Challenge
A new year means time for a resolution, which means determined to do something. All around the world these resolutions are made. The most common one has something to do with fitness. In fact, about 14% of people making resolutions are determined to exercise more. This also matches the data of how gym memberships increase about 10-15% every January. 2021 is no different! People are finding innovative ways to make their resolutions come true while still following appropriate guidelines regarding the pandemic. What are gyms doing to remain open? How do you participate in gym class while following guidelines? What is your favorite exercise in gym class or at home? How can you get the most out of exercise in gym class or at home? These questions, of course, relate to the STEM Challenge for this month.

Your challenge is to design an experiment to see which exercise raises your heart rate the most. What exercises will be tested? How long should you perform each activity? How do you test your heart rate?

Your challenge does have some criteria and constraints. All testing perimeters should be the same for each activity (duration, vigorousness, person conducting, etc.). If testing back-to-back, resting heart rate should be back to the original. At least three different types of exercises need to be tested.

Materials

• stopwatch or clock with second hand
• data sheets
• weights (optional)

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment and discuss the different types of exercises they can easily do in the classroom or at home. Also, instruct students how to find their heart rates on their wrist or neck and allow them to practice.
2. After experimenting/discussing, allow student groups to plan their activities. Be sure they include the exercises, the length each one will be performed, the vigorousness of the activity, and a data table for the experiment.
3. For differentiation, create a class data table that would work for everyone, decide on the same three exercises for each group, have a list of exercises students can choose from (running in place, sit-ups, push-ups, jumping jacks, burpees, squats, arm curls, skipping, lunges, etc.), set a time length for all exercises (30 secs is generally a good time, 60 secs can be long especially if vigorousness is high and/or using bodyweight), supply light weights or alternatives (books, full water bottles, etc.).
4. Remember to standardize the activities with groups so that there is fair testing. Groups could all be different with times/exercises/vigor but standardized within their group. Or, the class could be standardized with these variables. The most important standardization would be that heart rate starts at the same speed before conducting each exercise. Additionally, making sure students aren’t too fatigued to complete all the exercises in a fair manner.
5. Connect to math by discussing graphing, data, average, time, speed.  
6. Connect to science by discussing health, body systems, work, input/output, calories, energy, independent/dependent variables.

Challenge
Are you ready for some football? For most Americans, football is the epitome of fall. It is in full swing now and gives us great reasons to eat yummy snacks. Americans actually have a day set aside to celebrate football. November 5 is American Football Day, and it reminds us about the great sport and that the season is halfway over. So, how can football be translated into a STEM Challenge? There are actually many different possibilities for challenges that could connect to the real world that engineers work on. Creating helmets to prevent injuries, making gloves that provide the best grip, designing shoes that get the best traction on fields, and testing materials that make the ball aerodynamic to name a few. What others can you think of?
​For this STEM Challenge, you will be tasked with designing the goalposts and a “kicker”. The object of the challenge is to design a little catapult-esque contraption that flings the “football” through the goalposts. What materials would work best for this and for accuracy? What shape, size, and design should the “kicker” be to be most effective? Can you replicate something out there already designed?
Your “kicker” creation does have some criteria and constraints. Determine specific dimensions for your goalposts so all groups experience fairness with their accuracy. The “kicker” should be self-sufficient in the manner that the “football” is flung by the “kicker” with limited help from the designer. Standardize the distance the “kicker” must be from the goalposts and then see if the design will work from further out. Track the accuracy of the “kicker”: out of 10 attempts, what is the accuracy percentage? Standardize the “football” for all groups (a crumbled piece of paper, small ball, eraser, pom poms, etc)

Materials

• flexible straws
• craft sticks
• rubber bands
• tape
• football object
• plastic spoons
• cardboard
• various tapes
• paper
• small paper cups

​
Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible, movable, and heavy they are. Also, let students experiment with the objects they will be using as the “football”. Let them know the dimensions of the goalposts and the distance of the challenge.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design by drawing it out and labeling their materials being used. Include as many ways to improve their “kickers” as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, take away certain materials, change the distance from the goalposts, change the size of the football, make the goal posts a different size. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to standardize the goalposts. You may build one example for all students to use, make a bunch for the groups, or build them together.
5. Connect to math by discussing measurement (since fields are in yards), angles, percentages with accuracy, data charts, etc.
6. Connect to science by discussing all things related to forces or discussing the properties of materials for the challenge.
7. Connect to ELA by researching the history of football, providing non-fiction books in the classroom library about football, etc.

Challenge
Halloween is a hot topic floating around the communities. Families are debating whether to go door-to-door to interact with different households to experience Halloween.  What might this look like with social distancing guidelines in place? How can we safely administer candy to children without potentially spreading germs? Should Halloween be cancelled or is there an alternative that can be designed to continue the tradition? If you haven’t guessed it by now, this month’s challenge has to deal with distributing candy to trick-or-treaters in a sanitary manner. Your challenge is to create a contraption that will deliver candy from one area into a trick-or-treat bag at least 6 feet away. What possibilities can you think of to deliver the candy? Will your design be tough enough to deliver all shapes and sizes of candy? Can you replicate anything that already exists to help you out?

Your candy deliverer does have some criteria and constraints. As stated before, it must span a distance of 6 feet to maintain social distancing guidelines. The candy must also be easily obtainable by the trick-or-treater to put in their candy bag. Upon delivery, the candy shouldn’t be damaged for the trick-or-treater. Finally, the candy deliverer should be suitable for all types of different candy, not just the test candy.

Materials

• trick-or-treat bag
• cups
• string
• straws
• cardboard
• carboard tubes
• tape
• paperclips
• craft sticks
• paper
• Legos or building blocks
• rubber bands
• etc.

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible, movable, and heavy they are. Also, let students know what the test candy is, how far 6 feet is, and the details of the trick-or-treat bag.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design by drawing it out and labeling their materials being used. Include as many ways to improve their candy deliverers as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, take away certain materials, brainstorm with them different ideas (catapult, zip line, car powered by wind or a push, slide, airplane, etc.) , change the distance the candy travels, change the size of the trick-or-treat bag, use different candy. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to standardize the candy delivery with the same types of bags and the same distance traveled. The device should be as practical as possible (i.e. no one would want a complicated way to deliver candy all night).

Challenge
Time: to measure or record the speed, duration, or rate of something. That is just one definition of the word, and there are many others. But this is the most accurate definition that will be needed for this month’s STEM challenge. There are many ways to measure time and the challenge will test different ways to measure time in seconds. What are the different ways to measure time? How many measurements can you think of that involve some kind of time? How much time does it take to do different tasks? Answering these questions could help you design a timer, which is the STEM Challenge. Your timer though is going to be manual and not electronic! What items can you use to build a timer? How will you test it to know it measures the time you want it to? Do you need a timer to measure your timer? Your goal is to build a timer using some kind of block or item that can be knocked over like dominoes. The timer must go for almost exactly 5 or 10 seconds.

​Your timer does have some criteria and constraints. The timer starts from when the first item gets pushed over to when the last item falls. Only items being knocked over can be used in the creation. You can mix and match different items to create the domino effect.  

Materials

• stopwatch or timer
• blocks
• dominoes
• books
• Legos
• markers

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how fast/slow they fall over and by changing the distance between them.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their timer by drawing it out and labeling their materials being used. Include predictions for how many items they think they will need for the designated time.
3. For differentiation, add additional materials to use, change the time needed to be timed, show different ways to set up the domino items. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to standardize the timer as in when the stopwatch/timer starts to measure how long the creation lasts. If needed, have this person be consistent for each group working on the problem.

Challenge
Did you know in August there are two separate special days dedicated to marshmallows? One day is August 10, which is National S’mores Day, and you can’t have a s’more without a marshmallow! The other day is August 30, which is Toasted Marshmallow Day! So of course, this month’s challenge has to do with marshmallows, especially toasting them AND making s’mores! Your challenge is to create a contraption that will make a marshmallow warm and soft along with chocolate to make a s’mores. You probably will not be able to really toast it since fire will not be used. You’ll be using the sun’s heat energy to help you accomplish the task. What materials will work best to capture the heat?  How large should the contraption be?  What shape, size, and design should it be to be most effective? How can you measure the effectiveness of the contraption?

Your contraption and creation do have some criteria and constraints. Each contraption or solar oven should test one marshmallow or piece of chocolate at a time. All the marshmallows and chocolate should be about the same size and type. While testing, the solar ovens should be placed in the same sunny area. Use the same thermometer for taking the temperature inside the box.

Materials

• aluminum foil
• carboard boxes
• clear material (plastic wrap, transparencies, etc.)
• felt or other fabric
• containers/plates for setting food items
• shiny paper
• rocks
• mirrors
• tape
• marshmallows
• graham crackers
• chocolate bars
• thermometer
• stopwatch
• any other items needed

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible, movable, and heavy they are. Also, let students experiment for how hot objects get under light or outside.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design by drawing it out and labeling their materials being used. Include as many ways to improve their ovens as needed. You may want to help students with a design by suggesting a window on top of their ovens to be able to see what’s happening inside.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, take away certain materials, show them different solar oven examples, extend/lessen the time of cooking, try different sizes of marshmallows or chocolate. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to standardize the dimensions of the marshmallow or chocolate. Remind students to take heat measurements with the thermometers periodically throughout “toasting” the marshmallows.

Connect to science by discussing heat energy, properties of materials which work best for the solar oven, energy transformations, solar

Challenge
With recent launches of rockets and a few more happening in July, it's time to blastoff this month with the STEM Challenge!  Check out the Events Calendar at Kennedy Space Center for upcoming launches to watch them live or previous launches to prepare for builidng your own rocket to launch. Your challenge is to create and design a rocket and launch pad for blastoff. Adjust the rocket fuel and rocket design to see which provides the best blastoff. What size rocket will work best? What if the rocket had fins or other designs? Does the ratio of fuel ingredients matter? What about the ratio of fuel to the rocket size? What should the rocket launch pad be? The goal is create the best rocket you can and to experiment with all those questions!

Design some sort of launch pad first. The goal of the launch pad is to hold the bottle upside down in an upright position. Next, decide on a plastic bottle to use as your rocket and design your rocket. Finally, experiment with the ratio of your rocket fuel or baking soda and vinegar. 

Your creation does have some criteria and constraints. Make sure safety is noted at all times. After the rocket is fueled, place it in the launch pad, and back away. Only launch rockets in a wide open spaces and from the designed launch pad. For launching, fill the bottle with the chosen vinegar ratio, pour the baking soda on a 4"x4" piece of paper towel, wrap up the baking soda with the paper towel, stuff it carefully into the spout of the bottle, cork the bottle, and turn it upside down into the launcher and move quickly out of the way. Prepare for blastoff!

Materials

• various plastic bottles
• corks or foam for bottle toppers
• vinegar
• baking soda
• paper towels
• measuring cups/spoons
• rocket decorations
• launch pad materials: Legos, craft sticks, glue, tape, blocks, etc.

​
Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them decide which type of bottle to use so they can start building their launch pad.
2. Test to see if the launch pad is sturdy and will hold the bottle with liquid. Add water to the bottle with a cap to do this test. 
   
3. Plan out the ratio of baking soda and vinegar. As a guide, a 2 liter bottle does well with 1-2 cups of vinegar and a tablespoon of baking soda. Have students experiment with different amounts to see which they think is best. 
4. Always ensure safety when loading and launching the rockets. 
5. Record the launches in a constant spot so students can compare heights and launches if wanted. 
6. Connect to math by discussing ratios, measurement, conversions, etc. 
7. Connect to science by discussing engineering, properties of matter, solids, liquids, gases, pressure, chemical reactions, etc. 

Challenge
Looking for something to do inside or outside? Why not start a garden? You could choose to plant flowers, vegetables, or different kinds of plants. You can find vegetable seeds almost in any vegetable in your house. The beginning of May is the perfect time to start planting! Find those seeds and plant them in a pot with some soil. Your challenge this week has to deal with planting. How will they grow best? What do they need? How much of that do they need? Can you create some kind of experiment, tracking the data, to find out? Try it with multiple seeds, different kinds of plants, different amounts or kinds of soil, different places outside or inside (shady or sunny), different amounts of water, or anything else you can think of to experiment.

Your experiment does have some criteria and constraints. Make sure to collect data on your plants. Before beginning make a hypothesis about which will grow the best and why. After completing the experiment, make a claim about how to grow the plant best by using evidence and reasoning.

Materials

• various vegetable seeds
• various soils (sand, potting soil, dirt, etc.)
• data tools (notebook, ruler, scale, etc.)
• pots or containers for planting

​
Hints and Tips for Success

1. Use empty egg cartons to start out the seeds. Place one seed in each holder. These can easily be cut apart too for different sections. The different sections could represent either different seeds or the different experiment types.
2. Make sure to do multiple examples of the same experiment. Plant 3-4 seeds the same way to ensure fair trials.
3. Collect data the same way for each plant by measuring, weighing (if possible), when the plant is placed, and recording the amount of water added.
4. Be patient!

Challenge
Are you stuck at home and looking for something fun, easy, and science to do? I’m a big fan of Rube Goldberg machines and think this might be something to tie fun, easy, and science all together!
What is a Rube Goldberg machine though? Let’s start with Rube Goldberg, himself. He was an American Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor, and his work is a classic example of the melding of art and science. Goldberg began his career as an engineer, and later became a cartoonist who drew elaborate illustrations of contraptions made up of pulleys, cups, birds, balloons, and watering cans that were designed to solve a simple task such as opening a window or setting an alarm clock. Interestingly, Goldberg only drew the pictures, and never built any of his inventions. However, these pictures have since served as inspiration for makers and builders who want the challenge of making wild inventions to solve everyday problems. 
So, that is your challenge for today. Can you build a Rube Goldberg machine to solve a simple problem? Maybe you want to turn on a fan, pour a glass of water, knock over an item, catch something, turn on a light, pop a balloon, ring a bell etc.! The possibilities are endless.

For this challenge, there is no criteria or constraints. Use your creativity, ideas, thinking, and materials to create your own contraption!

Materials

• anything at home will work, but here are some useful/common items
• dominoes
• craft sticks
• toy cars
• wooden blocks
• car tracks
• any type of balls
• string
• tape
• cardboard tubes
• cups

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Watch some Rube Goldberg videos to get inspired and imagine the possibilities. OK Go is notorious for their amazingly-complicated designs.  https://youtu.be/qybUFnY7Y8w
2. Decide which problem you would like to solve. Sample problems are listed above but don't limit yourself!
3. Gather your supplies and lay them out so they're easily seen. Start with the basics and then search your home for more supplies as you start to tinker. This list might help you find helpful items https://tinkerlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Rube-Goldberg-Activity-List.pdf
4. Start building your machine! Experiment with the basic ideas of the chain reaction. Anything that tips something else over (and so on)!
5. Build one part at a time and keep adding on.
6. Do not be afraid of failure! As you test and try out different set-ups, you will probably fail a few times. But, this is great news! Failure is an excellent piece of the invention process. Without mistakes, you won't learn so celebrate it as part of the learning process!

Challenge
NCAA March Madness is a single-elimination basketball tournament played each spring. 68 Division I college basketball teams battle for the national championship. It’s “Madness” because it captures the excitement around sports with the tournament, the upsets that happen between teams, the filling out of brackets, and the teams vying for the top spot! Since the tournament happens mostly in March, it is going to be the theme for this month’s STEM Challenge. Your challenge is to create a “trophy” for the champions of the basketball tournament. Your trophy must hold an actual basketball at the top of the trophy. What shape, size, and design should the trophy be to hold the basketball? How tall should the trophy be? What materials can you use?
Your creation does have some criteria and constraints. As mentioned, the basketball has to sit at the top of the trophy. It should support the basketball for 20 seconds without crumpling. The basketball cannot be taped to the supports. The supports cannot be taped to the building surface. It must be at least 12 inches high. You can only use the materials given.

Materials

• basketball
• newspapers
• masking tape

​
Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the newspaper to see the different ways they can build with it.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design by drawing it out and labeling where they will put the tape (each group should get 1 roll of tape). Include as many ways to improve their trophies as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, take away certain materials, show them different ways to manipulate the newspaper, change the required height. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure student groups aren’t relying heavily on tape. It is meant to hold the newspaper together and not for supports.
5. Connect to math by discussing dimensions and what that means, measurement, shapes, symmetry, angles, etc.
6. Connect to science by discussing engineering, structure and function, balance and unbalanced forces, etc. 

Challenge
February is Cupid’s month and who is Cupid without his bow and arrow he uses to help people fall in love? But Cupid is experiencing some trouble with his arrows. They seem to be going too slow to reach his designated targets. He needs your help to make Valentine’s Day a success. This is your challenge to design an arrow protocol that is speedier than Cupid’s current arrows. Since you will be making a protocol arrow by representing an object, think about the materials being used. What types of balloons will make the best arrow? Are different shapes better than others? How can the materials be manipulated for best use? How can you make the arrow look like an arrow and be aerodynamic?

Your arrow creation does have some criteria and constraints. You can only use one balloon in your design. The finished product has to resemble an arrow Cupid would use by using the construction paper as design aspects. It has to be placed on the straw line system to be tested. It has to travel about 10' and hit the target to stop the time trial. Finally, the speedier, the better.

Materials

• various types of tape (scotch, masking, packing, duct, etc.)
• scissors
• straws
• various types of balloons
• binder clips
• construction paper
• string

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Set up the “shooting range” straw line. Insert about 12’ of string through a straw. Place two chairs (or similar tall objects) about 10 feet from each other. Tie the string onto the back of each chair so it is taut. The straw should easily glide along the string and be far enough off the ground so balloons can glide along it as well when attached. Place some kind of paper target (heart) at one end to indicate the stopping point of the timer. Set up multiple straw lines if wanted to test more arrows concurrently.
2. Make sure to standardize the starting point of the straw each time. If needed, draw a line on the string for where the straw has to start. Students could choose where they attach their arrow on the straw as long as the straw starts in the proper place.
3. Discuss with process with students for how they will blow up their balloon, place the binder clip on their balloon to not let air out, design their arrow, attach it how they would like to the straw for it to glide along the string, remove the binder clip, start the timer, and stop it when the arrow hits the target.
4. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the balloons to see what shapes they become and how fast they release air.
5. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design by drawing it out and labeling their materials being used. Include as many ways to improve their balloon arrows as needed.
6. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, take away certain materials, adjust the length of the shooting range, show examples of how it works. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
7. Connect to science by discussing Newton’s Third Law, force, properties of matter, aerodynamics, pressure, etc.
8. Connect to social studies or ELA by researching Cupid in his different mythologies and current adaptations.

​Challenge
January is a great time to have a snowball fight. Every good snowball fight needs some kind of fort for protection and to build more snowballs under cover. Snowball fights are best suited for outdoors, but what about modeling one inside? This will be part of your challenge, building a fort to withstand attacks from snowballs. Since you will be modeling the activity, representing an idea, object, a system or process, think of the materials being used. What kind of structure makes the best fort? Are different shapes better than others? How can the materials be manipulated for best use?
​
Your snowball fort creation does have some criteria and constraints. The fort is being constructed out of 100 index cards and only 12 inches of tape. The fort has to be at least 9 inches tall and 10 inches long. To test the fort, determine how 3 snowballs (cotton balls or wadded up pieces of paper) can be fairly launched at the fort to test its durability.

Materials

• index cards
• cotton balls
• tape
• rulers
• paper
• scissors

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the index cards to see how flexible and durable they are.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design by drawing it out and doing a little testing with a few cards. Include as many ways to improve their forts as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, take away certain materials, include different amounts of snowballs launched, change the dimensions of the fort, etc. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to standardize the launching of the snowballs so all forts experience similar attacks. Also, standardize the snowballs if using paper to make sure they are about the same size.
5. Connect to math by discussing dimensions and what that means, measurement, shapes, symmetry, angles, etc.
6. Connect to social studies by researching the different kinds of forts, how they were used, the different materials used to build them, where there still are forts, etc.