Our school-wide monthly challenge for March is Gold Coin Catapults!  We have made catapults before, so the kids are getting pretty good at it.  We are also including a home project making Leprechaun Traps.  You can click here to get the Leprechaun Trap STEM Challenge FREEBIE!

We decided to pair this challenge with these two books:

This STEM Challenge needs very few materials!  You only need craft sticks, plastic gold coins, and rubber bands.  Click here for the link to this monthly STEM challenge.

Here are some of our catapult designs for this challenge!  Even though the kids come up with such different solutions, they all still work!   It is so amazing to see their thinking as they complete the different STEM challenges!

Looking for a fun way to show your support of all things S.T.E.M.?   Why not order a t-shirt today???

Click here for the link to our Teespring campaign!

I just recently found this book and I am IN LOVE with it!  It is such a kid-friendly and educational book!  I can only hope that the author will continue to write these books for other regions of the United States!  I am currently working on a STEM pack to go with the book!  If you haven't already found this book, you can order it on Amazon!  You may want to check out the engineering challenge pack!

Here is the link to the STEM Engineering Challenge Pack for this book!  If you are looking for a pack with lots of bridge projects, this is a great one!

I stumbled upon one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time...INDOOR SNOWBALLS!  I just knew I had to create something STEM related in order to get to play with these in my classroom!  They come in 20 and 40 packs.  Click on the picture for the link to these on Amazon!

The students had to complete the following STEM Engineering Challenge:

Can you design and build a snowball catapult that launches the snowball the farthest distance?

Materials: (per group)

One indoor snowball (homemade or premade)
Variety of building materials (cardboard, paper, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, tongue depressor sticks, etc.)
Plastic spoons
Tape, scissors and glue
Tape measure

There were some pretty simple rules to follow as well, and the kids had a blast constructing their own catapults!  Here are some of their designs:

Students got to test their snowball catapults at their tables as they built them and then in the hallway when we were testing them.  They had a blast!  Click on the picture below for the link to the $2 lab pack.

We are gearing up for our next monthly challenge...BUBBLES!  We do not do anything holiday related since not all of our students celebrate the same ones, so we figured bubbles would be perfect!  These monthly school-wide challenges are purposely left open-ended so teachers can extend them as they wish.  I know in my grade level we plan to do circles in math at this time as well as dry ice bubbles and some other labs.  It should be fun!  We chose three books to include with the challenge this time and they are perfect (one is amazingly funny and informative)!  Here is the link to the December challenge packet, you could actually use it for ANY month!

Here are the books we are using.  Click on each one to be taken to the Amazon link if you are interested in purchasing them!

"Pop! A Book About Bubbles" is a great non-fiction book for all grade levels and gives great explanations about bubbles. 

"Bubble Trouble" is a fictional story about bubbles causing a lot of trouble!  Super cute!

"Bubble Homes and Fish Farts" has to be my favorite!  I thought it would be a gimmick, but it actually contains a huge amount of great information about how different animals use bubbles as an adaptation in order to survive!  I highly recommend this one even if you are not doing this challenge.  It is a fantastic book!

I hope you find a way to incorporate bubbles into your classroom!  The possibilities are endless!

We completed our monthly STEM challenge and found some unbelievable results!  Our pumpkin was pretty big, and it had a lot of seeds!  We actually cut the pumpkin into six slices, one per table and it gave us a great view of the inner workings of the pumpkin!

I just recently created this Engineering Challenge FREEBIE!  My kids will be doing this one after Thanksgiving Break and I will be sure to post pics of their designs!  I hope you can use it in your classroom, too!  Click here for this freebie!

Happy holidays and happy engineering to you!