The One-Hour STEAM Challenge!

This is part 2 sharing my visit to Amazing Grace and Renton Prep Christian Schools in Seattle. These progressive project-based learning schools daily offer students opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving, experimentation, revision, and producing. Today we explore the One-Hour STEAM Challenge, a project where students are challenged to create a boat that floats in one hour using supplied items.

After explaining the project, the teacher promptly set the timer for one hour and projected it on their large TV screen to keep everyone on task. Brainstorming collaboratively, students designed their project by inking with a design pen on their Surface device to plan their engineering feat. Students then selected building supplies from a range of materials: Peeps marshmallow candy, straws, plastic bottles, straws, duct tape, making tape, plastic tape, paper bags, and more. Listening to students discuss their process, they explained why they decided to use each item in their boat.

After a five minute warning to complete the project, students went to get water to fill the plastic tub where the newly-created boats will be tested to see if they float. One at a time students put their boat on the water as the teacher used a hand-held hair dryer to provide the wind that would move these devices. Will it float? The anticipation rises.

Some boats leaned to one side or the other, as students problem-solved what the designing error could be. Others floated well initially, but as their materials got saturated they began to sink further into the water. Some boats were made with plastic bottles and the air inside provided the buoyancy this project required. Students also realized that using the right type of tape could make other materials hold up in water. Expert teacher questioning led students to evaluate their construction and devise a plan for revision where needed. "Why do you think this boat leans to the left? Will it float in the wind even if it is not symmetrical? What makes you think so? Can you make an adjustment in your design that might help your boat float longer?"

I challenge each teacher to find one time space where your students could engage in a one-hour STEAM challenge. Perhaps it provides a break during testing times, or ties into a science topic. Maybe the design phase is completed during computer time or independent stations, then the building takes place during math or science, with the final testing at the end of the day. Whether the hour is in one block or divided into several shorter timeframes, your students can create to solve problems and answer challenges. Let students document their process using video or pictures which they can turn into a multimedia presentation to explain the project to parents and "the world!" And have fun!