Monday, July 7, 2014
Roller Coaster Energy!
This was probably the most fun STEM lesson I have done. Students complete the SEPUP Energy unit, learning all about Gravitational Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy. Students need to create a roller coaster out of limited materials that will slow down a marble at the end to have it land softly into a Styrofoam cup.
Online Textbook
This is a great engineering and technology activity. Students used the laptops to build and design a roller coaster using a Brainpop game. Students used trial-and-error to figure out the balance between GPE and KE to be successful.
Visit this website to try and design a roller coaster with just enough energy to stop safely at the end.
http://www.brainpop.com/games/coastercreator/
Online Textbook
This is a great engineering and technology activity. Students used the laptops to build and design a roller coaster using a Brainpop game. Students used trial-and-error to figure out the balance between GPE and KE to be successful.
Visit this website to try and design a roller coaster with just enough energy to stop safely at the end.
http://www.brainpop.com/games/coastercreator/
Crash Testing an Egg- Force and Motion STEAM Project- Grade 8
CRASH TEST EGG
Design Requirements:
You are an
engineering team that needs to build a vehicle that will that will keep a raw
egg from cracking and/or breaking when crashed into a barrier.
·
Only
allowed to use the materials provided
·
The egg
cannot be taped onto or into the cart
·
The egg
must be able to exit the cart to be examined
·
Keep
costs and overall mass of vehicle as low as possible
*incorporates science and algebra topics of force, motion, speed, distance, rate, time calculations, center of mass, velocity, angles, slope, inequalities
STEM Professional Development Plan
As a final project for my instructional design graduate class, I designed a professional development plan for integrating STEAM education into the Stamford middle schools.
Click here for my ideas and professional development plan for STEAM integration
Click here for my ideas and professional development plan for STEAM integration
STEM Scaling
As part of a STEM scaling lesson, we have students first scale heights of commonly known buildings in Stamford, as well as the distances between the buildings. Then, we have the students scale the diameters of the planets in our Solar System by drawing them on the classroom floor in washable marker. The next day, students draw a scaled map of the Solar System on a piece of computer paper.
Not exactly an engineering lesson, but students enjoy relating real life scaled maps to the Solar System unit.
Scaling Distances
Stamford Distances
Not exactly an engineering lesson, but students enjoy relating real life scaled maps to the Solar System unit.
Scaling Distances
Stamford Distances
Spaghetti Earthquake Challenge STEM Project
Challenge:
Earthquakes and other natural disasters can damage or destroy man-made structures. Imagine that you and your team work for a company that specializes in building disaster-proof structures.
For this project, you have been asked to design a skyscraper that will be built in a city where earthquakes sometimes occur. The city planners would like to see your design along with the designs of other companies and they will select the best design for the construction of the skyscraper.
Student Packet
Earthquakes and other natural disasters can damage or destroy man-made structures. Imagine that you and your team work for a company that specializes in building disaster-proof structures.
For this project, you have been asked to design a skyscraper that will be built in a city where earthquakes sometimes occur. The city planners would like to see your design along with the designs of other companies and they will select the best design for the construction of the skyscraper.
Student Packet
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