STEM Snow Shovel Challenge

This afternoon we participated in another STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) activity.

The challenge was to build a snow shovel that could pick up a lot of snow. We used a bin of rice to represent the snow and the constraint was that students had to be able to use the shovels with only two fingers (to limit the size of the shovels).

Today the students were assigned partners and took some time to chat about their plans and decide on materials before getting started.

Choosing materials

The materials available included:

• index cards
• clips
• straws
• pipe cleaners
• popsicle sticks
• tape
• scissors

Testing our designs. 

Once the students had their initial shovels they came and tested them. Each scoop of "snow" was measured and recorded.

Some very proud students who created the shovel that moved the most snow.

It was delightful to see students go back to their designs over and over in attempts to improve them and pick up more of the rice.

Reflecting and sharing our design challenges and successes.