STEM Family Free Night at The ICM

Join us the last Friday of the month at 6pm on Instagram and Facebook live to learn about a new STEM concept!

“STEM literacy is a person’s ability to apply his or her understanding of how the world works within the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math. It does not simply mean achieving literacy in these areas individually. Rather, STEM literacy refers to the ability to investigate and question these facets of the world in an interdisciplinary manner.”

– Adapted from the 2011 Iowa STEM Roadmap: A Strategic Plan for STEM Education • www.iowaSTEM.org

October: Pumpkin Tower

We are celebrating the upcoming holiday with a special Halloween-themed STEM challenge. Let’s use recycled materials (or whatever you have hanging around) to create a tower that supports pumpkins! Gather your items (listed below) and tune in this Friday on Facebook and Instagram at 6 pm to do the activity with us.

  • Tape
  • Cardstock
  • Straws
  • Scissors
  • Other loose parts (like cutting boards, cups, wood blocks)

Watch The Live Stream:

 

Learn More

https://tryengineering.org/teacher/tall-tower-challenge/

https://iowa.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ngsseng14.sci.eng.towpow/tower-power-returns-engineering-is-elementary/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR2OR3coiX4

September: Wind Powered Vehicles

For our September Virtual STEM Family Free Night, we’re celebrating our upcoming FREE event, Move It! Dig It! Do It! Drive Thru Truck Zoo by engineering something that moves through the power of wind!

Activity

Let’s create a wind-powered vehicle and learn about the principles that help it go! Check out the list of items you’ll need or pick them up at The ICM during the last week of September. Then, join our live stream on Friday, September 25th to learn about wheels, axles, hinges, bearings and ALL the ways you can create movement!

Watch the Live Stream

Learn More

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/stem-activities/wind-powered-car#summary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHjQHdQwJAs

August: Robots

We’re partnering with the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library to provide you with robot-themed STEM challenges!

The word “robot” is drawn from an old Slavic word, robota. A robot is an autonomous machine capable of sensing its environment, carrying out computations to execute a function, and performing actions in the real world. Robots are a diverse bunch!

Activity

Let’s learn how robots perform tasks called codes with a simple activity. Download your coding activity sheets here or pick them up at The ICM during the last week of August. Watch our live stream on Friday, August 28th to find out more about coding!

Watch the Live Stream

Learn More

www.code.org
www.scratch.mit.edu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdQL11uWWcI&feature=youtu.be

July: Take to the Skies

Leonardo da Vinci depicted the idea of a parachute in his writings in the late 1400s, but the idea was not designed, built and tested until the late 1700s. 

Activity

This month, we’re challenging you to create your own miniature parachute to better understand the law of gravity and the forces of flight. Download an ICM parachute landing target here!

Watch the Live Stream

Learn More

https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/design_a_parachute?fbclid=IwAR1LDF3Eaoa0B_NmSlv5JbdW9YU3DVrfOAgKN84RXq1TCMnXXswM04u4aMEhttps://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mars/parachute.html?fbclid=IwAR3yQGk3tU50RWXHKkYtUFyka8GcKBA-njZmM2PNMBmq3ICQNOxWcWTuq8M

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/parachute/276277?fbclid=IwAR2y1HYekejrFrxhSark_ZAlk8dNbEres2C3gnkMss9bzS_DG-ojQdUU4ds

June: Chain Reactions

A chain reaction is a series of reactions to one event. It’s the foundation to many Rube Goldberg machines. We are going to break down the mechanisms of it and create one of our very own using simple machines. Are you up for the challenge?

Activity

This month, we’re creating chain reactions! 

Watch the Live Stream

Learn More

https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_simple_lesson06?fbclid=IwAR0ja-9_o7R0O5nRbC9NDC2ne6SpC-SKkh-T8LqjOoj-HV4Nr1Zn0IrWvTghttps://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_simp_machines_lesson05_activity1?fbclid=IwAR17Z-ThdgnNYZe5YeqK7kGHWbVY4_hpOVN1JhiJyPTtwuinpkfrTswnvIMhttps://tinkerlab.com/engineering-kids-rube-goldberg-machine/?fbclid=IwAR3-dqdgHhOySbgXeOD2F6uxn28UY7Vv2OOhvTrMHRNXHWTaS9mXqDfPP7E