Elementary School Math & Engineering VMI STEM Conference October 2014 Presented by Diane Leighty

Your Immersion into STEM begins NOW! Hard hats, safety glasses, and snacks provided!!!

Gumdrop Dome Design Brief Materials: –25 gumdrops –10 toothpicks –Ruler (cm and inches)

Create Your Design Design a geometric “solid” that: –Uses all of the toothpicks; –Has at least 6 sides. –Will not bend, twist, or collapse easily when pushed on.

Implement Your Design Build your design. Test your design by gently pushing on all sides. If time allows improve your design or create a different design that will meet the criteria.

Share Results Share with the whole group your design, and how well it “worked” – was it able to sustain itself from the force of a “push”?

Application of the Lesson What is needed in order for your students to successfully complete this design challenge? How can you adapt this lesson for your students? What questions can you ask the students?

Sharing & Discussion What was the most challenging aspect of this task? If you could have one additional resource, what would it be and why? What mathematics do you see in this task? What other skills are needed to be successful in this task? Process Standards?

WHY ENGINEERING?

Students Engaged…. shows some of the experiences

Engineering Skills For ALL! Communication Creativity/Inventiveness Critical Thinking Skills/Problem Solving Applied math & science Research skills Collaboration – team work!

Engineering in our world

Engineers ________  Build  Design  Create  Invent  Have Fun  Work  Think  Rock  ALL OF THE ABOVE

Standards Of Learning Measurements: Length, Volume Size, shape, material characteristics Statistics

Start with a Story or History Lesson “The Fish-Basket Goddess” from Chinese Children’s Favorite Stories by Mingmei Yip; Tuttle Publishing, 2004

Your 2 nd Design Challenge

Implement your design - 15 minutes Build your basket. Does it measure 12 inches or greater in length? Does it have a handle? Will it hold 2 cups of rice?

Experimental Test of Design Share your new basket with the group. Test the basket by filling it with 2 cups of rice and then lifting it by its handle over the roasting pan. Count to 30.

Discussion Which baskets were successful and why? What can you do to improve your basket? If you had one more item to use to build your basket what would it be and why?

Other Ideas: Build a Boat Design Brief Materials: Ruler (cm and inches) Aluminum Foil (limit the amount given) Paper, Cardboard, fabric, popsicle sticks, And any other materials you wish to use. Brief: Build a boat that matches a historic boat from China or Japan. It must float for 2 minutes and it must be at least 6 inches tall and 8 inches long.

What’s Next? Lessons in the classroom One per 9-week grading period Integrate into regular curriculum – NOT an add-on! Keep it SIMPLE! Work together. As your PTO/parents to contribute materials.

Where can we get the lessons? Children’s Engineering websites e/K-5/Engineering/ e/K-5/Engineering/ nbriefs.htm nbriefs.htm

PBS Websites Building Big – PBS websitePBS website Zoom – PBS website Zoom