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JDaniel4s Mom

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What is the STEM Engineering Design Process?

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STEM and STEAM engineering projects are so much more than just giving children a problem to solve and bunch of supplies to solve the problem with. There are specific steps that children need to work through as they come up with the solution. These steps are called the STEM or STEAM engineering design process. Let me walk you through each of the steps.

What is the STEM Engineering Design Process?

What is the STEM Engineering Design Process?

Ask

The first step in the process is to ask what the problems are or what the problem is.  Your children need have a clear idea of what they are working to solve. If they don’t they can create something really cool and fun, that really does help you with the assigned problem.

 

Imagine

Once they are clear on the problem they need to solve, it is time to brainstorm ways to solve the problem. Children may need to be encouraged to think beyond recreating something they have already seen before.  One way to do that is to ask them ways they can improve or change something they have seen before and make it better.

After they have come up with several different ideas, they will need to narrow their choice down to just one idea. If they are working with a partner or team, they will need to be able to share why they think a particular idea is the best one to work on.

Plan

Just as a builder would not start building a house without a plan. Children completing a STEM engineering design process would not want to start creating something without a plan. They will need to create a diagram or drawing of what they hope to create.

You may want to them to label the various sections of their diagram. It will help them to see how the whole project with fit together.

Coming up with the list of supplies they will need is a part of the plan step of the STEM engineering design process.

Create

During the create process, your children will follow the plan they have come up with.  They will need to go back and look at their diagram or drawing over and over again to make sure they are on track.

This step is where your children are testing out their plan to see if it really works.

Improve

While it is wonderful when the plan children come up with work perfectly the first time, it is often the case that things don’t work perfectly the first time.  Children will take what they have learned from the problems they encountered to find a way that will work better.

Then they will repeat the process using their new and improved ideas.

STEM Engineering Design Process Document

stem-design-process-planning-document

I have created a STEM engineering design process planning document you can use with your children. I have included the process poster in this PDF.

Here are some STEM projects that we have done:

Build a Dino STEM Activity

Owl Eyesight STEM Exploration
What is the STEM Engineering Design Process? This post includes a post that displays the steps and a student planning document in a PDF format. They can be used by your kids while working on STEM experiments.

 

 

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Build a Dino STEM Activity

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Build a Dino STEM Activity - Build a dinosaur using straws and marshmallows.

This STEM activity is part of a series of activities I have created to go children’s books. This week’s activity is called Build a Dino. It is based on the book Goldilocks and The Three Dinosaurs.  You children can try to build a dino like the ones in the book or create one of their own.

Build a Dino Challenge

Supplies

  • bendable straws
  • large marshmallows
  • toothpicks
  • rolling pin
  • dinosaur toys or models or pictures

Build a Dino Challenge Prompt

Build a Dino STEM Activity - Build a dinosaur using straws and marshmallows.

The build a dino challenge is to use the straws, marshmallows, and toothpicks to create a free-standing dinosaur. If you have younger children, they can create a dinosaur that is laying down.

Build a Dino STEM Activity - Build a dinosaur using straws and marshmallows.

Your children can create a dinosaur inspired by a toy, model, or in a picture. They don’t have to make it look exactly like the dinosaur.

Building Tips

Your children can use the toothpick to cut the marshmallow into small building pieces.

A rolling pin can be used to create flat building pieces. Children could also use their hand to flatten the marshmallows.

 

Sharing Their Build a Dino Creations

When they are finished creating their dinosaur, have them share with you how their dinosaur looks like the one that inspired them.

While they are sharing the similarities, they may go make and want to add more to their dinosaur.

Build a Dino STEM Activity - Build a dinosaur using straws and marshmallows.

 

If you like this STEM challenge, here are some more STEM activities you will want to check out.

Owl Eyesight STEM Exploration

Counting Sheep Pulley Activity

Spider Web Hanger Challenge

Fixed Pulley Gets the Truck out of the Muck

Owl Eyesight – STEM Exploration for Kids

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Owl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.

Did you know that owls have unique eyes?  They have something called binocular vision. No wonder they have to turn their heads almost completely around to see the world around them. This unique owl eyesight keeps them from seeing well from side to side.

The link below is an affiliate link.

This week the Virtual Book Club is exploring the book Owl Babies Today’s I am going to share an experiment with you that focuses on owl eyesight.

Constructing Your Owl Eyesight Viewer

Owl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.

You may decide that you want to construct one owl eyesight viewer that the whole class can use although you could have your children construct their own eyesight viewer.

Supplies:

  • three paper plates per owl eyesight viewer
  • one long cardboard tube per viewer
  • scissors
  • glue sticks
  • brown and gold paint
  • two plastic forks

Putting Your Owl Eyesight Viewer Together

Cutting Out the Paper Plate Sections

You will start by cutting out the main headpiece by removing the bottom fourth of two of the paper plates. The top fourth will be your use for your viewer.

Then cut eye holes in one of the paper plates. Trace the location of those eye holes onto the second headpiece paper plate.  Next cut out all the eye holes.

You will cute the third paper plate into fourths. Two of the sections will be used to create the eye sections for the viewer. The position of the eye holes in the main headpiece will need to be traced onto them and then cut out.

Owl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.

Finally, you will cut a beak and two ears out of one of the remaining paper plate sections.

Painting the Paper Plate Sections

You will use a fork to paint the beak section of the paper plate gold. The remaining sections will be fork painted brown.

Getting the Cardboard Tube ReadyOwl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.

The cardboard tube will need to be cut in half. One end of each of the tubes will need to have three or four slits cut into it. These slits will be folded backwards so the tubes can be attached to the plates.

Constructing the Owl Eyesight Viewer

You will start by gluing the eye sections and the beak onto the front of the paper plate.

You will place the long end of the tubes through the eye holes in the unpainted plate. Then you will glue the flaps onto the front of that plate.

Next, you will glue the painted paper plate to the side of the unpainted plate that has the flap section on it.

Owl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.
Finally, you will glue on the beak and the eye sections to the painted plate.

Another Owl Mask Option

If you would prefer to have your children decorate an owl mask template, you can download this Free Printable Owl Mask Template.

STEM Exploration

Owl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.

Your children can try to look through the tubes to look around. They will notice that they have to turn their heads the same way an owl does to see thing that are not right in front of them.

Owl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.

More Owl Activities

Owl Eyesight - STEM Exploration for Kids - You can build the viewer for you children or have them built it themselves.

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STEM Challenge – Spider Web Hanger

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STEM Challenge Spider Web Hanger with Free Printable Task Cards

 

During the month of October, I have been sharing a STEM challenge that explores one of the books featured in the Virtual Book Club each week. There was a fixed pulley activity shared during Little Blue Truck week. Before that, there was a STEM challenge that looked at whether pumpkins can float. Today’s STEM challenge explores a theme of The Very Busy Spider and asks children to create a spider web hanger.

Your children will be given four tasks to complete during this STEM challenge. They will create a spider web on a hanger. Then they will create spider themed stones. Next, they will test the strength of their webs. Finally, they will make repairs to their web if parts of it don’t survive the challenge.

Before you start this activity, you may want to read your children a book about spiders! Below you will find several wonderful children’s books about spiders.


Spider Web Hanger STEM Challenge

Below you will find each of the tasks described. I have created of STEM Challenge Spider Web Exploration cards that you can give your children to use as they work through each of the challenges. While each describes each task, they don’t go into a lot of detail. I have purposely left the tasks open-ended.

STEM Challenge Spider Web Exploration Free Printable Cards

Creating the Web

You children will need dental floss, a hanger, and a pair of scissors. We used a plastic hanger to create our web. You may want your children to discover whether a wooden, metal or plastic hanger is best for web building.

One end of the floss was tied to the hanger. Then the floss was woven across the hanger. (We made sure we wove the floss over and under other threads of the web.) When we felt the web was finished. We cut the end of the floss from the container and tied it onto the hanger.

STEM Challenge Spider Web Hanger with Free Printable Task Cards

Creating Spider Stones

My son collects rocks. We were able to go through his collection of rock to find two rocks that were mostly flat. You will want to have some mostly flat rocks for your children to use for this project.

The only direction I have for making the spiders was to make sure they have a head (cephalothorax), an abdomen, and eight legs. If you would like more details like eyes, spinnerets or fangs, you can share that with our children.

Testing Web Strength

STEM Challenge Spider Web Hanger with Free Printable Task Cards

We placed our spider stones on various parts of the web to see with they would stay on the web. You can ask your children to find the areas of the web that will hold the stones. You could ask them also find areas that might need to be repaired or strengthened with the stones.

STEM Challenge Spider Web Hanger with Free Printable Task Cards

Repairing the Web

If your children find that some areas of the web need to be repaired after the web strength test, you will want them to fix them first. They will also find that there are areas that need to be strengthened with more floss.

Once they have made repairs and feel their web is stronger, they will repeat the web strength test.

If you like this STEM challenge, you will find more on my Early Learning Science board on Pinterest.

 

STEM Challenge Spider Web Hanger with Free Printable Task Cards

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Fixed Pulley Helps Truck Out of the Muck

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Fixed Pulley Gets the Truck Out of the Muck

The Virtual Book Club book of the week is Little Blue Truck. My son and I are exploring pulleys as a Scout enrichment project. I decided to combine an event from the book with the creation of a fixed pulley.

Younger children will find the turning of the rolling pin a challenge. They will have to get both of their hands to turn the rolling pin at the same speed to get the truck to rise.  Older children will need to work on the correct speed to raise the truck out of the muck facing forwards. If they go too fast, the truck will start spinning. They will then have to slow down to get the truck to face front again.

Once your children have used the simple pulley to lift the truck out of the muck. They can then decide where to lower the truck to return it safety to the ground.

Fixed Pulley Gets the Truck Out of the Muck- A rolling pin made a great pulley.

Supplies for Creating the Fixed Pulley

Some of the links below are affiliate links.

Below you will find two lists of building supplies. Along with the supplies you may also want to read the book Little Blue Truck to your children.

Supplies for Pulley and Truck

  • Blue Painter’s Tape
  • Silver Duct Tape
  • Black Electrical Tape
  • Flap from a Cardboard Box
  • Brown Yarn
  • Scissors
  • Rolling Pin
  • Hole Punch

Supplies for the Muck

  • Paper Lunch Bags Cut into Strips
  • Metal Lasagna Tray
  • Scissors

Creating the Truck for the Fixed Pulley

Fixed Pulley Gets the Truck Out of the Muck- A rolling pin made a great pulley.

Start by creating the body of the Little Blue Truck with blue tape. We had blue painter’s tape at our house so that is what I used. You can use any kind of blue trap you like.

Then cut two three inch pieces electrical tape or another type of black tape. You will place them on either side of the bottom of the truck. They will be your wheels.

Next place a narrow strip of the silver duct tape across the bottom of the truck. It will be the truck’s bumper. Then place a rectangular piece of tape above the bumper for the grill. You can add details to the top of the grill and create mirrors using silver tape scraps.

Finally you will place small strips of the black tape on the silver rectangle to complete the grill. We used four strips of black tape on ours.

Fixed Pulley Gets the Truck Out of the Muck- A rolling pin made a great pulley.

Creating the Fixed Pulley

Once you have created your truck, you will use a hole punch to create a hole near the top of the cardboard. Then you will tie one end of a length of brown yard to hole in the box. Next you will tie the other end of the yard to the center of a rolling pin.

 

More Fun Science Experiments

STEM Bridge Building

Do Pumpkins Float? Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float?

How to Make an Ice Cream Scoop Catapult

STEM Activities with #2 Pencils

 

Fixed Pulley Gets the Truck Out of the Muck -This STEM activity was designed to go with the book Little Blue Truck.

Do Pumpkins Float? Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float?

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Do Pumpkins Float? Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float? Stop by and see what we learned in this STEM experiment.

I have heard that pumpkins of all sizes can float, but seeing really is believing. I wasn’t sure they would. I asked my son JDaniel, “Do pumpkins float?” He was sure they did. JDaniel even had a number of reasons why he thought they floated. When I asked him if other fruit and veggies would float. He wasn’t as sure about them.

Before You Start the Experiment You May Want to Read a Book

Links below are affiliate links.

You may want to share a book about fruit and vegetables with your children before you start this experiment. Below you will find some of my favorites.


 

Let me share with you what we learned. I bet you are going to want to do this Do Pumpkins Float? activity with your children.

Do Pumpkins Float? If They Do, Why Do They?

You may want to start by sharing a pumpkin diagram. It would help them gather background information on why it floats.

Then you can ask, “Do pumpkins float?” I love to hear the logic behind children’s answers. You will probably want your children to tell you why they think it will float or sink. They will probably share with you facts similar to the ones my son shared with me. Pumpkins are mostly hollow. They have a lot of air in them.

Do Pumpkins Float? Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float? Stop by and see what we learned in this STEM experiment.

You may choose to experiment with several pumpkins of different sizes. It will help your children conclude if it is true for all pumpkins.

Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float?

You can place a few other fruits and veggies into a tub to see if they sink or float. We experimented with zucchini, a yellow squash, a carrot, and a cucumber. You can try using those same fruits and veggies or others. You might want to try an apple. I have heard that they float too.
Do Pumpkins Float? Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float? Stop by and see what we learned in this STEM experiment.

We found that only the carrot sunk completely to the bottom. The zucchini, squash, and cucumber floated like submarines partially submerged in the water.

Do Pumpkins Float? Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float? Stop by and see what we learned in this STEM experiment.

 

This post is a part of the Virtual Book Club for Kids. The featured book this week we are reading Five Little Pumpkins by Dan Yaccarino.

Here More Pumpkin Themed Activities Based on Five Little Pumpkins:

Alphabet Activities

Pumpkin Rocks Alphabet Matching – Inspiration Laboratories

 

Name Activities

Pumpkin Patch Name Spelling Activity – Still Playing School

 

Number Activities

Pumpkin Counting Printable-CraftCreateCalm

Pumpkin Math: How Many Segments? Teach Beside Me

 

Sensory Activities

Pumpkin Sensory Play with Water- The Educators’ Spin On It

 

Cooking Activities

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds With Kids: A Five Senses Experience – To be a Kid Again
Kid-Made Pumpkin Spice Cookies – Sugar, Spice & Glitter

Science Activities

Preschool Pumpkin Skin Experiment – Preschool Powol Packets

 

Color Activities

Easy Colorful Mosaic Pumpkins for Kids- Toddler Approved

 

Pre-Writing Activities

5 Little Pumpkins Fine Motor Busy Bag – Views From a Step Stool

Pumpkin Suncatchers – Clare’s Little Tots

 

Shape Activities

Make a Felt Pumpkin Face – Mama Smiles

Free Printable Pumpkin Shape Puzzles- School time Snippets

 

Do Pumpkins Float? Do Other Fruits and Veggies Float? Stop by and see what we learned in this STEM experiment.

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How to Make a Catapult Ice Cream Scoop Style

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How to Make a Catapult for Kids Ice Cream Scoop Style

 

The book Should I Share My Ice Cream? by Mo Willems is a favorite at my house. I recently asked JDaniel what he remember about the book. He remembered all the key points. “Elephant spent so much time deciding if he should share that his ice cream melted! Thank goodness Pig came along with ice cream to share!” he told me.  I am sharing with you today how to make a catapult for kids or with kids.  This activity has two bowls that kids will try to get the pretend ice cream balls into. It is important to share ice cream with both locations.

How to Make a Catapult for Kids

How to Make a Catapult for Kids- This is how the catapult was constructed.

Supplies

  • Plastic Ice Cream Scoop (We found one at a dollar store.)
  • Metal Can (You can choose to use a full can with younger children.)
  • Rubber Band
  • Pom-Poms
  • Two Bowls

Putting the Catapult Together

How to make a catapult for your kids will depend on their ages. We used an empty can that had the sharp edges sanded down with sandpaper, an ice cream scoop and a a heavy rubber band at my house.

Other Options

You may choose to use an unopened metal can. The contents of the can will help the fulcrum or center point of the catapult stay in place.

You could use an metal can that has had rocks placed in it. A plastic lid can be place on the opened end.

How to Use the Catapult

How to Make a Catapult for Kids- This is activity would be great to do after reading the book Should I Share My Ice Cream?

After slipping the scoop in place, the goal is to fling pom-poms into each bowl. You can move the bowls forward or backward after each attempt if necessary.  You can also move the catapult closer to the bowls if you like.

 

More Preschool learning for Should I Share My Ice Cream?

This is year I am participating in the Virtual Book Club with a number of other bloggers. This week’s book choice is Should I Share My Ice Cream? Below you will find a wide range of activities that you can work on with your children. They cover a wide range of preschool concepts.

Here are the books coming up next in the Virtual Book Club. You may want to look for them at your local library ahead of time.

SEPTEMBER 26

Theme: Leaves
Featured Book: Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. Leaves! Leaves! Leaves!would also be a great pick for this theme.

OCTOBER 3

Theme: Pumpkins
Featured Book: Five Little Pumpkinsby Dan Yaccarino. There is a fun new Pete the Cat: Five Little Pumpkins book out that would also be great for this week!

OCTOBER 10

Theme: Farms
Featured Book: Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle. Big Red Barn is a great alternate read.

OCTOBER 17

Theme: Spiders
Featured Book: The The Very Busy Spiderby Eric Carle. Miss Spider’s Tea Party is a cute book you could substitute for this week. It seems to be out of print, but used copies are very inexpensive and it is still likely to be available in libraries.

 How to Make a Catapult for Kids- This is activity would be great to do after reading the book Should I Share My Ice Cream? Kids will love trying to share ice cream balls into both bowls.

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Science Experiments For Kids with School Supplies

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Science Experiments for Kids with School Supplies

Why not stock on school supplies when they are deeply discounted during Back to School sales! They are wonderful to use in STEM science experiments for kids.

We did five STEM science experiments for kids using school supplies that we bought on sale! Your children will love trying each one of them out. Each leaves the door open for your children to expand, extend or change the science experiments for kids.

Science Experiments for Kids

How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick Supplies

How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick– Your children will use pencils and brass fasteners to create a fun Back to School themed instrument that can be shaken to create a rhythm or used explore syllables.

Kid Science School Supply Car Ramp Slight Incline

School Supply Car Ramp – Your children will use a three-ring binder and binder clips to a variety of car ramps. They will decide what type of ramp allows a toy car to roll the farthest.

STEM Activity Build a Bridge with Everyday Items Look from Above

Building a Bridge with Markers and Rubber Bands – Your children will create a bridge using markers, rubber bands, a yardstick, and a egg carton. One way to create the bridge is shared. I bet they will come up with others.STEM Activities for Kids with #2 Pencils - Pencils can be used to create a number of shapes, numbers and structures.

STEM Activities with #2 Pencils– Your children can use #2 pencils to create towers, shapes, and so much more. The best thing about building with pencils is that they don’t roll.

Moving Ball Down a Yard Stick Road Science Project Idea Binder ClipsPushing 2

Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road – Your children will use erasers, binder clips, and yardsticks to create a road. They will then explore various ways to get a variety of balls down the road.

 

Books that Go Along with the Science Experiments for Kids

I love to tie books to science experiments. Below you will find a list of books that would be great to read before doing each of the science experiments.

Links below are affiliate links.

Books with Pencils

Books about Rainsticks

Books about Building Bridge, Ramps, and Towers

Science Experiments for Kids with School Supplies

How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick

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How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick

Last week I shared with you four STEM activities that featured school supplies. There was a 3-ring binder car ramp. Then there was pencil building exploration. Next we made a magic marker bridge. Finally there was a yardstick road experiment. Today I want to share with you a school supply rain stick. Your kids will love making one and exploring the sounds they make.

Making the Rain Stick
How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick Supplies

Supplies

  • Brass Fasteners
  • Plastic Container
  • #2 Pencils

Putting the Rain Stick Together

In many ways making a rain stick is a STEM activity. Your children will not just dump all the supplies into a plastic container and be done. They will have to experiment with the number of pencils and fasteners to place in the container. They will have to think about how to arrange the materials in the container.

Why?

If you place too many fasteners and pencils in the container, they will not be able to move.

If you place to few fasteners in the container, there many not be as big a sound.

What about the pencils?

Children will also want to experiment with how to have to pencils placed in the container. The pencils can be eraser side down or eraser side up. Children can arrange the pencils so the ends are along the edge at the bottom of the container. There  are a number of ways that they can be arranged in the container.  Your children may find it depends on the size of container you supply for them.

Exploring the Rain Stick

How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick Supplies

Once your children have created their rain sticks, they can explore different ways to shake them. Below you will find several ways we found to shake a rain stick.

Rain Stick Actions

  • Move it up and down
  • Shake it side to side horizontally
    How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick Supplies
  • Turn it in a circle
  • Shake it  side to side while holding it verticall

If you like this rain stick activity, you will love other science activities I have pinned to my Early Learning Science board.

 

How to Make a School Supply Rain Stick Supplies

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Science Project Ideas – Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road

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Science Project Ideas - Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road

This yardstick STEM activity is part of a series of STEM activities that feature school supplies. Early I shared with you STEM science project ideas that featured #2 pencil towers, 3-ring binder car ramps, and magic marker bridges. This science activity features a yard stick, erasers and binder clips. We are calling it “Build a Yard Stick” canal.

Boats travel down a canal filled with water. This STEM activity invites children to create a canal. Then they are to send a variety of balls from one end of the canal to the other.

 

Science Project Ideas Materials

Links below are affiliate links.

 

Science Project Ideas

Creating the Bridge

You will need flat erasers, binder clips,and two yardsticks to create the bridge. I think you will find that the bridge will stay together best when it is created on a textured or rough surface. The binder clips tend to slip on a smooth surface. If you choose to use a smooth surface, you may need to tape the binder clips down to the surface.

Science Project Ideas - Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road
You will place a flat eraser into each of your binder clips. Then place the binder clips on a flat surface with the flat end down. The clips should be going diagonally down from the open end to the flat surface.

Science Project Ideas - Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road

Then you will place your yard sticks in the space created in between the two clips. This will create a “V” shaped canal or alley way.

 Project Supplies

Along with the yardstick, binder clips and erasers, your children will need to try to get a variety of balls down the canal or alley.

We used the following balls:

  • marble
  • bouncy ball
  • golf ball

You can use any or all of the balls above for the experiment. You can also use any other type of ball you think will fit in the canal.

Ways to Get the Balls Down the Canal

Science Project Ideas - Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road

My son thought blowing the balls down the canal would be fun. He found that the lighter balls were able to make the complete trip.

Science Project Ideas - Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road

You will also want to try his second idea. He gave the balls a push from behind to get the ball rolling. Your children can try giving it a strong push to see if they can get the ball to make a complete trip.

Science Projects Ideas - Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road

Next you may want to have your children bang one of the balls into another ball to get it rolling. If the ball stops rolling, they can tap or bang the ball a second time.

Finally you could have them tap or hit a ball from behind with a stick. This would be like using a pool cue.

Things Your Kids Will Observe

What type of ball will travel the farthest down the yardstick road?

Is there a ball rolling technique works best for each ball?

What rolling technique works best overall?

Science Project Ideas - Moving Balls Down a Yardstick Road

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