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Thursday, June 23, 2016

Sailboat STEAM Challenge

We ended the school year with STEAM Lessons!
Science Technology Engineering Art Math  

One of our STEAM challenges was designing and building a boat that will sail and also hold weight. 
We talked about designs of boats and how they move.  We brainstormed a class chart.  We also listed materials that boats are made out of and to think how our materials could be used.  We used a lab sheet that went through each step of the engineering and design process.  I always have my students design on their own and then makes groups.  I do no more than three in a group to manage problems and allowing everyone to participate.  You need more materials but it works so much better.  I have my students build and test.  They need to write down problems, improvements, and solutions as they are working.  I sometimes limit how many tests they are allowed.  They will help manage issues. I did give new paper if it got wet but did not replace anything else.

Each group used the following items:
1 piece of aluminum foil
1 piece of tape
1 straw
1 craft stick
1 piece of paper
Building and Sailing our boats using an under the bed storage container and fan.
Testing with marbles to see if the boats can hold weight.
I love how my students collaborate and persevere during the lessons.  It is the best way to get students to work as a team!

1 comment:

  1. Kids seem to have had great fun with their steam boat challenge. I see that you have decided to go with the empirical approach of educating the kids. It is great because the kids can see that they can educate themselves and they surely will have a lot of good memories and valuable knowledge after they leave the school. I wonder if you also have the same entertaining technique for how to compose an essay online for my kids I would be million times grateful.

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