Engineering a Puff Mobile

As an introduction to the Engineering Design Process, the second grade students have been challenged to engineer a vehicle that can be powered by one puff of air. The challenge sounded easy at first, but as these young engineers are quickly finding out, it isn’t!

Do you think you could design a vehicle based on this set of criteria and constraints?

• The vehicle must move in a forward direction.
• You may only use 1 puff of air.
• You may not touch the vehicle during the test.
• Your vehicle must remain on the track.
• You may only use the following materials: 4 mints, 2 straws, 2 paper clips, 1 piece of paper, and clear tape.
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Harmless Holders

After viewing pictures of animals that were entangled in the plastic holders that are commonly used to bundle bottles of water together, the fourth and fifth grade students unanimously agreed that this was a STEM challenge worthy of their expertise. These packaging engineers are now diligently working to design an animal friendly way to carry six water bottles. Check out their great thinking and their current design plans.  

Sink, Float or Flink

The Problem:

When STEM dog was at the beach, his balls would either float on top of the water or sink to the bottom of the ocean. He didn't like either option so he challenged the young engineers at Crossroads Elementary School to solve his problem.  

The Challenge:

Engineer an object that neither floats nor sinks. Instead it must flink, which is a combination of float and sink.

 After exploring the buoyancy of the individual materials, the students worked in collaborative teams to engineer something that would flink in the middle of their testing tub. The designs went through countless iterations, and eventually, some of these young engineers were successful in their endeavor. 

Developing a love for STEM!

The Pipe Cleaner Challenge

As an introduction to STEM, the fourth and fifth grade students were challenged to build the tallest free standing structure that they could using nothing other than 15 pipe cleaners. The students quickly discovered that team work and collaboration would be necessary to accomplish this task.  To represent a loss of manpower, the students were asked to spend the last five minutes of the challenge working with one hand behind their back. With only two minutes to go, these young engineers were informed that their company had been purchased and relocated to a foreign country. Since they could no longer speak the language of their new colleagues, they were now forced to find a way to communicate without talking. Despite all of the obstacles encountered, many teams were able to design a structure that could indeed stand on its own! Well done Engineers!

The Adventures of STEM Dog - Part 1

Welcome back to school my Crossroads Friends. I know that we are going to have a lot of fun with STEM this year.  I can't wait to tell you all about the incredible adventures I had over the summer.  I even made a movie to give you a little preview. I hope you are as excited for this year's STEM Dog challenges as I am!


Your Friend-

STEM Dog

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July from STEM Dog 

July 4, 2012 and July 4, 2015

STEM Dog says, "Hi Friends!"

There will be a new STEM Dog Challenge coming soon! 

The NXT Challenge

Check out these future computer programmers - they are amazing!

Planet Oobleckian Challenge

All grade three students at CES recently completed part one of the Planet Oobleckia challenge where these young scientists determined that Oobleck does not act like a solid or a liquid. In fact, they learned that Oobleck has a unique set of rules because it is a Non-Newtonian fluid! Check back soon to see how they utilize this information on day two of the challenge!

Planet Oobleckia Day 1-

NASA has recently discovered a planet named Oobleckia. The planet appears to have an atmosphere  and terrain very similar to earth, except for its ocean, which is made up of a very strange substance names Oobleck. NASA would like to explore this planet and needs your help. Due to the mountainous terrain on the planet, the only surface area that appears flat enough to land a space ship is the ocean. Therefore NASA woulds like you to use your science inquiry skills to define the properties of the strange substance and decide if Oobleck is a liquid or a solid. 

Planet Oobleckia Day 2

Engineering Design Challenge

NASA has requested that you design a prototype of a space ship that can land on an ocean of Oobleck without sinking, take off without getting stuck, and carry a load of 6 astronauts.

  Criteria:

• The spaceship must fit freely inside the container, which means the sides of the prototype may not touch the sides of the container.
• The spaceship must support the weight of six astronauts (6 washers) for at least 1 minute without sinking.
•  Your space ship may not weigh more than 100 grams, fully loaded.
• The space ship must be able to take off without getting stuck in the Oobleck. Since the space ship only has enough power to exert 1 ½ newton’s of force during lift off, if your prototype requires more than 1 ½ newton’s of force, your space ship is considered “stuck.”
• Your prototype must be able to attach and detach easily to the spring scale.

  Constraints:

• You may use no more than 5 materials in your design.
• The astronauts may never come in contact with the Oobleck.
• The astronauts must be able to exit the spaceship easily so that they can explore the planet, therefore one face or side of the spaceship must remain open at all times.
• At no time during the test may you touch the spaceship. The only contact that can be made with the spaceship is the spring scale during takeoff and landing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Robotics at Crossroads Elementary!

The fourth and fifth grade students have recently built LEGO NXT robots and are now writing programs that allow their robots to accomplish some very tricky tasks.