STEM Challenges for elementary students! Students will design and build a structure to withstand a simulated earthquake. This STEM resource includes detailed teacher directions, photos, lab sheets, and rubrics.
Kids will LOVE these engineering challenges with craft sticks, cups, and wood cubes. Engaging, open-ended, and creative!
Ah...the boat building challenge -- a total classic! I remember doing this myself in elementary school, though the grade escapes me...
Fabtastic ancient Greek architecture STEM challenge & activities! Perfect for all ages: preschool, kindergarten, elementary, middle, high school, and adult!
Right now I’m in the process of creating a series of STEM projects for students who are studying Ancient Civilizations.. Next stop, Ancient India! 🙂 During the summertime in Ancient India (and still to this day), a monsoon would come every year, raining buckets and buckets of water. In Eastern India, a second monsoon would
Here are five fun engineering challenges for kids to do with KEVA planks! If you’re not familiar with KEVA planks (the brand is Mind Ware), they are small wooden building blocks. You can use them to build all sorts of amazing structures without glue or connections – just stack them! We purchased ours two years […]
Need a fun and hands-on Earth Day activity? Challenge your students to an oil spill clean-up! Read on for a STEM challenge that teaches environmental consciousness, problem solving, and team work along with extension math problems that use measurement, percentages, and volume calculations. Our stude
The #1000AbChallenge is HERE! We're spending the next 10 days building ab strength and endurance. The grand finale? 1000 REPS!
If you find yourself swept into rapids, you should hold onto the first fixed object you find and not stand up, like Mark Lyons did. These survival hacks are not just for the most extreme cases because even demisting your car windscreen is important for avoiding a serious road accident. So, if you are an avid explorer or see yourself more as a homebody, it is important to be prepared for any situation you may find yourself in.
“Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in …
This is the best STEM Challenge for your upper elementary students. Check this post full of tips about trying the resource- Build a Newton's Cradle!
Here is test your logical thinking abilities. In this Logical Thinking Puzzle, there are some logical equations. Your challenge is to decode the logic of these equations to find the relationship between the given number and then find the missing number which will replace the question mark. So are you ready to solve this logical thinking puzzle?
Up for a challenge😃? My first "draw this in your style" to celebrate 150k on instagram🙈, and who'd be a better pick for a #dtiys than my OC ian 😏 🔥Redraw him in your style - change things up as you want, as long as he's sort of recognizable 🔥Tag me and post it with #lao150k
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Food-Group-Worksheet This was our morning activity yesterday in our yellow folders. We had talked about food groups a couple days before and did a sticker activity I bought from Oriental Trading Co. http://www.orientaltrading.com/fabulous-food-groups-make-a-sticker-scenes-a2-9_1122-12-1.fltr?Ntt=food+groups They did exceptionally well remembering what we had learned!
We had so much fun with last year’s egg drop challenge that we had to do it again this year! The egg drop project is such a fun way incorporate critical thinking and problem solving into a fun science activity for kids, and it’s great for a wide variety of ages. Both my kindergartener and my …
US News did an article in January predicting the 2014 Fitness Trends: What's In, What's Out. I thought it would be fun to check out how the predictions have panned out! #1-HIIT-High Intensity Interval Training-I am all for this one as long as people use good form. Who doesn't love doing burpees??? Disclaimer: It is so easy to get injured doing the high intensity activities, so use good form and make sure you stop if it gets too intense!! #2-Body Weight Training-I'm on board for this one too. Free and a great workout!! Pushups, pullups, etc. I like to combine body weight exercises into my HIIT workouts for a little cardio mixed in with strength training. This is a tough full body workout that requires no equipment. #3-Educated, certified, and experienced fitness professionals. According to the article the trainer industry is expected to grow by 24% by 2020. It is a great thing and a dangerous thing all at once. I have heard so many people say that they want to be a trainer or wellness coach when they begin their fitness / wellness journey. It is natural to be on a high and want to bring others with you. The problem is that this drive fades, and what works for you might not work for everyone else. I personally love sharing my journey, but in no way to I claim that what I do will work for you. I'm pretty sure that wine-loading instead of carb-loading before a race is not for everyone!! This article predicts more regulations and restrictions in the industry. #4-Functional Fitness-I'm not sure I get this one. Here is the description: The functional fitness solution: an upper-body strength training program geared toward lifting and carrying heavy bags. Huh? #5-Fitness Programs for Older Adults-This makes me think of my future father in law. He hired a trainer and she makes him do all kinds of fun exercises. We even got him to do a burpee before walking his daughter down the aisle last year. Isn't this what Richard Simmons has been trying to do for years?!?! #6-Exercise Programs for kids-This is a hot topic. I am not a parent, so knowing how to handle childhood obesity is not something that I have any expertise or advice on. I know it is an issue and something should be done, so having a fun way for kids to play and exercise seems like a great thing!!! #7-Group Personal Training-What a great way to get some 1x1 attention and advice from a trainer and spend some QT with friends. Plus, if you are crazy competitive like me, you will push harder!!! #8-Yoga-It is so good for you and I am so terrible at doing it. I can't hold poses and breath-not to mention I am super uncoordinated. I fall over and I'm sure I drive everyone crazy!! I know I need to be doing it...and so do you! Especially if it is on a beach. Now for what's out-per US News. Pilates, Zumba and Spinning. I disagree on spinning. I think there is still a lot of people who like to do spinning and it is a great workout. Overall-the list was pretty good and pretty interesting. What is your favorite fitness trend in 2014? Do you agree with this list of what's in and what's out?
The Plyometric Workout Challenge implements both plyometric moves and body weight exercises. If you have a local track or a safe outdoor place to workout, that would be a great location to do this routine.
How strong is spaghetti? Challenge kids to invent a way to find out! This STEM challenge is a lot of fun, and you won’t need much in the way of materials! Here are the materials we used: 1 package of spaghetti 2 sheets of styrofoam – purchased at Hobby Lobby Books Wooden blocks We started our […]
Time management skills are essentially life skills. Kids and young adults need this skills now and in the future. All educators and parents want our learners to be able to work independently, use time well, and complete tasks on time. In order to meet these expectations, students need to learn, unde
Few summer pastimes are as satisfying as fishing -- it's a great father/son activity, makes for an excellent microadventure, and harkens to our manly imperative to be providers.
Cantubebury Tales - Comics from around the Web
One fun math idea to incorporate as a weekly routine is a Challenge of the Week problem. It is optional for students to give it a try, but I've found that just by adding the word challenge and hyping it up a little bit...kids love to give it a shot! The problem is always an extension of what we are studying that week in class. I put each new challenge up on Monday morning and students have until the end of the day on Thursday to turn in their solutions to the turn in basket pictured. We go over the challenge every Friday after our daily warm-up problem. Students who answered the problem get a small prize (mints in my classroom!) and the recognition of solving the Challenge of the Week! Enjoy! Both my 6th grade challenge problems and 8th grade challenge problems are FREE! Be sure to grab a copy and use them with your students! Here was one of our first Challenge of the Week problems this year during our fraction multiplication unit. Go Badgers...Wisconsin sports is a fairly common them in my classroom! After multiplying fractions, we moved on to multiplying and dividing mixed numbers. I love how this problem really makes them work backwards and think about the process of multiplying fractions and mixed numbers! As we moved into our rates and ratios unit, this problem was one of the more challenging this year. My students get to know my love of baseball pretty early on in the year! Another challenging rates and ratios problem. Especially letter c... Here was a great problem that I used during our percents, fractions, and decimals unit a few weeks ago. Another Problem of the Week from our percents, fractions, and decimals unit! This one was from later in the chapter when we learned how to find the percent of a number. For our shortened Thanksgiving week, I got creative and researched some crazy Thanksgiving statistics. Seems like a lot of turkey per person, but I guess the stats don't lie! Here is a challenge that relates to order of operations! I also had to show one of my students responses because of how complex it was. I love it when I see things like this in sixth grade! On the left is the problem of the week. On the right is one of my the student's response. I rewrote it so that I could go through it with all of my classes. They loved the challenge of having to use order of operations to solve such a complicated problem! After introducing algebraic expressions at the beginning of our algebra units, here was a challenge of the week that I had A LOT of students try! As we continued our units of algebra, here is a challenge of the week that I had students try BEFORE we learned about two-step equations. I liked the writing aspect of this problem, as well as how open-ended it is! Once we learned about two-step equations, I made our challenge of the week a little tougher...fractions AND decimals! More two-step equations! This challenge of the week was also a great review of dividing fractions and mixed numbers from the start of the year. This challenge of the week involved finding a two-step rule for the function table! This problem was as we were nearing the end of our algebra units. I like how it brought together everything that we had been learning about...equations, function tables, and graphs! On to solving inequalities! This problem was before we had learned about solving two-step inequalities. Two-step inequalities with fractions! This was a tricky one for the sixth graders! This challenge of the week was just prior to learning how to find the measure of a reflex angle. I had a lot of students who remembered to subtract from 360 degrees! This one was one of my favorites! Some students surprised me by finding angle C first. I hadn't even thought to solve it that way! This problem sparked a fun discussion of the names of different polygons...including a megagon (1,000,000-sided polygon). Translations, reflections, and rotations! Putting it all together! The rotation step was tricky for my students because most of the examples we did in class were rotated around the origin! Moving on to areas...this problem was just after learning about how to find the area of parallelograms and triangles! More work with areas! I really enjoyed creating these area challenge problems! Putting it all together with a composite area problem. This was challenging with the two semi-circles! Composite volumes...combining what we learned about finding the volume of rectangular prisms and pyramids! This might have been my favorite problem to create! Who doesn't want to solve a problem with a floating pyramid inside of a rectangular prism!
Escape Rooms are a very popular thing right now. Here's how to make your own escape room challenge for kids in a few simple steps.
Don't underestimate it, though.
Learn how to make an aluminum foil boat that floats and explore gravity and buoyancy! Perfect boat challenge for kids 5-12!
STEM Sports is a winner! Science, engineering, and math are part of these sports-themed team challenges for the end of the year.
Most disaster issues can affect people all over the world and depending on where you live, you probably have some inkling of how difficult it is to be forced from...
STEM Challenges to make Newton's Laws easier to understand. These three challenges are exciting and competitive and much-loved!
This STEM challenge pack explains what “binary computer code” means and how computers, CDs, DVDs and apps use it to communicate.
Whether you're planning a group activity, team building exercise, kid’s party or youth camp, spruce it up with these 9 fun games with blindfolds?
The Human Knot game has been long used as a team-building exercise and a fun way of breaking the ice with new groups of people. This is a great game for when you're babysitting or leading camp activities, and all it requires are willing...
Back by popular demand, I ended our school year with "The Marshmallow Challenge". I first tried this activity two years ago, after watching an inspiring TED Talk by Tom Wujec. The Marshmallow Challenge is a team-building exercise where groups of 2-3 have 18 minutes to try to build the tallest freestanding structure - using just 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of masking tape, one yard of string, and a marshmallow. And all kinds of learning happens in the process! This would make a great team-building activity for the beginning of the school year, too! Materials (per group of 2-3): 20 sticks of spaghetti (uncooked!) one yard of masking tape (stick down on edge of desk) one yard of string one pair scissors one regular size marshmallow (I put all the materials for each group in a large clasp envelope (except for the tape!), and glued a 9x12 piece of construction paper to the front - a different color for each group. This made passing out supplies quick and easy!) You will also need: a large digital timer (I downloaded mine from bald geeks.com) measuring tape music (optional - I made a playlist on iTunes of 5 songs that would end at exactly the moment the time was up!) Directions (repeat 2-3 times to make sure everyone understands!) 1. Divide students randomly into "teams" of 2-3. 2. Explain that they will have 18 minutes to use the materials in the envelope to try to build the tallest freestanding structure. ("Freestanding" means it cannot be taped down, and you can't be holding it when the time runs out - it must be able to stand on its own.) Make sure they understand that you will be measuring to the top of the marshmallow. 3.Start the timer! (While students are working, I walk around and make sure they are understanding the directions. I will also announce things like, "The orange group has a structure standing!" or, "Five minutes!" Then everyone counts down together from "ten" down. 4. When the time is up, measure the structures that are standing and announce the winner. Have students give a round of applause (or a "standing" ovation) to all the groups with structures standing. 5. Ask students what they learned... what was the most challenging thing about this and why? There is so much to be learned from this activity.... sportsmanship, teamwork, not being misled by "false assumptions" (like the marshmallow being "light"!), and the importance of testing your prototypes. I did this with grades K-7, and even some adults wanted to give it a try.... just tailor your discussion at the end to the age group you're working with. If you can, watch the TED talk first for even more insight into why this is such a valuable exercise! Here are a few pictures... try to guess which grades they go with! Yes, those last two are from my adorable Kinders.... they may not have been the tallest structures, but they were standing, and they would definitely score points for cuteness!
My husband may never forgive me for telling this story but it demonstrates an important lesson. We planned a trip to go hiking here's... prepper story cont.
Last year the cup stack was one of my FAVORITE team building activities (see post here). So, naturally, I wanted to give it another shot! The Cup Stack is a fun, yet challenging activity that promotes team work. The supplies are basic: cups, string, rubber bands. I go ahead and tie the string to the rubber bands so it is ready to go. I make a few for groups of 4 and a few for groups of 5, this way no matter what the numbers are in the classroom I can make it work. I start by asking students what teamwork is. What does it look like? sound like? feel like? We brainstorm a list of ideas that I hang in the classroom for students to refer to. Each class comes up with a variety of ideas, but they all center around the same theme. Then I introduce their challenge. I start off my admitting that this will be a frustrating activity. We discuss ways to handle our stress and feelings that arise when others make a mistake or don't do what we want them to do. I model that they will each be given 6 cups and a rubberband with strings attached to it. Their job is to stack the cups into a design by only holding onto their individual string. I demonstrate that when everyone pulls on their string the rubberband opens wider, and vice versa. I also show them the challenges of picking up a cup that has tipped on its side or fallen on the floor. No matter what happens, they must follow the one rule: YOU CAN ONLY TOUCH YOUR STRING. No touching the rubber band, no touching the cup, and no touching other group member's strings. I reinforce how communication is so important in order to reach the goal. Then I set them off. Here are some videos and pics. After about 10-15 minutes, we pause and reflect on our experiences. I ask them to rate their group on how well they worked together using the ideas we wrote at the beginning of the lesson. I ask them what went well for their group. I also ask them what didn't go well for their group. We talk about different strategies and ways we an handle ourselves when things don't go the way we want them to. Throughout the activity I walk around and facilitate positive communication, so I usually have a few examples to help springboard the discussion.
"He who drinks sleeps; he who sleeps does not sin; he who does not sin is a saint; therefore, he who drinks is a saint."
It has been quite awhile since I took the time to put together a new boot camp workout. I’m super excited about this workout – it will be a test for all fitness levels. Make sure you start with a nic
My Camp NaNoWriMo plan for July 2019 is to enjoy writing. Today I'm sharing some tips for my Camp NaNoWriMo plan to keep your writing on track.
