I love infusing STEM into unexpected places--like social studies class! During a unit on ancient Egypt, our class engaged in two STEM projects related to what we were learning.
Apple Mummies
After learning about the Egyptian mummification process (which the kids found delightfully gross), we designed an experiment using the scientific method. Which substance--salt, baking soda, or a 50/50 mixture of the two--would better preserve a slice of apple? Students learned about controlling variables and data collection, which included taking pictures and weighing the apples at regular intervals. Once the results were in, I taught the class how to use Excel spreadsheets to enter the data and produce line graphs of the results.
Egyptian Shadufs
The ancient Egyptians were awesome engineers! We all know about the beautifully design pyramids, but they came up with clever solutions for other challenges, as well. For instance, how to get water up the banks of the Nile and into the irrigation canals? The solution was a device called a shaduf. After watching a brief video of a shaduf in use, students were tasked with designing their own shaduf-like device. This project took a lot of designing, building, testing, and redesigning to get it just right, which in my opinion is one of the hallmarks of a great STEM challenge.