Our 6th-8th STEM classes have started off strong. They have all completed their first design challenges to incorporate teamwork, problem solving and creativity! Some students even made it on our STEM class “Wall of Records”. This wall has records that are still standing from 2022 and others that were just surpassed last week!
Here is a quick overview of each one:
6th Grade Paper Tower Challenge- Students worked in pairs to create the tallest tower using 4 pieces of paper and 12 inches of tape in 20 minutes. They were given different obstacles from the boss that called to let them know of any changes like budget cuts (working with one hand) and relocation (no speaking). The tallest tower standing at the end of time was the winner!
7th Grade Book Stack Design Challenge- Students worked in pairs to create a structure that held textbooks at least 1 inch off of the table using 2 pieces of paper and 10 inches of tape. The goal is to stack as many textbooks as possible until the structure falls over or collapses. Students were able to iterate their design multiple times for the best possible outcome. We had a record tie for the most number of books stacked of 31 textbooks! Congratulations to the new record holders!
8th Grade Ping Pong Grabber Challenge- Students worked in groups to create a grabber that picked up a ping pong ball without touching the ball with their hands, to get the best score possible. Materials used were paper, tape, paper clips and string BUT each material costs points to use. They calculated their own scores by finding the farthest distance they could pick up the ball minus the amount of points used for their materials. There were also many rules to this challenge in order to pick up the ball and bring it back over the line successfully. Congratulations to our new record holders with a score of 122 picking up the ball from 146 cm away!
