Jack and the Beanstalk: A STEM Story

If you haven't noticed, I'm becoming obsessed with STEM (see this post and this post). I love the open-ended problem-solving opportunities, which I think will be more and more vital as our society continues to advance. School is no longer about simply imparting knowledge; kids have Google for that. What they need are chances to utilize that knowledge, to collaborate, experiment, and problem-solve; time to reflect on what went well and what they could do better. STEM offers all of that--and, bonus, it's really fun!

My latest project that I'm super excited about is STEM Stories! There are lots of fairytale STEM activities out there, which involve reading a story and then completing a challenge inspired by the story. My twist on it is that the STEM challenges are woven throughout the tale, and actually influence the events in the story!

Printed and bound, this book will last for years of STEM Story fun!

Jack and the Beanstalk is the first story I've finished, but I have several more in the works. This is my own unique rendition of the story, which starts out the same as the familiar tale, but then takes its own path. At three points in the story, it says "Stop for STEM". Students then complete a challenge, the outcome of which determines what happens next. The setup is similar to a choose-your-own-adventure story.

Each challenge includes planning and reflection sheets so that students can think about their design and then process what went well, what didn't go well, and what they would do differently.

If they successfully complete the challenge, the story continues in one way, and if they do not successfully complete the challenge, the story continues in a different way. The same kids could even complete the STEM Story more than once so that the have the chance to improve their designs and see different events unfold!

The three challenges throughout the story can all be easily adapted for any elementary level. For younger students, you could provide a wider range of supplies and supports, and give them a longer time limit to complete challenges. For older students, you could increase the difficulty by adding more parameters, such as shorter time constraints or fewer supplies.

I include suggestions of supplies, but you could use anything you have on hand! Customize it to the needs of your students! I prefer to set a few parameters to define the desired outcome, but leave the challenges open-ended other than that. I don't even show my students pictures of completed challenges, because I want them to be completely free to create and design, without any preconceived ideas of what their project should look like. I am always amazed at their creativity; they never fail to have ideas that are far beyond anything I would have thought of. I often wish I had had the opportunity to do more STEM projects as a child; I think it could have benefited me with a greater ability to think outside the box.

I love this merging of STEM and ELA; it is fun and engaging while also being purposeful. I hope you and your students enjoy it, too. I would love to hear how it goes for you!

Find Jack and the Beanstalk: A STEM Story here in my shop or here in my TPT store!

Happy Teaching!