)
  • Results and Design Analysis (2-page regular spacing and 4-page expanded) spacing for primary students included in color and and B&W; editable)
  • Discussion Questions (color and B&W; editable)

Extension templates

  • Write a Limerick
  • Process Flow Map
  • Math Extension options
    • Identifying even vs. odd numbers (editable)
    • Using divisibility rules with 4-digit numbers (editable)
    • Using divisibility rules with square roots and exponents; editable)
    • Create-your-own word problems
    • Identifying equivalent percents, fractions, and decimals (editable)

Sample/suggested materials for each student or group:

(Materials you’ll need to do the activity are easily modified.)

  • Pots of “gold” to test designs (1 per group or 1 whole-class)
  • Pots: Halloween plastic cauldrons look the part, but any bowl will do.
  • Gold: chocolate coins, Almond Hershey’s Kisses, Rolos, etc. (two or three bags should be plenty for the whole class)
    • Alternate option: if you also did the “Guard the Gold” challenge, use student-made pots of gold.
  • Pipe cleaners (5 – 10)
  • String/yarn (12 24 in.)
  • Tape (12 – 24 in.)
  • Rubber bands (5 – 10)
  • Scissors
  • Bags to collect gold (1)
  • Ruler/measuring tape
  • Design analysis handouts (included)
  • Optional:
    • Craft sticks (5 – 10)
    • Paperclips (10 – 20)
    • Straws (5 – 10)
    • Binder clips or clothespins (5)
    • Bowls, cups, or coffee filters (1)
    • Plastic spoons, knives, or forks
    • Decoy/fool’s gold: crumpled yellow paper, cotton balls, etc.

Benefits of this STEM Design Challenge:

  • Focus on critical thinking, problem solving, and application of learning
  • Helps students develop growth mindset traits like persistence and resilience
  • High levels of student engagement
  • The potential to hit upon all NGSS ETS standards depending on the depth and number of iterations you choose to implement in your classroom (modifications included)
  • Highly flexible and differentiated for materials, timing, grade levels, and rigor.

Each design iteration should be planned for ~60 min. if you are including data gathering and analysis rather than just building for fun. If you add extension activities, you will need to adjust timing accordingly.


This resource is available in a digital 1:1 format, compatible with Google Slides (TM), as well as in discounted bundles.

ST. Patrick's Day Activity

Digital format – compatible with Google Slides (TM)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Patrick's Day Activities

Printable Discounted Bundle

St. Patrick's Day Activities

Digital Discounted Bundle

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


If you prefer to purchase on TpT, click here.
Note: any coupon/promo codes for this site will only work on this site. TpT does not have the option for individual stores to offer promo codes.


Preview Music Credit:

“Carefree” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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After being a classroom teacher for ten years (grades 2-8), I’m fortunate to now follow my passion to design lessons & share ideas that help teachers everywhere find more feel-good teaching moments in their own classrooms!

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