Challenge
The first parachute jump was taken by Garnerin in Paris in 1797. Since then, engineers have been designing many types of parachutes for different needs with the right material and attachments. June is a great month to get outside and go sky diving with parachutes! For this challenge, you won’t be building a parachute for yourself, but for a toy to safely reach the ground. Your challenge is to construct the best parachute for the safest landing for a plastic figurine. What will be the best material to use? What do parachutes look like? What type of string should be used to attach to the figurine? How large should the parachute be and how long should the strings be? What is the most effective parachute for the figurine?

Your parachute does have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. Your parachute has to be connected to the figurine the same exact way for all tests. The same height should be tested every time.  

Materials

• Plastic figurines: all similar (army men or Lego minifigures)
• masking tape
• plastic bags
• different sized coffee filters
• tissue paper
• t-shirts
• yarn
• string
• fishing line

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. Students could test out materials by cutting them the same size and dropping them to see how they move through the air.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design. Include as many ways to improve their parachutes as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, increase or decrease the weight the parachute needs to carry, give specific dimensions the parachute must be. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure groups are measuring their parachutes sizes and string lengths, timing the drops, and observing the effectiveness of their parachutes for analyzing purposes.  Students should be trying to answer the questions stated in the challenge.
5. Determine a process for attaching the parachute to the figurine for all groups so it is consistent,  inform students of the height which the parachute will be dropped, and agree on how the parachute will be dropped (pinching the middle of the parachute, holding it with and outstretched arm, and dropping it, instead of throwing, works best).
6. Discuss properties of each material and ask students to think about the different parachutes they might have seen. Students can research the different types of parachutes (sizes, shapes, materials, forms) and how they are used in the real world.
7. Connect to science by discussing gravity, air resistance (drag), and/or properties of materials.
8. Connect to ELA by reading I Fall Down by Vicki Cobb, where it takes the reader through different stop-and-try-it moments to better understand gravity.  Nonfiction books about parachutes or gravity would fit well with this concept as well.

Challenge
This month is the 144th Kentucky Derby. The best horses will race 1.25 miles around the track at Churchill Downs. Who will help them guide the track? The jockey that rides the horses will do this. A jockey must be light in weight but still be able to control the horse. This a large factor in the competition and winning the race. So for this month, the challenge is going to be creating and designing a mock jockey for a mock horse! How can you make your jockey aerodynamic? How will the jockey stay on the horse? Where should the jockey sit? What will be the race conditions? Your challenge is to think about these questions and use all your given materials to build a jockey that will sit on top a matchbox car (your horse) and goes the fastest speed or longest distance.

Your jockey does have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design and ALL of them must be used. You should try to use the same matchbox car as everyone else in the class. The jockey must stay on the car for the entire race. You cannot change the car in any way. The race must be conducted as fair as possible.   

Materials

• 1 matchbox car
• 4 toothpicks
• 2 index cards
• 1 foot thread/string/yarn
• 2 rubber bands
• 5-feet string piece
• 1 foot tape
• stopwatch
  

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​Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible and movable they are. Students could test out cars to time them before their jockey is attached.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their jockey and race time as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available, items needed to use, add any additional materials, take away materials, have students choose from a variety of cars, have the jockey need to look like a person. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Create some sort of race track by using a wide piece of cardboard or other sturdy material set up like a ramp. This way multiple cars can be placed on the track at a time. Create a gate for the cars so that when lifted, all the cars start at the same exact time.
5. Discuss if students would like to race to see which car and jockey is the fastest over a certain distance or travels the longest distance after leaving the ramp.
6. Connect to science by discussing forces, air resistance, friction, speed, or variables.
7. Connect to math by having students graph their times or measure the distance their cars and jockeys travel after each race.
8. Connect to ELA by having students create a broadcast of the event as announcers of the race. Students can use a green screen app to broadcast and provide a photo finish for tight races.

Challenge
The windiest month of the year is usually March. The second? April. It’s a little nicer in April than in March to fly kites, which is why it’s the National Kite Month. Besides flying kites, what else does the wind help us do? One thing that has become more common is using the wind to generate power (energy) with windmills. Windmills will be involved in the challenge this month. The challenge is to build windmill blades that generate the most power. How many blades should there be? What types of blades catch the most wind? Use your skills to find out!

Your windmill blades do have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. The blades can only be a certain height determined by the height of the windmill base. The blade spokes need to be coffee stirrers or craft sticks, but part of the blade that catches the wind can be any material.

Materials

• index cards
• tissue paper
• toothpicks
• tape
• string
• foam ball
• wooden skewer
• empty juice carton
• small paper cups
• craft sticks
• coffee stirrers
• paper
• aluminum foil
• wax paper
• small 3 speed fan
• washers, coins, marbles, or other small objects for weights

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible and movable they are. They could also research different windmills to study the blades, how they are positioned, how many there are, or how they are angled.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design and decide which materials would be best. Include as many ways to improve their windmill blades as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials, provide examples of blades that work, show them the different angles, start with little weight in the cup. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. To make the windmill, fill the empty juice carton with heavy items to hold it in place. Poke the wooden skewer through the top of the juice carton and wiggle it around so the hole is big enough for the skewer to twist freely. Secure a piece of string the length of the carton to a small cup using tape or another fashion. On the dull end of the skewer, tie the other end of the string holding the cup. The students should be able to add weights to the cup. When the skewer twists, it should now cause the string to wrap around the end, raising the cup.
5. Give groups of students a foam ball to use as their center. This ball will be attached to the front of the windmill base, opposite the string and cup. Demonstrate how the windmill works with the students by attaching the foam ball and twisting it. Remind them that their goal is to cause the windmill to generate power by lifting the cup with weights. The fan should be placed in front of the windmill about 1 foot away.
6. Challenge the students further by using different speeds on the fan and adding more weight to the cup if they succeed.
7. Connect to science by discussing weather conditions including severe weather, speed of an object to the energy of the object, or energy and natural resources.
8. Connect to ELA by reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Wheeler, where the main character builds a windmill to help provide a water well for the village. Nonfiction books about wind or windmills would fit well with this concept as well.

Challenge
Leprechauns should be making their rounds this month, hiding under rainbows with their pot of gold and four-leaf clovers. Just imagine if you were able to get close to a leprechaun and all its gold. What would you do? Steal his gold? Well, that’s going to be part of the challenge this month. We aren’t going to trap the leprechaun but try and take the gold right from under his nose. Your challenge is to design a tool that will be able to grab the pot of gold from a distance as if you were in the bushes. What will you design, a lasso, a grabber, a sticky hand, a long hook?

Your gold taking tool does have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. The tool must be able to reach at least 2 feet. You will also want to make sure the pot of gold doesn’t tip over and spill any gold. The more gold in the pot when it reaches you the better!

Materials

• pot of gold (medicine cup with small items)
• craft sticks
• straws
• tape
• string
• index cards
• clay
• cardboard
• toothpicks
• pipe cleaners
• brass fasteners

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible and movable they are.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their contraption as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available or allowed to use, add any additional materials, show examples of grabbers, change the distance of the pot of gold, or not to have the gold still left in the pot for success. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to be clear about where the pot of gold is sitting and where the students are hiding in the bushes. Create a start line and an X to mark the spot of the pot for each group.
5. Make a score chart with them to show how much each gold coin is worth, the pot is worth, getting them all, or any other possibilities they can imagine. Have them attempt to get the pot of gold three times tracking their score for each attempt. Allow them to redesign or fix their tool between attempts if needed.

Challenge
Groundhog's Day is an annual tradition held in Punxsutawney, PA  on February 2. On this day, Punxsutawney Phil, comes out of his burrow on Gobbler's Know to predict the weather for the rest of winter. If he sees his shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, it will be an early spring! This year will be Phil's 132nd prognostication or prediction. What will it be? 
This month's challenge relates to Phil and his shadow.  Your challenge is to build a device that allows Phil to pop out of his burrow and when he is out, his shadow must be 10cm long.

Your design does have some criteria and constraints. When Phil is in his burrow, he must be completely down in there. When he is popped out of his burrow, he must be fully popped. For example, if pressing down on a lever to pop Phil out, the lever must be pressed all the way not just to make the shadow 10cm long. The light being used should be in a fixed position. Testing of Phil should also be done in the same spot.

Materials

• cardboard boxes
• craft sticks
• cardboard scraps
• rubber bands
• tape
• scissors
• glue
• cardstock
• copy paper
• springs/wire
• blocks
• connecting cubes
• string

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible and movable they are and what they want to use for their "groundhog."
2. Allow students to place items in front of the light to see the size of the shadow the item makes.
3. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their design as needed.
4. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available, add any additional materials, take away materials, give every student a box with a hole on top to be used as the burrow, show them items such as seesaws, levers, pop-up cards, jack-in-the-boxes, pulleys, reels, give every group the same groundhog, have each groups make their own groundhog. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
5. Make sure to set up a testing station where there will be a light shining on to the burrow and an X to mark the spot of where the burrows will be. 
6. Discuss using a ruler to measure 10cm or have strands of string/paper pre-cut that are 10cm.
7. Connect to science topics by correlating this challenge to weather, weather forecasting, measuring, properties of light, shadows, patterns of the Sun.
8. Connect to ELA by reading from the plethora of books about Groundhog's Day and the tradition. Nonfiction books about the previous mentioned science topics or groundhogs would be a great fit as well.  Connect to myths, legends, and traditions since this holiday has background ideas with these topics.
9. Visit http://www.groundhog.org/ for the official website of Punxsutawney Phil to read more information about the tradition.

Challenge
Last month the challenge was trying to keep things warm, but this month the challenge is going to try to keep things cold! The weather sure does change a lot in New York from cold and freezing to above freezing and sunny during the winter. When it was snowy, you might have built a snowman, but now it might have melted. What if you wanted to keep it around? Do you think you’d be allowed to put it in the freezer? We are not going to try and build a large enough freezer for a snowman, but a cooler that will keep ice or snow from melting for a period of time if you brought it inside.

Your cooler does have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. You are only allowed to use a certain amount of materials per group noted in the list. The cooler has to be one that is easy to open to get the snow or ice out.  

Materials

• same size ice cube or amount of snow
• 1-foot masking tape
• 24x12 inch aluminum foil piece
• 12x12 felt piece
• 5 rubber bands
• 5-feet string piece
• 1 sheet copy paper
• 1-gallon Ziploc bag
• 1-pint Ziploc bag
• handful of Styrofoam packing peanuts
• 4 foam plates/trays
• 10 paper clips
• 10 craft sticks

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible and movable they are. Students could test out materials by placing snow or ice cube in each to see how long it lasts with the individual item.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their contraption as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available and allowed to use, add any additional materials. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to be using about the same size ice cubes and amounts of snow. Place all coolers in the same area for fair testing. Designate a specific amount of time to wait before opening containers (1-2 hours is the average time).
5. Discuss properties of each material and ask students to think about the different coolers they might have seen to try and emulate those.
6. Connect to science by discussing solids and liquids, reversible and irreversible changes with solids and liquids, freezing/melting points, thermometers, Fahrenheit, and/or Celsius.
7. Connect to ELA by reading The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, where the main character, Peter, puts snow in his pocket but it isn’t there in the morning. Nonfiction books about freezing and melting would fit well with this concept as well.

Challenge
Do you eat more soup in the summer or winter? Do you eat more ice cream in the summer or winter? Do you drink more hot chocolate in the summer or winter? Do you drink ice cold beverages more in the summer or winter? Why do you think this? As the seasons change, our clothes change and so do our diets! In the summer, our diets include colder things to help cool us down. In the winter, our diets include more warmer items to help keep us warm. In the summer, we use coolers and ice to keep things cold. In the winter, what do we use to keep things warm? If you can’t think of something, well that means it’s time to engineer! Your challenge this month is to build a device that fits around or over a paper cup to help keep the contents inside warm for a longer period of time than normal.

Your device does have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. The materials can be placed anywhere outside of the cup but not on the inside of the cup. It can have a cover over the top, but the cover needs to be able to fit the thermometer inside and removable so liquid or food can be put in the cup.

Materials

• paper cups
• thermometers
• water
• rubber bands
• aluminum foil
• felt sheets
• paper
• newspaper
• foam sheets
• wax paper
• thin cardboard sheets
• pipe cleaners

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible and movable they are.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their thermal insulator as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available, show ideas of how to construct a lid or koozie like device, show pictures of coffee-to-go cups with sleeves, take away any of the materials, change the amount of materials needed to be used, set a temperature requirement of loss to not go below. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Make sure to be using all the same cups, same amount of food/water in each cup each time, and always have a control cup for every group. Explain the importance of the control cup to the students.
5. Try to use warm-hot water so it is not too hot for students to touch in case of spillage.
6. Connect to science and ELA by having students discussing/figuring out how they could perform their investigation and writing the necessary steps to conduct it. Students can also write their conclusions for their device (or the best device) using evidence of why someone should use it.
7. Connect to math by practicing reading a thermometer and graphing the results. Students can also use the data to figure out temperature loss, practice adding and subtracting (especially if using a digital thermometer with decimals), older students can convert from Fahrenheit to Celsius, or practice finding range, median, mode, mean with the class data.

Challenge
It's the month of Thanksgiving and what is better than pumpkin pie for dessert? But where do those pumpkins come from? How are they picked from the patch? When picked, how do they not get damaged? Can they still be used if they get damaged? Is there a way for them to be picked without being damaged? Enter the design challenge. Your goal is to design and build a device to harvest a pumpkin patch efficiently (without damaging the pumpkins and by how many turns it takes to harvest the entire pumpkin patch). 

Your pumpkin picker does have some criteria and constraints. The device must be used to completely pick up the pumpkins (not allowed to touch them with your hands), but you can manipulate the device with your hands. You can not damage the pumpkins (scratches, dents, holes, etc.).  You can pick up as many pumpkins as possible with one turn. Efficiency is measure by how many times it takes you to clear the patch and place them in a bin combined with your time. Finally, make sure the pumpkin patch is set the same for every trial.

Materials

• candy corn pumpkins (rolos, kisses)
• pipe cleaners
• craft sticks
• plastic spoons
• masking tape
• binder clips
• straws
• twist ties
• scissors
• play dough 
• bin for pumpkins

Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see what properties they have.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their contraption as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust or limit the amount of materials students can use, create a map of where to place the pumpkins, set money amounts to each item (calculate it in their efficiency total), make the pumpkin patch smaller, larger, or in different patterns. 
4. Have the pumpkin patch set up in an array pattern to allow students to easily pick up more than one pumpkin at a time. 
5. Students efficiency of their device is the amount of turns it takes to clear the entire pumpkin patch plus the amount of time it takes to do the task. Add in the price of the device if using that strategy.
6. Connect to ELA and Social Studies by researching food that was available to the Pilgrims compared to current day. Connect to science by going through the process of seed, to plant, to being turned into pie with the book, Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum.
7. Other books to explore, non-fiction and fiction: Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson, From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffner, The Pumpkin Book by Gail Gibbons, How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara, or Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

Challenge
Do you know what a catapult is? It is an ancient device used for throwing large rocks. It was mostly used as a weapon to throw things either very far or very high up over walls during times of war. How do you think people built catapults? What are some of the main components to a catapult? How did they make them accurate? These are questions you might need to think about since this month’s challenge is to build a catapult. You won’t be using it for rocks or as a weapon, but to fling a popular candy of the month, candy corn. Your challenge is to build a catapult that either throws the candy corn the furthest distance, the highest, to be the most accurate, to knock down the most items. Bonus points for making one that does well in more than one category.

Your catapult does have some criteria and constraints. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. While testing out your device, there can only be three trials for each category. Each contraption has to be built with at least four different materials. Finally, the catapults should all be tested fairly when launching.

Materials

• unsharpened pencils
• craft sticks
• plastic spoons
• rubber bands
• binder clips
• string
• candy corn

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with the items to see how flexible and movable they are.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their contraption as needed.
3. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available, show ideas of how to construct a catapult with pictures, take away any of the materials, change the amount of materials needed to be used, set a height, distance, or accuracy requirement. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Set up dominoes or blocks of some sort that can be used for the accuracy and/or knocking things over categories. Or for accuracy, use a trick or treat bag/container/candy dish for students to get the candy corn in. Be sure to have all catapults behind the same line or in the same spots when judging categories.
5. Connect to science by having students discussing/figuring out the trajectories or using evidence to claim which catapult or material is the best to use for the challenge.
6. Connect to math by measuring how far the candy corn was flung during the trials, graphing the distances of all the catapults, analyzing results, or weighing the candy corn to see if the different masses go different distances.

Challenge
Imagine during your cruise vacation you stopped on a deserted island to take in all of nature’s beauty. While you were enthralled by the untouched island, the cruise ship leaves! Now, you are only left with your cell phone and some random materials. Your cell phone doesn’t work at all on this island, but you know from a previous stop there is another deserted island where there is plenty of service. It is a short distance away and an easy swim, but how will you get there without damaging your cellphone? Your challenge is to build a contraption that will be able to float behind you while you swim to the other island.

Your cell phone raft does have some criteria and constraints. The raft has to be tied to your body so make sure to include it into your design. You can’t hold the contraption or the phone above your head since you need that arm to swim! Your phone needs to stay completely dry for fear of not working at all. Only the materials provided can be used in your design. While testing out the device, it can be pulled by the string from one end of the water to the other at a moderate pace.

Materials

• newspaper sheets
• rubber bands
• dental floss
• various kinds of tapes
• pencils
• scissors
• rulers
• tennis balls
• various string types
• plastic sealable bags
• old mobile phone

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with a sample to see how items react in the water and what different ways they can be used.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design. Include as many ways to improve their contraption as needed.
3. If you don’t have enough old mobile phones for each group, use a deck of cards, soap dish filled with weight, or something similar.
4. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials available, change some of the materials to more that float, make the contraption propel itself, not have the contraption travel across the water, show examples of floatation devices. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
5. Ask reflection questions: Would the water be salty by the deserted island? Would that change how well your contraption floats? How could you test that? Would waves affect it? Why does a small little rock sink, but larger items float (barges, airplanes, cruise ships, etc)? What items do you wish you had to build the contraption?
6. Connect to science by having students discussing/figuring out buoyancy, density, sink/float, displacement of water, effects of electricity with water, waterproof and water resistant.
7. Connect to ELA by using the text, Captain Kidd’s Crew Experiments with Sinking and Floating by Mark Weakland, to introduce and provide background knowledge about floating and sinking with a pirate adventure. 

Challenge
Did you or are you going to visit an amusement park this summer? What is your favorite ride there: ferris wheel, merry-go-round, water slides, roller coaster, or other?  A roller coaster seems to be a crowd favorite with all of the twists, turns, being upside down, downhill speed, and loop-da-loops! Have you ever thought about trying to design a sample roller coaster?
 
This month’s challenge has you experimenting with materials to create a model roller coaster and experiencing the different attributes they have in order to work properly. Your challenge is to use the materials to make a roller coaster that has the passengers (a marble) going from the start to the finish in a slow manner, a fast manner, over a small hill, over a big hill, over two hills, through a loop-da-loop, through two loop-da-loops, and more of your choosing.
 
You can approach this challenge in a few different ways with different materials, but one way is to use foam pipe insulation, a large marble, masking tape, and a plastic/paper/foam cup. Cut the foam pipe insulation in half on its side to create the track for the marble. Tape multiple tracks together to make it longer and to adhere it to the different surfaces. Tape the cup at the end of track so the marble stops inside instead of rolling all over. Now your ready to start the challenges!

Materials

• masking tape
• foam insulation pipes
• large marbles
• plastic/paper/foam cups
• scissors

 
Hints and Tips for Success

1. Have students start out going in order of the challenges as listed above to the more complex ideas.
2. Only give students a certain length of foam (6') to conduct the initial challenges before building more detailed roller coasters.
3. Have students reflect and compare their results of what worked and didn’t work with each challenge.
4. Connect to science by discussing the concepts of forces such as gravity since the marble is being pulled toward the ground on the roller coaster.
5. Connect to ELA by reading the book, Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee, which shows different emotions of 12 people getting on and riding a roller coaster. This book is excellent for inferring from the character’s faces and by what is going to happen next by observing the pictures.
6. Use different types of balls (ping pong, foosball, wooden ball, bouncy ball, ball bearing) to see if they act the same on the roller coaster. Conduct different experiments to see which ball is the fastest/slowest through the track and have discussions about the trials.

Challenge
Now that it is officially summer, it’s time to play outdoors! Where else to play outside but the playground where hopefully you can find some slides to go down. Have you ever noticed if all the slides were the same or made of different material? Have you ever wondered why one day you went down the slide really fast, but the next day you might have gone really slow? How can this be?
 
This month’s challenge will hopefully help you find out, and maybe even let you know a way to zoom down the slides faster. Your challenge is to find out which material works best to slide down the slides at the playground. Remember, each slide could be different and have a different solution. So make sure to conduct the challenge on each slide!
 
You can approach this challenge in two different ways, but always make sure both ways are approached in a safe manner. One way to conduct this challenge is to create your own mat to sit on to go down the slide using different materials. Another way could be to change the types of clothes you’re wearing on your legs. To find out how to get down the slide fastest, have a partner time you at the beginning of your descent and stop the time when your feet touch the ground at the bottom of the slide.  Good luck!

Materials

Challenge
All pollinators visit flowers to get something out of them for themselves. This may be nectar, pollen, or both. During the visit, pollen lands on their body. Bumble bees, as well as other bee-like insects, have special structures on their bodies in which they store the pollen they have collected. I wonder how many pollinators can land on a flower before it tips over? Your challenge is to find out by creating and designing a model! The task is to design a prototype flower that will hold the most pollinators using paper plates, cardboard tubes, and scissors. Once you've built your flower prototype, you can test it out by placing marbles on it one at a time. Try to get the most marbles on the model before it topples over.

Your flower model design does have some criteria and constraints. Tape cannot be used at all. Only one paper plate is allowed per model. The marbles have to be placed one at time and more can’t be added until the marbles show no motion. The plate and tube can be altered, but the tube cannot be made shorter than its standard height. Marbles cannot be placed down the cardboard tube, unless if they remain on top of the plate inside the tube. You and your group should try to design a flower following these guidelines that holds the most pollinators.

Materials

• cardboard tubes (big or small)
• paper plates
• marbles
• scissors

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment a trial run with the materials before altering the plate or tube.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their design.
3. For differentiation, adjust the size of the paper plates, type of paper plates, size of the cardboard tubes, pollinators to lighter or more stable items, or allow tape. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
4. Allow the additions of roots and leaves onto the stem, if students think these structures will help in the overall design.
5. Connect to mathematics by having students graph the weight of the total number of marbles after each trial.
6. Connect to science and art by having students choose a certain flower structure to model their prototype after in shape and in color.
7. Connect to ELA by using texts on the topics of plant structure, pollination, or bees.

Challenge
Did you know early sailors used to wear life jackets made from cork? In later years, they started using a vegetable silk instead! The vegetable silk, kapok, is very similar to cotton. It became the standard for making life jackets. Then, due to war, the military developed an inflatable type of life jacket. The inflatable life jackets are still used today. Eventually, kapok was replaced by technological means when synthetic foam was created. This new means of design allowed the life jackets to be more flexible and the designers to create a variation of life jackets that we currently see today.
 
With the weather getting nicer, swimming will become more prevalent and little children need to stay safe around the water. Life jackets are the easiest way to do this! For some reason, all the life jackets have disappeared at the community pool. The lifeguard won’t let you OR your baby sibling in unless you both have life jackets. Well, why not design your own? Your challenge is to create a prototype life jacket out of the provided materials to help a plastic doll float.
 
Your design does have some criteria and constraints. The life jacket can only be made using the foam pieces and rubber bands. The life jacket should resemble more of a life jacket than a boat object. Finally, and most importantly, however the plastic doll is dropped in the water with its life jacket (head first, feet first, on its side, etc), the doll’s face must return to the top of the water and be sticking out in order to breathe! No doll’s face should be submerged in the water in any way.

Materials

• small plastic dolls (mini plastic baby favors used for Baby Showers work well)
• foam pieces (foam pipe insulation works well)
• rubber bands (any size)
• scissors
• plastic containers
• water

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with sample materials to see how they react with water (sink or float).
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design.
3. Groups only need a small amount of foam and rubber bands to use. The foam can be cut in any way.
4. For differentiation, limit or increase the amount of foam or rubber bands students get, adjust the criteria to how the baby has to float, take away one of the materials, or show examples of baby life jackets.
5. Allow each group to have its own plastic container filled with water to conduct their experiment.
6. Students will probably struggle at first but persistence is key with this challenge. There are actually many different solutions.
7. Connect to science and mathematics by having students figure out density of the materials, displacement, and/or buoyancy.

Challenge
The average yearly rainfall in New York State is about 46 inches. To measure rainfall, meteorologists use instruments called rain gauges. They are usually a transparent cylinder with measurement markings in inches or millimeters placed outside. Rain gauges collect the precipitation for a given amount of time in the area to let you know how much rainfall there was. There is rainfall about 120 days out of the year in New York State. It’s always advised to prepare yourself for this type of weather. There are many great preparations one can take. One easy thing to do is always have an umbrella handy. Don’t have an umbrella? Well, why not design your own? Your challenge is to build an umbrella out of the provided materials to protect an area from getting wet.
 
Your design does have some criteria and constraints. The umbrella has to be large enough to protect a circle area with about a 5” diameter. The umbrella prototype should be at least 12” tall. There can only be one support beam for the umbrella to stand on its own. There can be “feet” on the bottom of the umbrella to help it stand if needed. The umbrella must endure a rainfall of about 2 cups of water without getting any rain on the specified area. Finally, the umbrella cannot be adhered in any way to the base.

Materials

• craft sticks
• tape
• pipe cleaners
• paperclips
• paper (various kinds)
• aluminum foil
• plastic cling wrap
• wax paper
• cardboard pieces
• straws
• large bin
• small bin
• measuring cup

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Hints and Tips for Success

1. Allow students planning and discussion time by having them experiment with sample materials to see how they react with water.
2. After experimenting, allow student groups to plan their final design.
3. Limit the number of materials groups can use so they are not wasting materials but being thoughtful of how they can efficiently use them.
4. For differentiation, adjust the amount of materials, change the circle diameter, enforce a different umbrella height, use a different shape as the area, use an object, such as a stuffed animal, to be covered by the umbrella to drive the height and area requirements, pour the water at different speeds, and adjust the amount of water being used. Adjustments could be made to make it more challenging or simpler.
5. Have many shape areas ready for students by using light colored pieces of paper to easily track if water dripped on the shape.
6. Place a small bin upside down in the large bin. The student umbrellas can be placed on the small bin. Then the water can collect in the larger bin and be drained.
7. Connect to mathematics by having students identify their shape areas and perimeters by using graph paper, practice measuring liquids and converting, or reading water levels (meniscus).
8. Connect to ELA by reading a story regarding the topics of the water cycle, spring, rainy days, rainstorms, flooding, or weather patterns, and discussing the importance of preparing for this weather and how it compares in preparing for other types of weather.