The PowerPoint is for the STEM Day

1. 3rd grade Western STEM
challenge:
Keeping “cool” on the
Prairie

2. STEAM Process

3. STEAM Members:
O Every person has a color card and a
job
O Red – supply chief
O Yellow – writer / architect (drawing)
O Green – communication manager
O Blue – materials manager

4. Life on the Prairie
Howdy kids! We are pioneers
who traveled the plains in
search of a better way of
life. We found it. Take a
look.

5. Life on the Prairie
Life here has been good. We
even have ice delivered to use
quite regularly. Take a look at
how it’s done.

6. Investigate
We stored
our ice in ice
houses just
like this one.

7. Investigate
(click on the picture)

8. Investigate
Everything was going swell.
Today, was a hot day. It had to
be about 102 degrees outside,
but we had our ice to keep food
cold.
OH! NO!!!.......

9. THE ICE IS MELTING!!!!!!!!!!!

10. Requirements:
We need your help. Can you create
something to keep our ice from
melting. If the ice melts, all of our
food will be ruined.

12. Before you start let’s
review insulators and
conductors
www.befoeitsnews.com

13. Imagine
and
Individual Plans

14. Requirements:
Whoa there partner! Before you go
off creating, we only have 60 gold
pieces to give you to help us. We
hope this is enough.

15. Imagine and Plan
Possible materials
O Plastic cup, paper cup, styrofoam bowls
O Paper towels, napkins, coffee filters,
newspaper, notebook paper
O Foil, plastic wrap, wax paper (cut into small
square shapes), bubble wrap
O Ice cubes

16. Price of Materials
- Plastic cup(2) - 12 gold pieces
- Paper cup(2) - 10 gold pieces
-Styrofoam bowl(1) - 10 gold pieces
-Paper towels and napkins - 4 gold pieces
-Coffee filters - 5 gold pieces
-newspaper - 4 gold pieces
-foil, plastic wrap or wax paper - 6 gold pieces
-plastic wrap - 7 gold pieces
-bubble wrap - 8 gold pieces
- tape - 2 gold pieces

17. Imagine and Plan
O Think about the materials and the
task.
O Each person will contribute their
ideas.
O (6-8 min)

18. Group Design

19. Requirements:
O You must use only the materials provided
for this challenge.
O The insulation chamber must be
constructed on top of the table or desk.
O It must be no more than 4 inches wide and
4 inches tall.
O Your goal is to build an insulation
chamber that will keep the ice cube frozen
for 5 minutes.

20. Design
O Communication is key – everyone talks –
every idea is valuable
O Look for the best part of every idea
O Each member of the group needs to share
their plan with the other members. Take
turns, start with the green and move
around the circle. (2 min each = 8 minutes)
O Talk about the best ideas you saw (5
minutes)

21. Create

22. Create
O Red supply chief, get the supplies for
your group from the teacher.
O Wait for your teacher to signal when
to begin the build.
O Review the requirements one more
time.

23. Requirements:
O You must use only the materials provided
for this challenge.
O The insulation chamber must be
constructed on top of the table or desk.
O It must be no more than 4 inches wide and
4 inches tall.
O Your goal is to build an insulation
chamber that will keep the ice cube frozen
for 5 minutes.

24. Evaluate
and
Test

25. Evaluate and Test
O Each design will be tested to see how
well it meets the requirements of the
build
O Did your insulator keep the ice
frozen for 5 minutes or less?
O Weigh your ice before and after.
O Test each in front of the whole group
either one by one or all together

26. Review
and
Evaluate

27. Review and Evaluate
O Green lead this discussion.
O Discuss with your group
O What went well?
O What would we do differently if we had
to do it again?
O Did we work together well?
O Yellow – write the answers to these
questions
O Everyone sign it and give it to the
teacher

28. Great!
Your efforts helped
the pioneers survive in
their new home!
Congratulations and
great thinking!

29. Your thought about
Western STEAM Day

30. Your thoughts are important
O Today you used skills in Science,
Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math!
O The teachers and principals would like to
know what you thought about STEAM day.
O Your thoughts will help us make the next
STEAM day even better!

31. You are certainly brilliant
scientists, engineers,
technology specialists,
and mathematicians!!

32. We hope you had fun
during
Western STEAM day

33. If there is time,
continue to improve 2…

34. Improve Step 2

35. Improve Step 2
O Do if there is time…
O Now that you’ve seen projects being
tested, you will improve your design
and test again.
O Take 15 minutes to rebuild
O Then we will test again to see your
improved design

36. Improve Step 2
O Do if there is time…
O Test the designs again and record
improvements
O Green – lead a discussion with your
group. How was the second design
better than the first?