Tag Archives: stem

Building a house stem challenge

This weeks stem challenge was to build a house which would withstand strong winds. This was part of our learning about climate change. We discussed how heavy rainfall, flooding and strong winds are some of the effects of climate change and we looked at real photographs of how these have destroyed people’s homes.

We worked in groups using a variety of materials including cardboard, straws, lollipop sticks, string, polystyrene, scissors and sellotape.

Once we finished building our homes we tested if they could withstand the wind created by a hair dryer. 💨🏚🌧

Stem fun

This week we worked in groups to complete different STEM challenges. We discussed the importance of team work, communication, problem solving and creativity before completing each activity.

Challenge 1: What is the strongest boat you can make using kitchen foil and no other materials? We enjoyed testing how many marbles our boats could hold before they sank. ⛵️

Challenge 2: Using a water dropper, how many drops of water can you fit on different coins? 🪙

Challenge 3: What is the tallest tower you can make with one pack of cards? 🃏♣️This was definitely the most challenging of them all!

Challenge 4: How long can you make a paper chain using only one sheet of paper, scissors and glue? 📄🖇

Halloween stem challenge

We worked in pairs to complete a Halloween STEM challenge. Our challenge was to use the resources provided to make a bone bridge that was strong enough to carry a spider (a toy spider of course!)

We used straws, lollipop sticks, string, pipe cleaners, cotton buds and sellotape. First we designed and drew a picture of our bridge on paper. Next we used the materials to build our bridge. This was challenging! After that we presented our bone bridge to the class and discussed our strategies.

Well done to Alesha and Kayla who managed to make a bridge strong enough to hold the spider. Check out some pictures of our stem challenge below. 🕷🌉