My very first day of being a STEAM teacher I basically had no supplies. I was hired days before the school opened and nothing had been ordered. These are the supplies I had: a few rolls of tape, some cardboard left over from the staff unpacking furniture, and a few worn out tennis balls from my husband. The challenge was to get the tennis ball from the table to the rectangle on the floor, without it bouncing out. To this day, it is still known as one of our favorite challenges.
The best part of this activity is how easy it is to replicate it at home! Grab some cardboard, tubes, paper, blocks... and then a few balls (or in my house: 100 Nerf bullets)... and use gravity to have some fun!
Below is a video of my daughter (who is 5 years old) having fun. She had to adjust the slope of the ramp several times to get the right speed, and use Jenga blocks to make a path.
Just imagine what you could come up with!!
100 bonus points* if the ball has to bounce off another object to get to your target.
1,000 bonus points* if the ball has to bounce off two objects to get to your target!
10,000 bonus points* if it has to bounce off three objects!!!
1,000,000* if it bounces off of four or more!!!!
*Points don't count for anything.
BUT, if you get, like, a gazillion points, you might want to check out this video below with some trick shots from Dude Perfect. Maybe, just maybe, you're on your way to some crazy trick shots in the future!
Have fun! Send me a video!
This seems like a great time for some throwback pics from our first week of STEAM ever:
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