Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

5 minutes – Tune in: Crazy ways to…
20 minutes – Find out: STEM slap down
30 minutes – Take action: STEM ideas lab
10 minutes – Reflection

Tune in: Crazy ways to...

The first part of the lesson is about the students gaining confidence in generating their own ideas. Using the ‘crazy ways to…’ strategy helps students to relax into the ideation process, have fun and share their ideas. The ideation process allows designers to think big and be a little silly. It is important that students feel safe to create big or wild ideas, as sometimes this atmosphere can lead to the best innovations.

Step 1.

Begin the session by inviting all your students to stand around the table.

Step 2.

Start by sharing what ideation is:

Ideation is using ideas and creativity to think of and find innovative solutions.

Explain to the students that they will be experimenting with ideation in this lesson.

Share the four golden rules of ideation:

Step 3.

Ensure each student has four sticky notes/scrap notes (two for each topic) and a pencil.

Explain to students that you will be giving them a prompt and they will need to write their two ideas on their notes (one idea on each note) and hold them close, ensuring no one else can see them. They will have only one minute to write both ideas.

Step 4.

Read the following:

Your first STEM ideation challenge is to come up with TWO crazy ways to make your parents think you are asleep - GO!

Share the following tips for an effective slap down with the students:

Step 5.

Set a timer for 60 seconds. Call out ‘STOP’ once the 60 seconds is finished.

Step 6.

Invite the students to take one of their notes and ‘slap’ it down on the table while shouting out (not screaming) their response. They should do this one at a time, straight after each other. Because students have two ideas, you’ll need to go around the circle twice. It’s possible that not everyone will have two ideas. That’s ok, just allow them to ‘pass’.

As the students share their ideas, encourage them to speak clearly and confidently, as well as placing the paper down on the table with confidence. Keep the flow going with the students by instructing the group to look directly at each other and listening. Ensure they take turns (not jumping in over each other) and share only one idea at a time. This process should be done energetically.

Step 7.

Repeat the process for the second challenge. Read the following:

Your second STEM ideation challenge is to come up with TWO crazy ways to keep ice-cream from melting - GO!

Set the timer for 60 seconds. Call out ‘STOP’ once the 60 seconds is finished.

Step 8.

Allow the students to share their ideas around the circle, again using the slap down method.

Step 9.

After all the students have shared their two ideas for the second challenge, explain that this creative process is called a slap down. They will be using this same slap down technique in the next activity.

Find out: STEM slap down

Step 1.

This next STEM slap down is about solving problems using STEM ideas. The students are to continue using the slap down process to think about creative and innovative ways to solve problems.

Step 2.

Explain to students that will be looking for solutions to some interesting questions using these STEM concepts:

S - Science: What science is involved?
T - Technology: How could technology be used?
E - Engineering: How could the solution be put together?
M - Maths: What measurements need to be considered?

Step 3.

Encourage students to come up with inventive solutions. This section of the activity is all about thinking outside of the box.

As the teacher make sure you do not give too many examples to the students. The focus is about the students working really hard and stretching their imaginations, and they almost need a blank slate to do this. Once the students have had a go they will realise that they can be as creative as they like, so long as they are working to solve the problem.

Step 4.

Display the following ‘interesting questions’ on the board or butcher’s paper and encourage the students to think about new design ideas they could create using the STEM principles of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

Leave enough space for students to put their sticky notes under each of the four headings.

Interesting questions:

How can you carry water without using a bucket?
Possible ideas: using a soft material to make a leak-proof bag.
How STEM could be applied: Science - woven material, Technology - leak-proof design, Engineering - creating seals and openings for the bag, Math - size, shape and volume of the bag.
How can you build a new bridge using alternative materials? (i.e. not using any traditional building materials such as bricks or metal.)
Possible ideas: spaghetti, sticks, ropes, paper clips.
How can you collect the sun’s rays to use as a form of energy at night-time? (Not using solar panels or batteries.)
Possible ideas: capturing the sunlight in a heating pad or rocks to be used at night for heating.
What new mode of transport could help people travel but doesn’t create any pollution?
Possible ideas: magnet shoes, zip-wire systems with adjustable heights.

Instead of writing out the full questions, make up simple headings: new water-carrying device, the new way to travel, new bridge-building materials.

Step 5.

Allow the students 3-5 minutes to develop their own ideas for each question. You could also divide the students into groups and invite each group to focus on just one question (but the students should still work individually at this stage).

Depending on the group you’re working with, you might like to allow students to develop as many ideas as they like for each question, or you could limit them to one or two ideas each.

Step 6.

Conduct the slap down process, allowing students to share at least one of their ideas with the group.

Step 7.

Invite all students to stick up their ideas under each of the relevant questions you have displayed on the board or butcher’s paper.

Take action: STEM ideas lab

Step 1.

Invite students to look at the solutions to the questions that are now up around the room. Each student is to choose ONE of the design ideas posted. It can be their idea or another student’s idea that they wish to explore. They will use this idea in the next step to develop the idea further.

Step 2.

Explain to students that true ideation allows people to flow with ideas, borrow other people’s ideas and build on them. Remind students that other students may choose to use their ideas and that it’s important to be open and supportive. If someone builds on their idea, they should take it as a compliment. You may feel the need to say that even though someone may change their idea significantly, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea. You also might find that many students may end up working on the same idea with different approaches. They might come up with very different results.

Step 3.

Provide each student with a copy of the Student Worksheet (STEM Ideas Lab Worksheet). This worksheet can be used by students to draw and label their design in the space provided. Students should show the detail of the STEM design they have developed and label any features of their design solution.

Step 4.

Explain to students that the focus of this task is to use all of the elements of STEM to create a design. Revisit the STEM concepts:

S - Science: What science is involved?
T - Technology: How is technology used?
E - Engineering: How is the solution put together?
M - Maths: What measurements are involved?

Step 5.

Allow students time to work on their designs. This could be anything from 15 minutes through to 60 minutes depending on how much time you have available.

Step 6.

Once the time is up, ask the students to leave their designs where they were working. Invite students to complete a gallery walk. A gallery walk is conducted by walking around the class and looking at the designs that have been created. You might like to do this in two stages, where half the group stays with their design so they can answer questions, then swapping over.

Reflection

Bring the students together as a class to begin the reflection. Lead a discussion about the ideation process using the following questions:

How do you feel about the ideation process?
Did you enjoy the slap down?
Do you think ideation is a useful tool for coming up with ideas?
Did anyone draw from someone else’s idea? Why did you choose the idea you chose?
How did you feel about people building on your idea?
What did you notice about the design ideas you developed?
What would you like to do next?

Differentiated learning

Extension:

Provide additional time for students who would like to share their STEM idea LAB innovation with the class.
If you have access to a variety of recycled materials, you might like to encourage your students to build prototypes/models of their inventions.

Provisions for learning support:

The process of ideation can be challenging for some students. Sharing ideas can also be a vulnerable process. Some students may prefer to keep their ideas secret until they are fully worked through. Others might prefer to work in pairs or with a classroom helper. Allowing this flexibility will help create safety for students who need additional support.

STEM - Ideation Slap Down

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