Thanksgiving STEM
With our students, Halloween candy highs starting to wear off and Christmas excitement rolling in comes the daunting task of making it to Thanksgiving break. With only three weeks until Thanksgiving and Veteran’s day smack dab mid-week for me, it is very hard to start and complete an entire unit before break let alone keep my middle school students focused and ready to work. I know personally, I am dreaming of creamy mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and turkey with stuffing. I have found that if I choose a small unit and break it up with Thanksgiving-themed STEM activities I can make it through not only alive but fairly unscathed. This Thanksgiving STEM activity is so much fun and if your students are as competitive as mine will bring tons of excitement to your class. The students will start off being presented with a challenge that they and their family have booked passage to the new world and they will have to build a boat to sail across the sea, build a home once they get there, harvest crops, and build a turkey hauler to get their latest catch home. This activity takes them through looking at cause and effect, constraints, and budgeting of materials. Just as a new settler would have limited materials and resources so do the students so they must find creative ways to make do with what they are given. This activity is sure to bring some motivation and excitement before Thanksgiving break! Find it here!!
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