Fall, teachers, and apples have been connected for as far as anyone can remember, but most folks don’t know why. The most popular theory seems to stem (Pun intended!) from the pioneer days when families often paid the teacher with produce. Apples were often given as a gift of appreciation. “An apple for the teacher” became a popular slogan. Nowadays, back to school crafts and units feature shiny red apples at their core (Sorry, I can’t help it!). To celebrate this season, here are three Fall STEM activities that you might want to try with your students today.
APPLE SLINGSHOT
For you own back to school nod to the apple’s place in school history, why not try the Apple Sling Shot Fall STEM Activity? Challenge your students to design and build a slingshot for launching apples. They can use a y-shaped tree branch, felt, rubber bands, and a stapler. You can also modify the task and include any other materials you would like. You can also use small pumpkins, acorns, or even crab apples in place of regular apples. Don’t forget to create safety rules though to ensure you and your students don’t get hurt.
PUMPKIN BOAT
Just as apples symbolize back to school, pumpkins are the epitome of fall! Challenge your students to a Pumpkin Boat Fall STEM Activity. Have your students design and build a boat using a small pumpkin, wooden skewers, and colored paper. The boat must be able to carry at least a small doll or miniature figure.
SCARECROW
The third challenge I have for you is the Scarecrow Fall STEM Activity. Challenge your students to design and build a life-size and free-standing scarecrow using sticks, hay old clothes and hat, old buttons, yarn, and felt fabric. The scarecrow must be able to stand without any human support.
This challenge is not only fun but will provide a good memory for students. Although still used in smaller rural farms and home gardens, the stationary old-fashioned scarecrow is quickly becoming a thing of the past. Technology has taken over the stereotypical pumpkin head scarecrows and farmers are looking more towards lasers and digital scarecrows.
FREE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROCESS POSTERS
To help make your lessons more structured and to train your students to think like engineers during these Fall STEM Activities, I’d love for you to have my Engineering Design Process Posters for FREE! Just head to my blog and sign up to gain immediate access to my Free Resource Library and get these posters plus many other resources (like this one) for FREE. See you there!
– Jewel Pastor of Jewel’s School Gems
This post on Fall STEM activities originally appeared at Jewel’s School Gems.
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