Engineering with the Magic School Bus and Marshmallows

Another great STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) programming idea borrowed from PBS Kids' Zoom Activities: build bridges out of toothpicks and marshmallows!  I gave children the building directive after we watched Magic School Bus Under Construction: Bridge Building.  

This program was simple, required very little preparation, and inspired great amounts of creativity and design concepts from elementary aged participants.  

To prepare, wrap two stacks of books (they must be the exact same books so that the stacks are an even height) in newspaper so you don't get sticky marshmallow residue on your library books.  This will serve as the base for your bridge.  

Watch the "Bridge Building" episode of The Magic School Bus Under Construction DVD (about 20 minutes long) and see Mrs. Frizzle's class create a bridge out of Q-tips and gum drops.

After the children see the Magic School Bus gang building a bridge, they will be eager to try doing so themselves.  Take a look at what our little aspiring engineers and architects created!  As an added challenge, once you get a bridge across your two stacks of books, add a paper clip attached to a cup and throw pennies in the cup to see how strong your bridge is.

Design Challenge: Catapults

As an alternative to the typical arts and crafts programs we often see in libraries, I decided to do a little something different by creating a "Design Challenge" for the kids.  As opposed to simply creating something, the kids are challenged to build a structure using engineering skills and applied science concepts.

This week I decided to have the kids build catapults. I introduced the idea of catapults used for battle during the Trojan War of Greek Mythology, telling a short story about the Trojan War as background.  I like to tie the design challenge back to some literary elements whenever possible.  This also gave me the opportunity to offer books on Greek Mythology available for checkout at the conclusion of the program.

While I do offer a "model" structure for the kids to look at to base their own structure design on, I encourage them to experiment with different elements of the design to see if it makes a difference in its functionality.  For example, by offering the questions, "I wonder how we could make the catapult shoot farther?" or "What would happen if the catapult's base was wider?" or "Does the amount of rubber bands I use make a difference?", kids are prompted and encouraged to explore different design techniques and each child ends up with a unique and individual product.

Once the kids have built their catapults, it is time for battle!  I provided little colored pom-poms for them to load and launch from their catapults.  They can try to achieve different goals such as going the longest distance, shooting the highest, or hitting a specific target.  The possibilities are endless in this Design Challenge program!