Happy November, friends!
Over the past two weeks, my students and I packed in as much Halloween FUN as possible! We completed two different
Spooky STEM challenges and I’m so excited to share them with you!
My second graders constructed what might be my all time favorite STEM challenge to date,
PUMPKIN CATAPULTS! Students were challenged to construct a working catapult that would launch a pumpkin the farthest distance.
These are the materials that they were permitted to use, and students worked in partners and groups of three, with a few choosing to work independently. We examined and discussed photos of real catapults on Google images and discussed the necessary parts, such as the triangular base, arm, and wedge.
I had a simple model prepared so that some students could use it as a guide, while other students chose to construct completely on their own! Students measured their launch distances with tape measures and recorded in their STEM journals.
They launched with real mini pumpkins and at the very end, we spiced it up with small candy pumpkins!! Their catapults were so well-constructed that they launched all the way down the hallway! They had to problem solve and use more advanced computation as they were measuring, wondering, “What do we do when the tape measure runs out?”
My first graders and kindergartners used candy pumpkins, candy corn, and toothpicks to construct the tallest
CANDY TOWERS possible. Talk about engaging, fun, and DELICIOUS! I didn’t give them much guidance on this one, as I was excited to watch their creativity. We discussed the differences between pyramid shapes, cube shapes, triangular and square based structures, and of course, students got to gobble up their towers at the end.
Since I only see my groups for one hour per week, we ran out of time for
SPIDER WEB BRIDGES, however, these photos were shared by my teacher friends, Heather and Kambra! Their students loved taking on this challenge!
And now, of course, I’m off to prep for November STEM!
(Don’t we ALWAYS have to be one step ahead?!)
I hope everyone had a Halloween that was full of many more TREATS than tricks!
Have a fabulous first week of November!