Halloween STEM challenge

Happy Halloween!
A great big thank you to all of our families who sent in supplies
for our first STEM challenge!!  It was a huge success.

The students built 'bone bridges' in honor of Halloween.

There was to a prize for the longest bridge and a prize for the 

strongest bridge.  

The supplies were laid out and the students were told to 

plan how they would build using the supplies (pipe cleaners, 

Q-tips, clothes pins, popsicle sticks, straws, and tape) they had.

Before they began we had a conversation about how sometimes things 

don't work out the way we want and it's ok to try something else.  That's what

real scientists, and engineers do.  Try, try, and try again...

And they were off....  

'Let's tape it right to the desk...'

'try to balance the straws...'

'It's tipping a bit...let's put more clothes pins...'

'This won't be strong enough...pipe cleaners won't hold a pumpkin...'

'It works!!!! It holds up the pumpkin...'

'We actually did it!'

'I'm not sure if water could go under...what can we use to lift it up?'

'Let's use the little cups at the bottom...'

'More bases are still not making it stronger...'

The Testing Began....

'Someone said we should have stabilizers on the sides...'

'Oh my gosh!!  It's holding the pumpkins!'

'The pine cones are a good base...but the pipe cleaners are not strong enough...'

'The little cups are strong on the bottom!'

'Oh no...it's tipping!'

'The clothes pins worked better on the carpet.'

'Yeah!  It's the longest and it holds the pumpkins!'

'This is sooooo much stronger...the pine cones are stronger as the base...'

'It's holding the bin..'

'It's holding it!'

'Yes!'

'Mine is the smallest....but it's holding the bin.'

'It's holding the bin!'

What a fun day!

It was amazing to see different kids excel in different areas of the challenge.

We can't wait to do another STEM challenge!