Quand on doit garder les enfants dans la maison sur une longue période, on peut ne plus savoir comment les amuser, ni comment faire en sorte qu’ils s’amusent de façon plus ou moins autonome afin que les parents puissent remplir leurs obligations ménagères ou en télétravail.

"Here’s some of my favorite budget friendly projects for makerspaces. Note that while I am in a middle school, I’ve seen all four of these projects done at both the elementary and high school levels. It might take some scaffolding and adjustment, but they can definitely be done at any level." - Diana Rendina

People using crutches have their hands occupied, which makes it difficult to carry books and other items they want to have handy. Student teams are challenged to design assistive devices that modify crutches to help people carry things such as books and school supplies. Given a list of constraints, including a device weight limit and minimum load capacity, groups brainstorm ideas and then make detailed plans for their best solutions. They create prototypes and then test for functionality by loading them and using them, making improvements with each iteration. At a concluding design expo, teams present their concepts and demonstrate their final prototype devices.

Check out this collection of challenge materials for fun, easy, and engaging ways to get your students learning!

There are new challenges every month so keep checking back! Be sure to explore past Creative Challenges as well!

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Search resources/collections by age, subject, length of time to complete, author, product.

Widespread damage from flooding at the Texas Medical Center in Houston revealed the complex's vulnerabilities. Implementing a long-term hazard mitigation plan is reducing future risks.

Students develop an app for an Android device that utilizes its built-in internal sensors, specifically the accelerometer. The goal of this activity is to teach programming design and skills using MIT's App Inventor software (free to download from the Internet) as the vehicle for learning. The activity should be exciting for students who are interested in applying what they learn to writing other applications for Android devices. Students learn the steps of the engineering design process as they identify the problem, develop solutions, select and implement a possible solution, test the solution and redesign, as needed, to accomplish the design requirements.

Students explore the interface between architecture and engineering. In the associated hands-on activity, students act as both architects and engineers by designing and building a small parking garage.

This lesson teaches the engineering method for testing wherein one variable is changed while the others are held constant. Students compare the performance of a single paper airplane design while changing the shape, size and position of flaps on the airplane. Students also learn about control surfaces on the tail and wings of an airplane.

Students learn how forces are used in the creation of art. They come to understand that it is not just bridge and airplane designers who are concerned about how forces interact with objects, but artists as well. As "paper engineers," students create their own mobiles and pop-up books, and identify and use the forces (air currents, gravity, hand movement) acting upon them.

Students groups use balsa wood and glue to build their own towers using some of the techniques they learned from the associated lesson. While general guidelines are provided, give students freedom with their designs and encourage them to implement what they have learned about structural engineering. The winning team design is the tower with the highest strength-to-weight ratio.

David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut -- and it may just change the way we see the world. A quiz, thought provoking question, and links for further study are provided to create a lesson around the 18-minute video. Educators may use the platform to easily "Flip" or create their own lesson for use with their students of any age or level.

Students use the scientific method to determine the effect of control surfaces on a paper glider. They construct paper airplanes (model gliders) and test their performance to determine the base characteristics of the planes. Then they change one of the control surfaces and compare the results to their base glider in order to determine the cause and effect relationship of the control surfaces.

In this multi-day activity, students explore environments, ecosystems, energy flow and organism interactions by creating a scale model biodome, following the steps of the engineering design process. The Procedure section provides activity instructions for Biodomes unit, lessons 2-6, as students work through Parts 1-6 to develop their model biodome. Subjects include energy flow and food chains, basic needs of plants and animals, and the importance of decomposers. Students consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence of an ecosystem can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our own communities. This activity can be conducted as either a very structured or open-ended design.

Students learn about biomimicry and how engineers often imitate nature in the design of innovative new products. They demonstrate their knowledge of biomimicry by practicing brainstorming and designing a new product based on what they know about animals and nature.

Biomimicry in Youth Education: A Resource Toolkit for K-12 Educators is a digital flipbook indexing over 80 biomimicry education resources, selected to assist teachers working with students from kindergarten through high school.

The collection includes quality lesson plans, curricular units, digital media, and more, gleaned from a broad survey of available materials. For educators new to the subject of biomimicry, the toolkit also offers a thorough introductory section containing an orientation to biomimicry’s core concepts and suggested strategies for communicating those ideas to students.

Biomimicry is an approach to sustainable innovation that looks to living things for inspiration. In the classroom, biomimicry has helped improve student performance in STEM subjects, encourages appreciation for biodiversity, and cultivates a willingness to sustain the environment.

Students learn about various crystals, such as kidney stones, within the human body. They also learn about how crystals grow and ways to inhibit their growth. They also learn how researchers such as chemical engineers design drugs with the intent to inhibit crystal growth for medical treatment purposes and the factors they face when attempting to implement their designs. A day before presenting this lesson to students, conduct the associated activity, Rock Candy Your Body.

Students learn about the role engineers and engineering play in repairing severe bone fractures. They acquire knowledge about the design and development of implant rods, pins, plates, screws and bone grafts. They learn about materials science, biocompatibility and minimally-invasive surgery.

Students will understand the structural importance of the arch shape in bridge design. Students will compare and contrast modern arch bridges to historical arch bridges. Students will design and sketch their own arch bridge design.