Lend a Hand!! A Materials/Bio STEM Challenge!!

Challenge Specifics

 

We've been investigating living organisms, their habitats, natural resources and the relationships between all three. I challenged each student to design and contruct a prosthetic device to be used by someone without the use of all of their fingers. This we know is a medical problem that biological and materials engineers solve everyday, using natural resources (or some variation thereof) and what they know about the science behind how prosthetics work. Now some might say that since my little friends don't have the scientific background knowledge neccessary to complete such a task, that they wouldn't be able to...but I beg to differ. Most of what we need to know about how this world works, we learned as babies. Children have the ability to do all sorts of things, if we just give them the materials and let them go.

 

Prosthetic example!!

I didn't tell my students how prosthetics worked, nor did I show them any pictures of any. I didn't explain anything to them about wedges, inclined planes, springs or support. I simply gave them the materials, a sheet detailing specifics and told them to have a fantastic weekend!! Although I didn't discuss any of the aforementioned concepts with them, all of my friends used some variation of those physical ideas in order to complete their challenge designs. How??

Well, here's an example, I asked this student about the logistics of her design and she explained to me that she got the idea from a seesaw. She described to me the way a seesaw works and pointed out the fact that since it works there, why not here...so cute!! Her grabber was able to pick up a cotton ball, a sheet of paper, an eraser and a penny!! 



This student said he came up with his idea after thinking about the motion of a person's hand moving up and down, while watching his mother cook dinner. He explained that he noticed a continuous up and down motion, that he wanted to immitate in his design. He also discussed the actual look of his design and how it lends itself to convenience and conveys the feel of a real hand. His grabber was able to pick up a cotton ball, a sheet of paper, an eraser and a penny as well!! 

Here are a few other designs!!

The bottom line, challenge your little friends without having the end in sight. Let them find their way through observations made through success and failure!!! And as always...here's a link to the actual challenge, the specifics and a letter you can send home with a rubric attached!! :)

 

Your friend in STEM,

 

Thee Busy Bee 

Coordinate a STEM Night!!

How-To: Coordinating a STEM Night at Your School

Ever wanted to organize a night dedicated to STEM at your school?? Well, this school year at my school, I had the pleasure of co-coordinating one such event…it went swimmingly, thanks to fabulous minds and fantastic planning. Here’s how we did it!

Planning Your STEM Night

This is the very first step in the organization process…well besides the obvious choosing to conduct a STEM night in the first place. J Having a precise plan can be beneficial for implementation and recording this information is even better. The following is a table giving details you may want to take into consideration when planning your night:

Do This:

Start early! I can’t stress this enough. Great events take great planning and great planning takes great time….period. The more time you give yourself to prepare, the better!!

Solicit volunteers from inside of your school and out. This can be done in a variety of ways, like email invitations, e-vites, online surveys and traditional tried and true papers sent home to students. Preferably, find volunteers who have STEM backgrounds and are passionate about STEM education…it’ll make a huge difference in the way activities are facilitated. People who love science, engineering, technology and/or math are great options as well!!

Develop fun and engaging activities for parents and students to complete. There are numerous online resources to assist you in this department, but why search through all of them when you can just email me directly for a list of over 50 STEM challenge ideas at theebusybee@gmail.com or at totallySTEM@gmail.com J I can provide instructions on what needs to be done as well.

Schedule and create rotations for families. This helps keep families and volunteers organized and it assists in keeping families from lingering in one activity area for too long or not staying long enough in another.

Advertise. Advertisement of events like these not only inform potential participants about logistics, they also can serve as a reminder and a way to keep people enthusiastic about participating.

Secure locations for activities to take place. In order to hold an event of this nature, you must have areas in which to conduct. I’d suggest using rooms that are all on the bottom level of your facility. By doing this you will cut down on the amount of traffic to areas where there is no supervision. This also keeps everyone volunteering in the event close to each other in the event that they need assistance from one another.

Locate sources for materials to be used. The great thing about many STEM challenges is that they usually don’t require much in the area of materials. Supplies for many STEM activities can be found right in your very own home. However, some resources will need to be purchased. Small grants are fantastic, but when in a crunch, sending a note home with students asking for donations can yield fantastic results.

Carrying Out Your Plan

When carrying out your plan be sure to make a nice to do list to help you stay on track, that can be shared with volunteers if need be and your administrative team. This will allow participants to see your vision and where they fit in in assisting you in making it come to fruition. It’s also nice to give yourself deadlines for task completions, which will also assist you in staying on schedule, so don’t be reluctant to do so. The following table gives an example of a “To-Do List” for carrying out a plan for a STEM night event.

Sample STEM Night To-Do List:

1. Obtain approval for holding the event from administrative team no less than 5 months in advance for logistical purposes

2. Inform school staff of the event two months before its scheduled date and ask for staff volunteers

3. Secure locations for activities to take place at least one month before the event

4. Solicit volunteers from outside of the school at least one month before the event

5. Develop STEM challenges and accompanying resource sheets to be completed that night at least one month before the event

6. Ask parents and community partners for materials at least a month before the event

7. Purchase materials not donated at least two weeks before the event (especially if items are to be ordered)

8. Create a schedule for volunteers and a rotation schedule for families to follow while there, at least two weeks before the event

9. Advertise as much as possible from beginning to end and one of these fliers should have a place for probable participants to RSVP

10. Copy all paper resources for that night at least a week before the event

11. Assemble and distribute materials to volunteer participants the day before the event

  

Facilitating the Actual Night

When the big night finally arrives, smile, pat yourself on the back and watch your vision come true! But before it actually starts, there are a few strings that need tying. The day before the event would be the ideal time to double check your to-do list and to double check with participants to make sure they’re still volunteering, just in case you need to make any last minute adjustments. It’s best to give yourself as much time as possible so you can stay one step ahead of the game. The following table is a list of some logistics you might want to consider that night, just to make sure everyone has fun and that everything runs smoothly.

Do This:

Assign two to three people to the main entrance of your facility to serve as greeters….encourage them to smile and to exude enthusiasm about the event

Assign four-six (depending on school size) people to serve as guides for families who have trouble finding their way to their activity areas

Make sure families are given schedules when they come in the door

Make sure families stay in the areas they are supposed to until their transition times

Announce transition times on a loudspeaker

Complete a walk through right before the event starts just to make sure everyone and everything is in place

Start promptly and end promptly

Encourage volunteers facilitating activities to have fun, smile, be warm and to relate activities to real life instances as much as possible

As always, please feel free to direct any questions you may have to theebusybee@gmail.com or totallySTEM@gmail.com and I’ll get back to you. Need help?? Totally STEM can do that, we can even come out to your event and facilitate a challenge! Best wishes!!! J

  

Looking for More??? ·        Offer refreshments and ask that they be consumed in a designated area ·        Distribute goodie-bags for families to take home with a STEM challenge and materials for it inside ·        Give a brief introduction to all parents about STEM, STEM challenges for children and STEM education implications on later life ·        Serve dinner for volunteers