S.T.E.M. Bridges

For the last 2 weeks our task was to design a bridge that would hold 340g of weight for 20 seconds. The materials allowed were - 30 straws per group and a teacher’s (Mrs Jack’s) handful of playdough. Scissors, a metre of string, 4 paper clips and masking tape.

We had to remember what a bridge was and work together collaboratively to complete the task. First we designed 3 different types of bridges. We picked one to create and test.

We were very successful. Nearly all of the designs worked and held the weight for the amount of time.

STEM - Toothpick Tower

For STEM we learnt about what a tower is. We found out that a tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide and it is a self-supporting structure. 

This weeks challenge was to design a free standing tower with the greatest height using only play dough and toothpicks. They were only allowed to use 100 toothpicks per group and a teacher’s (Mrs Jack’s) handful of play dough. The Success Criteria was - your tower must be able to stand up off the ground by itself only using the supplies you were given.

STEM - Newspaper Tower

During our STEM programme our Learners who are a mix of Year 4/ 5 / 6 children are working on communication and collaboration skills. The task was to  design a tower that can support a basketball. Materials they were allowed to use was newspaper and masking tape. The Success Criteria was- your tower must support a basketball for at least 20 seconds. Bonus Points were awarded if they constructed the tallest tower possible.