Snowflake Building Challenge

Third grade students were engaged in a snowflake building challenge. We first spent some time learning about the science of snowflakes by watching a short youtube video on snowflakes. The students then worked to complete the background portion of their planning sheet, as well as the imagine part. Each student drew a plan for a snowflake and labeled it with the materials that they wanted to be using. The students then were put into groups and had to work collaboratively to decide on a plan and then work to build their snowflake. The students also had a 'budget' to spend on materials. This helped to keep students on track and not use or waste too many materials. The challenge was: to build a symmetrical snowflake that had 6 points or sides and that could be freestanding. Each group was successful and really encompassed all aspects of STEM learning.