The Marshmallow Challenge

This is our first of many STEM activities.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  They are meant to have the kids learn how to problem solve, work with one another, and learn some basic STEM concepts.  Here’s what they did today…fun with a marshmallow.  Who knew a marshmallow was so HEAVY!?  J

The Marshmallow Challenge

Materials:

20 pieces of spaghetti

1 yard of tape

1 yard of string

1 marshmallow

Object:

Create the TALLEST freestanding structure out of these materials with the marshmallow on TOP.  This is a TEAM project.  Every person of the team needs to be a part of the solution.  You need to listen to everyone’s thoughts and give everyone a chance to participate. 

Things to keep in mind:

Teamwork is an essential part of most jobs you will do as an adult.  If you don’t listen to one another, you may miss an AMAZING idea.  Listen!!

Partner:

Ideas (before you started building your structure):

Changes we made (after we started building):

Summary

This was a great experience for every duo.  Some of them had pieces fall at the very end, some didn't get their work up and going until right before the timer went off (they had 5 minutes to pre-plan, and 25 minutes to create their tower), and EVERYONE learned a lot in the process.  Yahoo!