How High Can You Go?

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We are well into the second year of a making and tinkering program funded and supported by SpectrUM at the University of Montana. The initial program began with 5th graders and they continue to be the focus, and from the start teachers have embraced the STEM labs.

New this year are Strawbees - think an updated version of Tinker Toys that use varying shapes of connectors and, as the name suggests, straws. Fifth graders tried out Strawbees for the first time last January, with some whimsical results:



On the Friday before spring break, all of the 5th graders participated in a Strawbees challenge that urged them to build as high a freestanding Strawbees structure as they could manage in just 10 minutes. They came up with a wide variety of structures and some even managed to have some fun:

 

The labs will continue well into May with activities that will include circuitry of various kinds and some work with forced perspective.

Many thanks to spectrUM and, especially, to SpectUM Museum Manager Nick Wethington, who is inspiring a second group of 5th graders to see themselves as makers and tinkers.

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