Name: 8 Low-Prep STEM Tasks – Elementary & Middle School
SKU: 634443ed5538507b14e365d5
Price: 39.99 USD
Availability: InStock

About this resource

What's inside this resource

Eight build-and-test challenges, one per page, give grades 4–8 students a full engineering design cycle with everyday supplies. Students make a foil boat that carries paper clips, a straw rocket, an ice cube holder, a marble roller coaster, a pom-pom launcher, a water filter, a marker chromatography test and a balloon rocket racer. Each challenge ties to one science word, from buoyancy and thrust to insulation, levers, filtration and action and reaction.

Every challenge page follows the same four steps. Students read the goal and rules and check off materials, sketch and label a design, run three trials in a test log while changing one thing at a time, and then do a quick subtraction to measure their improvement before using the science word to explain their best result. A Level up task gives early finishers a harder target.

Cover page: the four-step routine, a list of all eight challenges, and setup times and safety notes for each
Teacher notes: the science behind each challenge, a model sentence and a Level up target to check against
Two print sets: a full-color set and a printer-friendly grayscale set

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Sketch and label a design before building it
Test a design over three trials, changing one feature at a time
Record measurements and compare each trial with the one before

Teaching tips

Use the setup-and-safety card on the cover to plan each challenge; it lists approximate prep times and what to set out per team
Try teams of two to four, as the cover suggests
Remind students to change only one feature between trials so the test log shows what made the difference

Skills covered

Engineering design: students plan, build, test and improve a design in each of eight challenges.
Fair testing: the test log asks what changed in each trial and whether the result was better, the same or worse.
Measurement and math: students record clips, inches, minutes, seconds or points and subtract to find their gain.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

What materials do the challenges use?

Everyday classroom and household items such as foil, paper clips, straws, tape, ice cubes, card stock strips, craft sticks, rubber bands, paper cups, sand, coffee filters, washable markers and balloons. Each page has its own materials checklist, and the balloon challenge calls for latex-free balloons.

How much prep does each challenge need?

The cover lists an approximate setup time for each one, from about 5 to 15 minutes, along with what to prepare and any safety notes.

Is there an answer key?

Results depend on what students build, so there are no fixed answers. A teacher notes page explains the science behind each challenge, gives a model sentence and says what to look for in the Level up task.