Carver after-school students at Brookside Elementary School built straw towers yesterday as a STEM learning project. Our Lead Program Coordinator Lauren Leal, a 5th Grade Teacher, never fails to keep our students thrilled about learning!
Students learned about civil engineering as they took on the challenge to design and build the tallest straw tower possible, given limited time and resources.
In the first mini-activity (one-straw tall tower), students design a way to keep one straw upright with the least amount of tape and the fewest additional straws. In the second mini-activity (no "fishing pole"), they determine the most number of straws possible to construct a vertical straw tower before it bends at 45 degrees—resembling a fishing pole shape. Students learn that the taller a structure, the more tendency it has to topple over.
In the culminating challenge (tallest straw tower), students apply what they have learned and follow the steps of the engineering design process to create the tallest possible model tower within time, material and building constraints, mirroring the real-world engineering experience of designing solutions within constraints.
Thanks to the Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative, Carver is able to offer these programs. The 21st CCLC initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. The program serves nearly 2 million youth, nationwide through grants awarded by state education agencies. This funding awarded to Carver by the Connecticut State Department of Education through a very competitive grant process provides for academic enrichment activities that help students meet state and local achievement standards. Carver is also able to offer a broad array of additional enrichment services designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program, such as STEM programs, and physical activity and nutrition education programs. Carver also offers literacy and related educational development services to the families of children we serve.