The Eiffel Tower is named after a man named Gustave Eiffel, but he didn’t actually create it. Instead, two of his top engineers, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, designed the tower. The names of 72 different artists, engineers, and mathematicians who helped with the design are carved into the tower so that everyone can remember them!
Spark your math thinking!
1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #3: Eiffel Tower Math
2. Read this article about the Eiffel Tower. Record 3 math details about this structure on your recording page.
3. Watch the Geometry of the Eiffel Tower. Record 3 details from the video on your recording sheet.
4. Answer one of these these questions on your recording page. Reminder for your teacher that answer key can be found in the math mini spark folder.
Describe the significance of the Eiffel Tower’s height and how it compares to football fields.
Who was Gustave Eiffel, and what was his profession before designing the Eiffel Tower?
Explain what a truss is and how it functions in supporting structures like bridges.
What are the two types of forces mentioned that act on the truss, and how do they differ?
What is meant by “static equilibrium,” and why is it important for the stability of a well-designed bridge?
5. Global Math Stories combine math, history, and cultural stories. Check out the information about the Eiffel Tower. Answer 2 of these questions on your math recording page. Reminder for your teacher that answer key can be found in the math mini spark folder.
The tower has 1,665 steps in total. If you were allowed to climb all the way from the bottom to the top, how long do you think it would take you? Explain your reasoning.
Every repainting of the tower requires 50-60 tons of paint. Find the mean and median of the amount of paint that has been used during these applications: 52, 60, 58, 54, 59, 52, 60, 51, and 55 tons.
Imagine the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower are standing side by side with the sun shining on them. The Statue of Liberty is 93 meters tall, and its shadow is 10.7 meters long. If the Eiffel Tower is 330 meters tall, how long will its shadow be?
6. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
You can use step 5 as the first story for the Global Math Stories Badge that can be found on the EY badge page.
Guitar virtuosos have the ability to manipulate sound waves, crafting melodies from inspiration and vibration. Explore the science behind guitar playing, explaining how materials like wood, metal, and plastic come together to create rhythm, melody, and music from the initial strum to the ultimate shredding chord.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your STEAM mini spark recording page: #3:The Physics of Playing Guitar
2. Watch this STEAM education intro. Record the STEAM topics on your recording sheet
3. Find out about the Physics of Playing Guitar by watching the video below. What components of STEAM are discussed in this video? What’s something new thing you learned? Add your responses to your recording page.
4. Share your STEAM mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Did you know that the popsicle, ear muffs AND the trampoline were invented by kids? You can be an inventor, too. Take this challenge to create a new and improved pencil.
1. FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM
Inventors are motivated by things that don’t work. Imagine that your pencil keeps slipping out of your hand and it presses on your fingers and they get sore.
Figure out the problem! Is the pencil too narrow? Is the paint to slippery.
Think about what might improve the pencil so that the problem is erased (no pun intended). Write your ideas down in a notebook.
2. LET YOUR IMAGINATION GO!
Brainstorm as many ideas to solve the problem of as possible. Next, turn these ideas into designs. Draw them in your note book. No matter how bizarre or unrealistic a design may seem, make sure to make sure to include it. Although a design may seem impossible, it might inspire a realistic solution.
Comment below to share your ideas or Snap a picture of your best pencil idea and share it with the EY coordinator in your building.
Nanotechnology pertains to extremely small entities. Nano Art focuses on exploring and highlighting the aesthetic appeal of structures, both natural and synthetic, that are sized in nanometers. Learn about both in this mini spark.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your Full STEAM Ahead recording page: #2: Nano Details of our World
2. Look over this chart as a reminder of what the measurement prefixes mean. Record the prefixes for the smallest 4 on your recording sheet. Also record the symbols for these smaller measurements.
A micrometer symbol is μm. A nanometer symbol is nm. A picometer symbol is pm and a femtometer symbol is fm.
3. Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. Visit this site and record the details on your recording page. Zoom in so you can also see the information on the visual.
3. Watch this video and find out about nanotechnology. On your recording sheet, make a list of 10 examples from the video.
4. Learn about nano-art at this site. Scroll through the gallery. On your recording page, write about your favorite images. Notice the symbols on each of the images. Some of them are micrometers and some are nanometers.
5. At the bottom of the site there are two paragraphs. What is nanoart? and How small is a nanometer? Read each one and record details on your recording page.
6. Share your Full STEAM Ahead recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Data visualization is a general term that describes any effort to help people understand the significance of data by placing it in a visual context.
Spark your math thinking!
1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #2: Graph the Story
2. Watch this introduction video. On your recording page draw a sketch of the graph from the video. Add in these 4 labels on the 4 lines she drew-steep slope, slope, horizontal line, negative slope.
3. Download and print this sheet. If you would prefer to do the graph digitally you can use this resource.
4. Start this video and then pause it to get your graph set up to look like the graph in the video.
5. Restart the video and decide where you will need to plot the points.
6. Pause the video and complete the graph.
7. When you have completed the graph, resume the video to see how you did. If you need to make adjustments to your graph do so. If you are doing the activity online, add a picture of your graph to your recording sheet.
8. Choose 3 more videos to watch, graph, and check. You can make them on paper or use the digital graph maker.
Video choices
Height of waist off ground 1-The task is to graph the height of the person’s waist off the ground against time.
Air Pressure– The challenge is to graph air pressure against time.
Elevation-The task is to draw a graph of their elevation against time. The graph contains increasing, decreasing, and constant sections.
Distance from home plate-The task is to draw a graph of the player’s distance from the home plate against time. The graph shows linear piecewise sections.
Weight of cups-The task is to graph the weight on the scales against time.
9. Share your math mini spark recording page and your graphs with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Finding ideas and inspiration for writing a story can be tricky for both children and adults alike. This mini spark makes it easy to start writing since the idea has been chosen-Super Snail Detectives!
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #7: Super Snail Detectives
2. Watch this video about silly snail detectives. The narrator of this video offers a TON of suggestions on how to develop your own snail characters.
3. After watching the video one time, go back and watch it again, pausing to record details on your recording page to answer the questions he asks. This will help you develop your characters for your own Super Snail Detectives Story! Aim for 10-15 pieces of information on your recording sheet for this step.
4. Using your notes as a guide, write the first chapter of your your own Super Snail Detectives Story.
5. Ask for edits to be make for your first chapter and make the suggested changes.
6. OPTIONAL: Create some illustrations to go along with your chapter.
7. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Do you want to keep working on your snail story? Talk with your teacher or EY coordinator about what steps you need to take to make this into a badge.
1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #6: Book Spine Poem
2. Have you heard of “a book spine poem?” It’s a kind of poetry that you don’t really write from scratch – instead, you “find” it by arranging book titles to make a poem. This type of poem can be serious or funny, just like in regular poetry. Write the poems you see her on your recording page.
3. Watch this video to see the process. Record 3-5 details from the video.
4. Okay, ready to make your own book spine poetry?
You need is a stack of at least 8 books with interesting titles from around the house, your classroom, or your school library.
Place a few books on top of each other.
Play around with the titles to create a short poem, words that create an image, feeling or scenes.
Write down the titles when you find a combination you like.
As you write down titles, you might notice some that seem to go together to tell a funny or interesting story. Switch them around to get a poem you like.
If you are doing a digital recording page, also take a picture of your work in progress
5. Keep working on your final project. Your finished spine poems should have at least 4 book titles included. Document your poem by taking a picture and adding it to your recording page or typing the titles in a poem format.
6. Share your language arts mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Lesson adapted from :http://www.brainpickings.org/tag/book-spine-poetry/ and http://www.pbs.org/parents/adventures-in-learning/2015/04/book-spine-poetry/
Artist Theo Jansen demonstrates the amazingly lifelike kinetic sculptures he builds from plastic tubes and lemonade bottles. His creatures are designed to move – and even survive – on their own.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your language Full STEAM Ahead recording page: #1: Strandbeests
2. Read this quote from Theo Jansen. “Every spring I go to the beach with a new beast. During the summer I do all kinds of experiments with the wind, sand and water. In the fall I grew a bit wiser about how these beasts can survive the circumstances on the beach. At that point I declare them extinct and they go to the bone yard.”
3. On your recording page, write about what you think a Strandbeest is like.
4. Set your timer for 3 minutes. On your recording page explain a Strandbeest to someone who has not seen one before.
5. Watch this TED talk: Theo Jansen: My creations, a new form of life. On your recording page record 5 takeaways from the talk.
6. Visit Theo Jansen’s website. Click on “Strandbeest” and then “Genealogy” in the menu to explore the photo gallery. In detail, choose one of the structures to describe on your recording page.
7. Write about what you you learned. How does what Mr. Jansen create relate to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM)?
8. Share your Full STEAM Ahead recording page and visual with your teacher/EY coordinator.
This math mini spark explores Weird But True! Size Edition.
Data visualization is a general term that describes any effort to help people understand the significance of data by placing it in a visual context.
Finding ideas and inspiration for writing a story can be tricky for both children and adults alike. This mini spark makes it easy to start writing since the idea has been chosen-Super Snail Detectives!
Artist Theo Jansen demonstrates the amazingly lifelike kinetic sculptures he builds from plastic tubes and lemonade bottles. His creatures are designed to move – and even survive – on their own.
