Start your year out right with 10 STEM Challenges for your 1st or 2nd Grade classroom! We have listed 10 inexpensive challenges you can try with your students right off the bat! Scroll down to see all the wonderful STEM Challenges we have in store!
The following STEM Challenges are available with Stem Stories, Journals, and Suggested books in my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop. Stem Stories serve as a great anticipatory set to get students motivated to do each challenge. The journal is a two page folded resource which includes activities that help guide you and your students through the Engineering Design Process. To purchase this set, be sure to add this resource to your cart and check out on TPT!
[Get “Once Upon a STEM” Stem Story Challenges today!]
1. Building a Paper Airplane
Challenge Question: Can you build a paper airplane that will fly far through the air? Build one and measure how far you can make it go!
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2. Building a Roller Coaster
Challenge Question: What kind of roller coaster can you make with straws? Use a ping pong ball as your “car” to try it out when you are finished!
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3. Jellybean Structures
Challenge Question: What kind of structure can you make using only jelly beans and toothpicks?
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4. Building a Tall Tower
Challenge Question: How tall can you build a tower using only straws and tape? Make sure you measure it to find out!
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5. Index Card Structures
Challenge Question: How can you make the biggest structure possible using only index cards?
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6. Building a Paper Plate Marble Maze
Challenge Questions: Can you build a marble maze using a paper plate? Try sticking on items for the marble to go under and around.
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We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury |
7. Building an Army Launcher
Challenge Question: Can you build a launcher for your army man with the things in the provided cup? How can you make it go as far as possible?
Suggested Books
 Just a Little Bit by Ann Tompert |
 So Light, So Heavy by Susanne Strasser |
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8. How Strong is Spaghetti?
Challenge Question: How strong is dry spaghetti? Can you build a structure that holds many books or blocks? How many books can it hold?
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9. Making a Harmonica
Challenge Question: How can you make different sounds on a harmonica you make with craft sticks, rubber bands, and a straw?
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10. Building a Light Circuit
Challenge Question: How can you make a light turn on if you are only working with a broken strand of lights? Try it out to see!
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Ready to start STEM Story Challenges in your classroom? We want you to start on the right foot!
Don’t forget to snag up our FREE Engineering Design Process Posters!
We hope you enjoy using these resources as much as we enjoyed making them! If you have any questions about any of these challenges or “Once Upon a STEM” feel free to reach out at emily@educationtothecore.com.
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