Energy Transformations with a Rube Goldberg Machine Challenge

Are you looking for a perfect way to engage students when teaching energy transformations?  This Rube Goldberg Machine Challenge is such a fun way for students to work collaboratively, engage creatively, and show exactly what they have learned.

Students really love this 5-day challenge.  You can feel the classroom buzzing with energy.  The kiddos are so excited to have the freedom to brainstorm their own machine.

They are tasked with making a Rube Goldberg machine that executes a simple thing in a complicated way.  For example, mixing a cup of Kool-Aid, popping a balloon, or turning the page of a book.  The machine must have at least four energy transformations.  But, the machine can be made out of whatever school-appropriate materials the group can come up with!  The teacher does provide a few basic school supply type of materials, but honestly, the kids will hardly use these basic materials.

You will be super surprised when you see which students are jumping at the chance to participate in this project.  I have witnessed one of the least motivated students in class suddenly think of something unique he had at home to bring in and contribute to the group project.

Here's what happens next:  the once unmotivated student now has ownership in the project and cares about the outcome of the machine.  It's magic!

The project wraps up with a multi-media group presentation.  This showcases the group's sketches of the machine, photos of the machine, and also a video of the machine in action.  Each person within the group is assigned a job to help make this presentation come together.

I love to have the kids vote on their favorite Rube Goldberg machine at the end of this project!  Students always seem to enjoy a friendly competition with some type of teacher-friendly incentive as a reward.  It could be a Starburst to a homework pass - whatever works for you and your school.

If you would love to do this project and want to save some time, check out the Rube Goldberg Machine 5-Day Challenge project in my TpT Store!

STEM Supply Donation Letter FREEBIE

It's the beginning of the school year and you have such glorious plans for creating and building this year!

But, you've used all your handy dandy supplies from last year.  Your STEM cupboards are literally bare.

If only you had eaten enough SpaghettiOs throughout the summer to have enough tin cans to create robots!

So, what's a STEM teacher to do?  Ask, beg, and plead for miscellaneous household items!

Here's a freebie supply letter template in several styles to allow you to easily ask for those typically discarded items that make your STEM class come alive!

Grab a couple of Rubbermaid tubs to be placed in the office for STEM donations.  Then, parents can just drop these donations off at their leisure.

Here's to a fantastic year of STEM creating!

Should I Teach the Scientific Method?

The topic of teaching the scientific method is a controversial subject among science teachers.

The old scientific method teaches students that science is linear.  Many text books use this simplified method of explaining the six main steps.

This method indirectly teaches the students that all scientists follow some easy cookbook recipe-type of science to always find a definitive answer to their question.

However, seasoned scientists know that science is anything but linear!

Scientists understand that a scientific investigation has many different paths it could follow.  Any part of the scientific process could lead to any number of possible next steps. 

For example, a conclusion to an investigation could cause the scientist to pose more questions to research.  Or, scientists could also use the same scientific question to dig deeper on previous research conducted by other scientists.

The Flow of the Scientific Process
www.understandingscience.org
© 2008 The University of California
Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley,
and the Regents of the University of California

So, which one should you teach - the scientific method or the scientific process?

I say - teach BOTH!

Now, why do I say that?

It has been my experience that upper elementary through middle school students need to understand the basic steps outlined within the scientific method.

Only once these principles have been mastered will the student be able to grasp how genuine inquiry is conducted through the scientific process.

Do I ignore the reality of the scientific process until the students have mastered the steps of the scientific method?  

Not at all.  I usually carve out some time to have a class discussion about the difference between the scientific method and the scientific process.

I describe to the students how the scientists use the steps of the scientific method but not always in a certain order.  This discussion helps expand the students' scientific way of knowing, which they build upon each year.

I believe teaching the steps outlined in the scientific method is a great foundation for the rest of the school year.  Pairing the scientific method with experimental design will prepare your students to conduct meaningful inquiry related to grade-level content throughout the school year.

St. Patrick's Day STEM Challenge: Paper Bridge Challenge

STEM Challenges are my favorite way to engage students during those times of the school year when keeping their attention might be almost impossible!  

You can still celebrate St. Patrick's Day while making the experience fun and educational for your students.  It is definitely a win-win situation for all involved!  

Plus, if you have a spring break scheduled around this time, a STEM Challenge would be a perfect activity to work into your plans to help keep students on task once you've wrapped up other coursework.

How does this St. Patrick's Day STEM Challenge work?

This St. Patrick's Day Paper Bridge STEM Challenge asks the students to create a paper bridge that will hold 100 pennies for 30 seconds to help the leprechaun transfer his gold coins to the bank.  

The new bridge must be made out of a limited amount of common household / classroom materials and completed with a certain amount of time.

Students will go through the STEM design process to create the leprechaun's new bridge.  The students will then test the bridge prototypes using pennies (or anything else you may have handy - like unifix cubes or washers).  Students will then make improvements to the bridge after the first trial to yield a stronger bridge for the second trial.

STEM Challenge Preview for Grades 3-5

The middle school kids in grades 5-8 are expected to identify the need, research the problem, design a solution by writing detailed procedures and sketching prototypes, build and test a prototype, and troubleshoot.  The younger students in grades 3-5 are asked to follow the same steps - but in a simpler way.  These kiddos will Ask, Imagine, Create, and Improve.

Your classroom will be buzzing with organized chaos as students collaborate on their designs!  It is always interesting to observe, as a facilitator, how the students are working together and which "roles" the students choose to take within the challenge.  

So, what should this paper bridge look like?

The great thing about a STEM Challenge is that there is not a cookie cutter "right answer" for the students to create.  

The students will amaze you with their creativity!  Often times, the students design prototypes that adults would never imagine from the limited amount of supplies provided within the challenge.

How do you measure the success of a STEM Challenge?

Of course, it is fun to cheer on the students to design the best prototype that will "win" the challenge.

But, as a teacher, the activity is a success when you observe your students actively following the STEM Design Process steps.

You see them critically thinking, creating, and analyzing the prototype's performance and design when troubleshooting.  Students have been activating those higher levels of thinking while having a wonderful time!  

Do you love this activity but don't have the time to design it yourself?  

A student handout, corresponding presentation, and detailed lesson plan is available in my TeachersPayTeachers store for grades 3-5 and grades 5-8 in either PowerPoint or SMART Notebook formats!

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Be Mine TpT Gift Card Giveaway

February can be lots of fun in the classroom!  Do you know what is even more fun? Winning a $10 TpT Gift Card to use during the big #BeMine TpT Sitewide Sale during February 7-8!

You can also save up to 28% on your winter must-haves by entering the coupon code: LoveTpT when you check out.

Want more chances to win?  Just visit a few of my blogging buddies to enter for another chance at a $10 TpT Gift Card.  If you visit everyone in our blog hop, you could win up to $110 in TpT Gift Cards.  Sounds good, right?  

So how do you enter?  Read about my Top 5 February Favorites and then complete the Rafflecopter entry.  Be sure to click on the button at the end of this post to be directed to the next post in the hop.  

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The Night Before Series is a favorite at my house!  We love all the fun books that accompany each and every holiday.  I enjoy creating sequencing activities as a book companion.

Each sequencing activity includes illustrated cards of key events within the story, which enables the students to practice their comprehension and re-telling abilities.  Students just simply listen to the story, cut, sort, and paste onto a final copy.

The class can also check their results using an interactive presentation - available in both PowerPoint and SMART Notebook - which provides them with immediate feedback as they attempt to place the cards in the correct order on the slide.



Here's an example of The Night Before the 100th Day of School Sequencing Activity:

A video posted by Angela Willyerd (@angelawillyerd) on Jan 29, 2017 at 6:05pm PST

Cupid's Catapult STEM Challenge sets the stage to engage with a STEM Story about poor Cupid, who needed an upgrade to his bow and arrow technology with a catapult that would launch piercing hearts far distances.

 The students follow the STEM Design Process to design and build a catapult prototype made out of a limited amount regular household items within a certain period of time.  The students then test the prototype and troubleshoot to determine how to make the catapult launch the marshmallow heart even farther during the next trial.

The corresponding presentation and student handout makes this STEM Challenge super easy for a teacher to facilitate.  Available in Grades 3-5 and Grades 5-8.

Out of this World Conversation Heart Science Lab is a great way to use those conversation hearts plus practice following the scientific method - developing a scientific question, writing a hypothesis, analyzing data, and determining a conclusion.

Students are presented with a scenario where an alien is curious about the astronaut's candy hearts.  The astronaut then invites the alien into the space station to conduct an experiment to see if different temperatures of water will affect the candy heart.

This lab activity is available for Grades 3-5 and Grades 5-8.

Mid-February brings Presidents' Day!

Duck for President Sequencing Activity is a fabulous companion activity to the hilarious book.

Students will cut out the illustrated cards, sort, and paste the events into the correct order on the final template.

An interactive PowerPoint or SMART Notebook file allows students to receive immediate feedback when modeling the activity or checking the answers as a class.

Have your students ever thought about what they would do if they were president?

The If I Were President Narrative Writing Prompt encourages students to brainstorm what they would do first, then, next, and finally.

Students can then write and illustrate a final copy that would be a perfect bulletin board or hall display!  (And, I imagine some really interesting reading!)




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