Driving Questions
Driving questions can, among other things, challenge
students to solve a problem, design a better way to do something, build
something useful or educate others.
Build, design, create and make are all verbs that bring the element of
engineering into your classroom. Adding
constraints to a problem (things that students may or may not use, size/weight
limitations, safety rules, etc.) not only adds to the challenge but reflects
the reality of every day problem solving.
One of my all-time favorite examples of constraints in
problem solving is the square peg in a round hole problem that was given to the
Engineers at NASA to help Apollo 13 astronauts.
It has all the makings of a great problem: It’s real and has real constraints. I use this great video clip from the movie to have students practice defining a problem and listing the constraints
My Favorite STEM Challenges
Here are some of my favorite STEM challenges that I have
used with kids to cover a variety of content:
1.
Build a better ________________. Your students come across design flaws every
day. Ask them to listen to the
complaints of their peers or parents about something that “just doesn’t work
right” and develop a solution to the problem.
It could be a machine (like a mousetrap), law (like immigration), toy,
or whatever. They should gather
information about the product, propose a solution, build a prototype, and present
it to the class. Example: I recently had to use an airline travel
toothbrush for a week – it collapsed into two pieces every time I brushed. Surely
someone can come up with a better design!
2.
Rube Goldberg Contraptions. The best engineering programs in the world participate
in Rube Goldberg challenges. Share a few
Rube Goldberg cartoons, a couple
of great YouTube
videos and challenge your students to design and build a Rube Goldberg
contraption that can do any or all of the following:
a.
Uses both a chemical change and a physical
change.
b.
Uses 4 different simple machines.
c.
Uses both a mixture and a solution.
d.
Uses 4 different energy transfers.
e.
There is a whole lot of physics and chemistry
that can be learned here. Video tape
their demonstrations and explanations to share with parents and post them to
share with the rest of the world.
3.
Build a solar cooker with recyclable
materials. Food is a great
motivator! (and S’mores demonstrate both
chemical and physical changes -burnt marshmallow, melted chocolate, broken
graham crackers). Have students
research, design and build a
cooker that will melt the chocolate for your s’more. (Just saw that they now sell flat square
marshmallows just for s’mores in the microwave-build a better marshmallow?)
4.
Build a SCALE Model of a large object (NASA’s
latest MMS satellite, the solar system, the continents) or a small object (a
life size lego man, cell, the Jolly Green Giant’s cell phone) using tape on the
floor or string outside. Lots of math
involved!
5.
Make a model
with moving parts using just paper (research paper engineering), Legos or
recyclables of any science concept:
life, water or nutrient cycles, mitosis, meiosis, laws of
thermodynamics, etc.
Build, design, create, make, are
all words that are key to putting engineering in your STEM lesson and
developing problem solving, collaboration, creativity and communication. Put the learning in their hands!
What are your favorite engaging
STEM Challenges?
