In the story of Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack steals gold coins, a hen that lays golden eggs and finally a harp. As Jack is fleeing with the harp, he climbs down the beanstalk with the giant just behind him. As the giant begins to climb down the beanstalk after Jack, the beanstalk begins to sway and tremble under his weight. So, this week’s challenge is to design the tallest beanstalk that will support the most amount of weight.
In the Teaching STEM through Fairy Tales series, we further examine the connection between literature- specifically fairy tales- and STEM. Each featured favorite fairy tale (try saying that one three times fast), makes a connection to STEM and ties the design challenge to the NGSS Engineering Design Standards.
For this challenge, students are tasked with two requirements- building the tallest beanstalk and constructing one that will hold the most weight. Because the winner of the challenge is determined by applying a formula, students can experiment with different designs to see which one will yield the best results.
Subscribe to Stay Connected!
-
Timer Slides for STEM Collaboration
$2.95 -
Interactive STEM Notebook- Bundle Pack
$18.95 -
Teaching STEM through Fairy Tales – Bundle Pack
$16.95 -
Brown Bag STEM Challenge I – Bundle Pack
$23.95
Do you have a list of suggested materials to give students for the beanstalk challenge?
Hi,
Yes, I generally give the teams: Styrofoam Plates (one per team), Masking Tape, Newspaper (6 sheets per team) and Books (or other weights of uniform same size and shape). You can feel free to substitute though based on the grade level of your students and the items you have on hand.
Lane
Hello– do you have a couple of pictures of this challenge that kids designed and engineered?
Unfortunately I don’t. (I need to get better at snapping pictures of things like this!) I’ve seen kids slice the plates into strips to try to get some height for their beanstalk. Some teams will roll the newspaper (really smart, right?) to make a tube that will stand up too. Each time, they always seem to surprise me with something different. I love their creative minds!