STEM: Engineering Activities in Elementary School

STEM: Engineering Activities

Magical learning happened at our school when we made a special day for STEM Engineering Activities at our elementary school.We are on a six-day rotating schedule with built-in half days for PD. On those early dismissal days, we take the time to do something BIG and out of the ordinary. This particular day was led by our fabulous Science teacher who is anything but ordinary.

Students were grouped and then given 50 straws and a roll of masking tape. The challenge was to create a free-standing structure that could support a baseball. The winner would be the team with the tallest free-standing, baseball-supporting structure. After about 45 minutes, everyone gathered back together and tested each team’s structure.

Engineering with Straws, Tape and Imagination

was an incredibly eye-opening project for several reasons. First, the children had opportunity to work together on a goal. STEM is new at our private school and our learning is not usually project based. Working together is something we need to give our students opportunity to do more often. Some teams worked beautifully together, but others floundered at times. Secondly, it was amazing to see which students stepped up to engineer the structure – they were not always the students who are considered the “smartest” but they could see the end result and worked to make a strong foundation. They had a plan in their minds and took charge. They surprised us. Thirdly, it was delightful to see the eyes of the children light up as we (the teachers) walked around asking them questions about their structure. As they tested them out with the baseball, it was neat to see the children figuring out what they needed to do to strengthen the structure.

Here is a video that sums up our STEM engineering activities day.

STEM: Engineering Activities… we’re hooked and ready for more!!

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Cherie Herring

Music/Technology Integration at Hammond School

I teach elementary music, am passionate about integrating technology into my teaching, am obsessed with my SMARTBoard and iPad, and enjoy creating lessons and sharing ideas. I love technology almost as much as I love cheesecake, and with more energy and ideas than I know what to do with, I can't wait for the sun to come up each morning! I'm wife to Prince Charming and mom to three incredible girls who keep me balanced. . . sort of!