
21 May STEM Challenge Week 8
It’s time for week 8 of our STEM at Home Challenges! Visit our blog every Thursday to see our latest STEM challenge and share your creations on Facebook using #CMMSSTEMChallenge or by emailing marketing@childrensmanor.com.
Your Goal:
Use your engineering and math skills to build a structure out of index cards that can hold the weight of a stuffed animal, and then a heavier object like bean bags, a canned food item. Please complete and share your photos with marketing@childrensmanor.com by Monday, May 25, 2020.
Materials:
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- Up to 100 Index cards or playing cards (or similar thick paper, like construction paper cut into 3×5)
- 12 inches of masking or other tape
- A ruler or tape measure
- Scissors
- Testing items: A stuffed animal, bean bags, a canned good, see what is the heaviest item you can get your structure to hold
Some Rules:
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- The structure must be as tall as possible (aim for at least 2 ft tall)
- It must be freestanding
- It must be able to hold a small stuffed animal (or other object)
- You do not have to use all the tape, but don’t use any extra.
- You may cut the index cards if you wish.
- You may not tape or glue your structure to the table or floor.
The process:
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- Brainstorm: Think about what kind of structure will be able to hold your heavy items. Draw it out and make a plan.
- Build: Start to build your structure, adapt your idea and building structure as you go.
- Test:
- First, take a picture to send to marketing@childrensmanor.com of you and your structure before testing with your heavy item.
- Then test your structure by first placing the stuffed animal, to see if it will hold. Then move on to a heavier item and see how far you can go. If you can get a picture with your structure holding your heavy item, please do.
- If your structure wasn’t able to hold your stuffed animal, brainstorm what may have gone wrong, and try again!
- Share: Share your photos and results with us at marketing@childrensmanor.com.
Get the whole family involved in this challenge and see who can build the structure that can hold the heaviest item!