Summer / End of the Year STEM Challenge: Drippin' Dash PAPERLESS VERSION

This summer STEM challenge is the perfect end of the year activity to keep your students engaged through the very last day of school!

The basic premise:

Individually or in partners/groups, students will design and build a water scoop purpose-built for volume and stability to be used in a relay race: The Drippin’ Dash.

- If students work in groups, it is recommended that they make at least two designs so they have a back up available if one fails during the race.

Modifications included for grades 2-8.

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Note: This version is for use with Google Slides™ in 1:1/paperless classrooms. If you prefer to print and have students complete work with paper/pencil, you'll want to look at the PRINTABLE VERSION instead.

If you have questions about which version is right for you, please feel free to leave me a question using the product Q&A below.

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This is one of five Summer / End of the Year STEM Challenges. They can be purchased in a bundle at a 40% discount:

Summer / End of the Year PAPERLESS STEM Challenge Bundle

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Resource includes:

NGSS aligned standards, Grades 2 – 8

Teacher Tips

- Links to STEM Challenge “How-to”/PD videos

- Link to a video walk-through of the challenge

- Materials and timing

- Criteria & Constraints (including modifications to increase difficulty for older students)

- Measuring results

- Post-design extension activities list

- Universal STEM Challenge Notes & How to Use Student Slides Post-design extension activities list

Student Slides

- Criteria & Constraints List (editable version provided)

- Design Analysis

- Discussion Questions

Extension slides

- Process Flow Map

- Create Math Problems Based on Designs

- Water Waste (leaky faucet calculation sheet – answer key included)

- Related video & website slides

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CLICK THE GREEN PREVIEW BUTTON UNDER THE COVER & THUMBNAILS TO SEE THE SLIDES INCLUDED IN THIS RESOURCE!

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Sample/suggested materials for each student or group:

(Materials you’ll need to do the activity are easily modified.)

– Water (~1 gallon)

– Buckets, pails, or tubs (2 per team, do not need to be identical)

– Straws (5 – 10)

– Saran wrap, wax paper, and/or foil (~12 sq. in.)

Do not use plastic baggies, it’s too easy!

– Pipe cleaners (4 – 6)

– Yarn or string (12 – 24 in.)

– Scissors

– Ruler

– Measuring cups, graduated cylinders, and/or beakers

– Design analysis handouts (included)

Optional

– Cardboard scraps

– Toothpicks

– Clothespins or binder clips

– Water bottle lids

– Funnel (to help with race measurements)

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Benefits of this STEM Design Challenge:

- Focus on critical thinking, problem solving, and application of learning

- Helps students develop growth mindset traits like persistence and resilience

- High levels of student engagement

- The potential to hit upon all NGSS ETS standards depending on the depth and number of iterations you choose to implement in your classroom (modifications included)

- Highly flexible and differentiated for materials, timing, grade levels, and rigor.

Each design iteration should be planned for ~60-90 min. if you are including data gathering and analysis rather than just building for fun. If you add extension activities, you will need to adjust timing accordingly.

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What do teachers have to say about this resource?

Note: Comments taken from the print version.

“I loved using this with my summer camp kids. Easy to adapt for any group.”

“This will be a great last week of school activity to have some fun while keeping the learning going strong. Thank you!”

“Thanks for such a great resource! Your design challenges are so engaging and easy to modify for my young students.”

“This was one of the students’ favorite activities! Thanks for the great resource!���

“It's hard to know what you’re getting sometimes, but if you want a quality STEM project - buy this! The directions for students are very limited, allowing for open-ended, creative juices to flow. The teacher directions are explicit and very resourceful. I love that this has differentiated the reflection sheets for different levels. My kids had a blast with this activity, We spent 2 days. There were many failures but enough success with 2 groups that they were able to learn from, which was the point! Thanks - I will gladly purchase from this seller again!”

“LOVED THIS! My students and I had a blast doing this and it was very easy to modify with different materials or group numbers if needed. Thanks!”

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You might also like these resources:
⭐ Back to School STEM Challenge Bundle: 1:1 PAPERLESS Version
⭐ Create-ure STEM Challenge: PAPERLESS VERSION
⭐ Earth Day STEM Challenge: New Earth City PAPERLESS VERSION
⭐ Plants STEM Challenge: PAPERLESS Version
⭐ Landforms STEM Challenge PAPERLESS VERSION
⭐ Winter STEM Challenge Bundle 1:1 Paperless Version
⭐ Easter STEM Challenge Bundle Paperless Version

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Please check out the preview to see the challenge, and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!

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