After reviewing the possible mindsets and rules for STEM I introduced our first challenge. The Marshmallow Challenge. Students worked in groups of 3-4 students. Each group was given 20 marshmallows, 20 spaghetti sticks and a yard of tape. They were then given 20 minutes to build teh tallest free standing structure that they could. They were encouraged to brainstorm and draw a plan before they started building. I was so impressed with the way that every team worked together and how no teams gave up or were overcome with frustration. We had a great time and we did a great job building our structures.
We are starting a new routine called, STEM Mondays. STEM is an acronym that stands for Science Technology, Engineering and Math. (There is also STEAM that includes Art). STEM projects encourage children to work together to meet a common goal. These projects incorporate different problem solving skills and help students to keeping trying using multiple ideas and techniques. This also helps students to move from a fixed mindset (giving up easily and having feelings of not being able to accomplish something) to a growth mindset (understanding that something may be hard but that they are going to keep trying and not give up.) After reviewing the possible mindsets and rules for STEM I introduced our first challenge. The Marshmallow Challenge. Students worked in groups of 3-4 students. Each group was given 20 marshmallows, 20 spaghetti sticks and a yard of tape. They were then given 20 minutes to build teh tallest free standing structure that they could. They were encouraged to brainstorm and draw a plan before they started building. I was so impressed with the way that every team worked together and how no teams gave up or were overcome with frustration. We had a great time and we did a great job building our structures.
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