Are your kids like mine and always up for a challenge? I wanted to find another fun winter STEM challenge for my kids. Now that the snow has arrived, I decided I wanted to do something related to winter. My son is such a winter kid. So, I finally came up with the snowman challenge.
The Winter STEM Challenge
The winter STEM challenge was as follows:
Build a bridge that can hold a 1 oz. snowman over the “pond.”
Each kid received the same set of materials. Using only the materials provided, they were to build a bridge that goes across the “pond” but does not lay on top of it. The pond was a small container filled with vinegar.
Vinegar???
Yes, vinegar. Our snowman was built out of fake snow, a mixture of baking soda and conditioner. You can read about making fake snow here in my post on snow activities.
My kids asked about using snow to make the snowmen. Novel idea, huh? Our snow is frozen, and making snowmen isn’t possible right now. It just wasn’t sticky.
Materials:
For the bridge:
- 12 inches of aluminum foil
- 1 index card
- 6 craft sticks
- 4 straws
- 12 inches of yarn
- 6 inches of masking tape
- scissors for cutting any materials
For the snowman:
- baking soda
- hair conditioner
Optional:
- STEM Journal for working through the challenge
Time to Make the Bridge
All the bridge materials were laid out on the table. The kids were allowed as much time as needed to construct a sturdy bridge. They quickly dove in and began working.
At one point, my daughter found a toy figurine that weighed 1 ounce. She wanted to use this to test her bridge instead of the snowman. She didn’t want the snowman getting destroyed while she ran tests.
Here is a picture of the kids working on building a bridge for a snowman.
It was a lot of trial and error. My daughter realized hers was too short and needed extensions on the legs. At one point, my son’s bridge wasn’t strong enough to hold any weight. They persevered and came up with designs they hoped would work.
Building the Snowman
I made up the snow mixture for the kids. Each kid made a snowman out of the snow. It had to be a least two balls high and could only weigh 1 ounce. We had our food scale to test their weight.
We probably should have used one snowman to test each bridge. That would have made things more scientifically accurate. To make sure things were as equal as possible, I said each snowman had to weigh 1 ounce. The kids could each have a snowman that was almost identical. The snowmen were so small they didn’t vary all that much.
Once the kids had snowmen made, it was time to test them on their bridges over the vinegar pond. If they failed, their snowman would bubble and fizz in the waters below. Super cool, but not what we were looking for right now.
Can Your Bridge Hold a Snowman?
It was time for the test. Would each bridge hold up?
Both kids took turns placing their bridge over the pond and placing the snowman on top. Fortunately, the bridges worked!
Was This Winter STEM Activity a Success
Each bridge held the snowman. The snowman didn’t have a bubbly demise. Well, not yet.
Both kids had a different bridge design that worked for them. One seemed to be a little more stable, but both could support the snowman.
When the STEM challenge was over, the snowmen jumped into the pond. Alas, the snowmen were gone.
However, we had another lesson that occurred as our snowmen turned into bubbles. Once the fizzing had stopped, the kids noticed a layer of something on the bottom of the container. It was the conditioner. The baking soda and vinegar reacted, but the conditioner separated and sank. There was no chemical reaction. Well, not until we put water in the container and stirred it up. We then had bubbles.
Science is so cool, especially with this fun winter STEM challenge!
Like this challenge? Check out these other fun STEM activities:
Happy Homeschooling!
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This is really helpful, thanks.