It’s the end of the school year, so your end-of-year activities need to be on-point to keep kids engaged! This boat building STEM / STEAM Challenges is perfect for summer – or any time of the year! It brings the joy back to your classroom with collaborative, hands-on, brain-busting work (disguised as fun)!

The basic premise:

Individually, or in partners/groups, students work against a criteria and constraints list to build a boat that is designed for capacity and/or speed. You can choose to run the challenge as a single 20-30 minute fun building task to do on a rainy day, or select from multiple options to add layers of depth and rigor.

Modifications included for grades 2-8.

This mini bundle comes with an “any time” original version and a Mini Mayflower version to use for Thanksgiving.

Note: This is the digital format, compatible with Google Slides ™.

For the print version, click here.

Resource includes:

• NGSS aligned standards, Grades 2 – 8

• Teacher Tips:
  • Links to my 5-part video series on getting started with STEM challenges
  • Materials and timing
  • Criteria & Constraints (including modifications to increase difficulty for older students)
  • Measuring results
  • Universal STEM Challenge Notes & How to Use Student Slides
  • Post-design extension activities list
  • Link to a video walk-through of the challenge

• Student Slides
  • Criteria & Constraints List (editable)
  • Design Analysis
  • Discussion Questions

• Extension templates
  • Class-wide Data Analysis Activity
  • Graph Class Data
  • Calculate Boat Speed
  • Design Your Own Sailboat experiment (with sample answers)
  • Design Report
  • Create Your Own Word Problems
  • Process Flow Maps

Sample/suggested materials for each student or group:

(Materials you’ll need to do the activity are easily modified. You don’t need to provide all of the following materials. Select a subset and/or add in your own ideas.)

For each student or group:

• Container filled with water to test the boats (be sure to choose a container with appropriate dimensions, or constrain students on length, width, height accordingly. For sailing tests, stream tables, under-bed-storage bins, or kiddie pools work well).
• Set of uniform objects to measure capacity (pennies, base-ten blocks, paperclips, balance weights, bouncy balls, etc.)
• Clay, foil and/or wax paper sheets
• 3×5 cards, paper, coffee filters, etc.
• Tape (masking tape or packing tape perform best, constrain to 12 in. or less)
• Scissors

This resource is also available in print format and as part of the Mega STEM Challenge bundle. Click through below:

If you prefer to purchase on TPT, click here. 

Note: Any coupon codes you received for subscribing to the email are for this site and will not work on TpT.