May the 4th is coming up fast!
Do you have any great “May the 4th” traditions? I have five “Jedi Training Missions” for you to add to, or shake up, May 4th this year! STEM and Star Wars are a great combination—STEM is always a great way to dive into hands-on learning in a fun and engaging way!
STEM Wars: Levitating a Sphere
This training mission will challenge your student’s ability to use “The Force”. They will use The Force to get their STEM Ball (AKA Ping Pong Ball) to levitate. In doing this, they will discover the phenomenon that occurs when a ping pong ball is placed above a straw and air is blown through the straw. Most people would expect the ping-pong ball to fly up and off to the side—but it doesn’t. Due to Bernoulli’s Principle, the ball will hover in the air above the straw. This project can end with a demonstration using a shop-vac or hair dryer with a ping-pong ball that will produce the same interesting results.
This activities uses simple, cheap, and easy to find materials!
Materials listed below are per group (typically 3-4 students)
Straws
Ping pong balls (STEM SHPERE)
Student instructions (download here)
This is a video with instructions and tips for you when setting up and running this activity!
You can begin this lesson with the student introduction video.
It’s cute and will get your students interested in the challenge! After playing the video, ask your class if they are ready for the training mission. Tell the students that you want to see if they have the force needed to levitate the stem sphere and if so, for how long? As you have your students move to their different tables to start working, tell them to follow the student instruction sheet.
Ask your students if it’s possible to levitate (float in the air). Ask if any of them can levitate (or float).
Have any volunteers try 🙂 Then tell them that today we are going to try to get your “STEM Spheres”
to levitate. Give them between 3 and 10 minutes (depending on the age of your students) to practice their levitation skills.
The science behind this activity.
This activity occurs because of Bernoulli’s Principle. Please see the teacher instruction video for how to discuss this with your students. At the end of the activity, bring out your shop vac or hair dryer and show how long you can get the stem sphere to levitate! Exclaim that you must be a Jedi master! 😉
You can also download an activity poster here:
STEM Wars: Fly a Glider Fighter
This fun “STEM WARS” themed STEM Training Mission activity will challenge your student’s ability to use “The Force” to build and fly a glider fighter through the stem hoop (hula hoop) from varying distances. Working in groups, students will cut and tape various hoops to their straw. They will experiment with hoops of different sizes, positioning, and throwing styles to create the most accurate glider possible. Click HERE to check out this activity!!
STEM Wars: Launch an Ewok
This fun “STEM WARS” themed STEM Training Mission activity will challenge your student’s ability to use “The Force” to build and shoot Ewoks (mini-marshmallows) at a STEM Trooper poster. Not only will students have a lot of fun building this, but they will also need to modify and adjust their shooting form to get better accuracy.
STEM Wars: Roll a Pop / Soda Can
This fun “STEM WARS” themed STEM Training Mission activity will challenge your student’s ability to use “The Force”. Students will work in groups to explore electrostatic forces between a balloon that they charge and a pop can on the floor. After experimenting with different balloons and different methods, teams will race their pop can a distance of ten meters. Students will not be able to touch, push or blow on their pop can. It must be pulled with the static electricity they create.
Sink the STEM Trooper
This fun “STEM WARS” themed STEM Training Mission activity will challenge your student’s ability to use “The Force”. Students will work in groups to explore electrostatic forces between a balloon that they charge and a pop can on the floor. After experimenting with different balloons and different methods, teams will race their pop can a distance of ten meters. Students will not be able to touch, push or blow on their pop can. It must be pulled with the static electricity they create.
