St Patrick's Day STEM project

So I know that St Patrick's Day was last week but I wanted to share with you some of the awesome projects my students did! While the students were away at lunch a mischievous little leprechaun came into our room and messed it all up! Chairs were upside down, green streamers covered the room and it looked like there was a major party going on! He even left us a note that said if we catch him we would get his pot of gold!

This student drew herself with a net to catch the leprechaun.

Well that challenge was accepted faster than you can say Lucky Charms! So we discussed first what we should do---BUILD A TRAP!!! was the resounding answer. But before we could build something we decided we have to learn more about leprechauns, draw up our plans and create the best trap we could together.

First we used archived issues of Lets Find Out to learn about Ireland and the holiday St Patrick's Day. All week we also researched St. Patrick's Day on PebbloGo and played a fun shamrock game on Starfall. During our research we learned that leprechauns made shoes for fairies, that they are very clever and that they live on the Emerald Isle.

This student used a fishing pole with a fairy tied to the end
(remember we learned that leprechauns like to help fairies?!)

Armed with information I gave each student their own paper to draw what they think would be the most efficient trap. What they came up with was AMAZING!!! If you have never done this before PLEASE do this next year. I was blown away with their designing and engineering skills, not to mention their attention to detail and processing. After everyone finished we did an author share to see what brilliant ideas we each came up with.

We then dug through my cupboards and found materials to create a real life leprechaun trap. Since I was going to be gone at a meeting (wink wink) while they were at specialists we knew that our chances of him returning were greater. Thus our chances of getting his gold were greater too!

This student drew something similar to the trap we created.
Although hers had a cord connected to her iPod
that would trigger when the leprechaun entered the trap set with gold.

Alas, our trap had one flaw, a hole in the bucket. But we did get his hat that was filled with god coins. And not just any gold coins, the most delicious chocolate ever made. Did you know that leprechauns make chocolate---sorta like their cousin E.L. Fudge?

Overall this activity was great. It allowed my students to express their scientific minds in a fun and engaging way! What did you do for St. Patrick's Day?!