The Joy of Teaching

Sharing creative ideas and lessons to help children learn

STEM Challenges: Build a Ship, Skyscraper, and Bridge

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STEM experiments were one of the highlights of elementary school, and even though I went on to be English major, I’ll never forget dropping Mentos mints in soda bottles and building wooden bridges in science class.

Evan-Moor’s STEM Lessons and Challenges (available for grades 1–6) provides fun and easy activities that engage children and educate them on the scientific process. Each book provides 15 STEM units that cover physical, earth, and life science concepts. Each STEM challenge guides students through the basic concepts and key terms of every STEM activity before directing them to design their own creations. Students are expected to test their invention and are given the opportunity to refine and redesign it.

Below, you can find three units from Evan-Moor’s STEM Lessons and Challenges that showcase physical science activities that kids love. These projects are simple versions of real-world examples of science that kids see every day: cargo ships, skyscrapers, and bridges! Hands-on learning activities like these make STEM concepts fun, simple, and applicable!

STEM Challenge: Building a Cargo Ship: Grade 3

Buoyancy and Gravity
 
Design a floating piggy bank with this physical science STEM challenge from grade three! This challenge asks students to design a cargo ship that can hold 30 pennies and stay upright when being pushed through the water by a fan. This activity explores the concepts of buoyancy and gravity, using the example of a ship afloat in water to convey the balance of the two forces. The lesson also explains center of gravity before students launch into the design process. Suggested materials range from pie tins to rubber cement, allowing kids to take creative license with their design and test different types of materials.
 
Before beginning the challenge, students read about and study different cargo ships and develop a plan for their design. For more fun, have the kids name their boat or make multiple designs and test them against each other. Whoever floats, wins!
 
Find this unit on TeachersPayTeachers here.

STEM Challenge: Building a Skyscraper: Grade 4

Structural Engineering (Height)
 
The skyscraper STEM challenge is from the fourth grade STEM Lessons and Challenges book. As a part of the physical science unit, the skyscraper STEM challenge asks students to build a solid structure out of uncooked spaghetti, marshmallows, clay, glue, and tape. This can also be attempted with just toothpicks and marshmallows. The goal is to build a three-foot-high structure that stands alone and can support a ruler placed across the top. This activity explains concepts like foundation building, shock absorbers, and building reinforcement in a way that allows kids to understand and apply these concepts to their own design. Students will become contractors to design their building, and they will create a plan, test it, evaluate it, and redesign it if needed.
 
Find this unit on TeachersPayTeachers here.

STEM Challenge: Building a Bridge: Grade 5

Structural Engineering (Strength)
 
Your students have been promoted to bridge engineers! This STEM challenge can be adapted for all ages, and is a popular high school physics experiment. This fifth grade version outlines physical science concepts like compression, tension, and suspension, and also teaches children about the different kinds of bridges that they see. They can model their own wooden bridge after the Golden Gate Bridge or even the Sydney Harbour Bridge! This open-ended experiment has limitless possibilities for students to explore the design process using materials like cardboard, craft sticks, string, and glue. The goal of this challenge is to create a bridge that can withstand a small amount of weight, using rubber erasers as “cars” crossing your child’s bridge! If their first creation does not pass the testing phase, students are given the opportunity to redesign their bridge using the redesign page at the end of the STEM unit.
 
Find this unit on TeachersPayTeachers here.
 
Challenge students throughout the school year with STEM activities! Watch your students become junior scientists, engineers, and technicians with Evan-Moor’s STEM Lessons and Challenges!
 
Browse STEM Lessons and Challenges (print or e-book) at www.evan-moor.com. (Available for Grades 1-6.)

 


Christine Wooler has experience working with children as a youth soccer coach and summer camp counselor. She is currently studying English Literature and journalism in college. She enjoys exploring educational topics that help students have fun while learning. 

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