STEM Challenge: Our Playgrounds Have Been Struck!
Hook, Challenge, and Constraints
Hook
You’re probably wondering what happened to my office. All of the villains — Evil Egghead, Sir Ion, and Magnidude — have teamed up to create a truly evil machine: The Troll-Flinger 5000. They just used it to launch the trolls into my office, and they’ve been using it to destroy playgrounds all over Superhero Metropolis.
Challenge and Constraint
Our mission today is to build an amazing, sturdy superhero playground. If we each make at least one playground structure that can survive attacks from the Troll-Flinger 5000, children of Superhero Metropolis will have a truly super playground.
Materials
You may also provide these optional materials: cereal boxes, toilet paper rolls, Dixie cups, and aluminum foil.
Logistics
- Materials: Students can use no more than five of any one material per creation! For example, a student can use five straws and five pieces of paper, but not ten straws. If you provide aluminum foil, no more than one arm’s length piece for each student!
- Groups: Students can work with a partner or on their own. No groups of three!
- Time to Build: 45 minutes
