Locally in Coventry and Warwickshire we have developed the following Challenges In A Box for school teachers to use to assist in educating pupils of various ages. We are keen to have feedback and new ideas for these challenges.

Each challenge has visual aids and, where relevant, pupil guides and teacher guides.

Challenges In A Box are copyright © Derrick Willer.

 

However you are free to copy for use in schools and for instructing children of school age and for use by children of school age. Please feedback to: Derrick Willer, dw@dwiller.com

 

However, I suggest that you give a small donation (e.g. £25, $30) to the Memusi Schools in remote Kenya so that they can install electricity and then get computers.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/electricity Thank you.

 

 

        

Primary Schools

 

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Title

Description

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Anemometer

Make an Anemometer out of some plastic sheets, a dowel, a pin and a heavy base

Animals in Danger

Ten examples of endangered animals. What are they? Where do they live? What do the eat? And What is the danger?

Arithmetic Bricks

Sum Fun with Arithmetic Bricks. Learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, pythagoras and Pi using bricks. Suitable for ages 5-8.

 

Arithmetic Bricks For Five Year Olds

Sum Fun with Arithmetic Bricks. Learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, pythagoras and Pi using bricks. Suitable for ages 5-8.

 

Balloon Car

Make a car powered by a balloon from recycled materials

 

Bridges

A paper based exercise suitable for 7-13 year old pupils. Pupils make a bridge out of paper into a U" shape and find out how much weight (pennies or model cars) it will take with different depths of the "U" versus the remaining area for the bridge. They graph the results. The project is then extended to bridge the gap between two chairs with paper, sticky tape, etc. costing them "money"

e.g. cheapest to hold a 100gm weight wins. (30 mins)

Burglar Alarm Primary

An introduction to electrical circuits for Primary School pupils, KS2, using low cost materials. About 30-60 minutes as individuals or small teams.

Car Crash

An exercise to discover that cars have crumple zones to keep passengers safe from crashes.

The pupils are asked to construct a car from available materials and work out how to protect the passengers and also have crumple zones front and back.

Chinese New Year

This activity is for pupils to make a rotating table with lights.

 

Clown

This exercise introduces pupils to levers by making a dancing clown, robot or Santa

They discover new words including Mechanical Advantage and Pivot or Fulcrum

Compressed Air Car

Make a model car from recycled materials and use compressed air to race it across the playground

Compressed Air Plane

Make a model plane from recycled materials and use compressed air to fly it across the playground

Crackers

This activity is for pupils to make some Christmas or Party Crackers

Diwali

This activity is for pupils to make a rotating Dwali table with lights

Downhill Racer

An activity to make a downhill racing car using a pre-made base and wheels.

Pupils can work alone or in teams. Approximately 1 hour

Eco Power Challenge

This activity is for pupils to see how they can reduce the carbon footprint of their home.

Then to scale this up for their school.

Egg Drop

Using raw eggs the teams have to make a cradle to hold the egg and protect the egg when it is dropped from height. For younger ones you may want to use boiled eggs. Teams should consider safety, strength, crumple zone, what happens if the cradle turns upside-down, etc.

Elecricity Is Fun

Utilising the AchidistviQ Physics Science Lab Circuit Learning Electronics Exploration Kit,STEM Electric Education Tools for Beginner, Junior and Senior High School Pupils

 

Even More Funny Maths

Apples and bags, twins? Ladder and tide, Hare and tortoise, Polar Bear. Alien money, and more

Festive Season
Crackers

Make a party cracker and decorate it.

 

Festive Season
Santa Volcano

Make a Santa and turn him into a volcano with baking soda and vinegar

 

Flashing Festive Lights

Using LEDS and electronic components to make an A-Stable Multivibrator to power flashing LED festive lights

A picture containing meter

Description automatically generated

 

Flight

A paper based exercise helping 5-13 year olds to understand flight. There are different planes to be made and different wing arrangements demonstrate how lift affects flight – canard versus tail-plane, etc. (30 mins)

Funny Maths

Exploring some unusual arithmetic, geometry, etc. used by ourselves and, maybe, aliens. Including Thales Theorem, Hippocrates of Chios, Mesolabe Compass, multiplying using your hands and unusual multiplication by some earlier humans. Years 5 and 6.

Gaia

Gaia is the idea that living organisms on a planet will affect the nature of their environment. Can the pupils list some of the problems and their possible solutions?

Helicopter

Elastic band helicopter made from paper and paper clips

 

House Of Gadgets

For 9 - 13 year olds. An exercise to understand sustainability and conservation. Pupils imagine what will happen if rubbish is not collected. Then there is a short story about conservation. The pupils decide on a gadget to make and are given recycled materials to make a mock-up of it. (2½-3 hours)

Japanese Multiplication

The Japanese method of multiplying two two-digit numbers is to do this by drawing lines.

Lets Crumble

Learn how to programme the Crumble computer. Then make a night-light or automated money-box using the Crumble kit and recycled materials. There are further challenges for traffic lights, car and maze, robot. Developed with DATA

Lets Be Specific About Gravity

Several samples to weigh and measure their volume using a graduated test-tube or jug. Plus you can add your own samples – maybe pebble, concrete, plastic, potato, carrot, cheese

Graphical user interface, application

Description automatically generated

Levers and Pulleys

Levers with up to ten to one mechanical advantage, and visa versa. One to four pulleys with up to four-to-one mechanical advantage.

Magic Roundabout

Make a roundabout from recycled cardboard, paper and wooden dowel. Decorate if for a festival or party.

 

Make a Barometer

Make a barometer using a jam jar and a record on graph paper

Make a Thermometer

Make a thermometer out of a drinks bottle, a straw, alcohol and water.

Measure Wind Speed

Make an anemometer and measure wind speed. Compare to weather forecasts to obtain a conversion factor between revolutions per minute and published wind speed.

More Funny Maths

Triangles, marbles, weighing, always 1089, letters represent numbers, odd x even = ? and more

More Tricky Logic

Ten more questions where the logic may not be obvious.

Paper Catapult Primary

A version of the secondary school challenge for primary school pupils where the design is limited and a recommended design is used.

Paper Towers And Bridges

Versions for Primary and Secondary Schools. Approx. 30 – 60 minutes. Secondary school pupils in teams are judged on design, budgets, actual spend, and presentations.

Pendulums

An activity with a tennis ball and a cricket ball to demonstrate pendulums and calculate their swing-time. Finally testing the formula with a playground swing.

Polyalphabetic Coding

How to Code and Decode using your Birthdate so you can send secret messages. KS2 and KS3. About 30-60 minutes as individuals or small teams.

Primary Quick Challenges

Four sets of 13 (Baker’s Dozen) challenges each taking 5-10 minutes.

Set 1 2 3 & 4

Recycled Boat

Make a sailing boat out of recycled materials

 

Rockets and Maths

Make a rocket and throw it horizontally and vertically and calculate the average velocity using Newton’s laws of motion.

 

Roundabout

 

 

Sail A Matchbox

Make a boat out of a matchbox and pencils and sail it with a hand-held fan

Singing Maths

Pictures and rhymes leading to simple arithmetic

Suitable for 5-8 year olds, these include Sum Fun with Jack And Jill, Grand Old Duke of York, and Contrary Mary

     

 

Spectroscopy

Make a spectroscope out of cardboard box and a CD. Approx. 30 minutes. Suitable for Primary Schools

STEM Quiz

24 questions to tease the pupils, teachers and STEM Ambassadors complete with "Wrong" with explanation and the correct answers

Sum Pi to

Chew Over

Not pork pie, ≃ 3.142 or 22/7. Calculating circumference, area and volume

 

Sum Prime
Numbers

Sum Prime Numbers. Suitable for ages 5-8.

Table Tennis Ball Launcher

An education challenge. We have 12 kits available for use in schools in Coventry and Warwickshire. (30 mins for basic launcher kit – up to 1½ hours for loader for the launcher made from recycled materials provided by the school) Email Derrick Willer dw@dwiller.com for availability.

The Water Cycle

An experiment to show the water cycle – evaporation  and condensation.

Thermometer

This activity is for pupils to discover how a thermometer works.

 

Towers and Bridges Made With Sweeties

Primary challenge, approx. 20-40 minutes. Make a Tower or Bridge out of either Marsh Mallows and Straws or Jelly Beans and Toothpicks

Tricky Logic

Ten questions where the logic may not be obvious.

Vinegar Rocket

Make a rocket from a plastic bottle using vinegar and baking soda.

Water Clock

Make a clock that uses water to time 30 seconds, etc.

 

Water Wheel Light

Make a water wheel drive a generator to light an LED

 

Why Lag Your House?

A simple card based exercise for younger pupils to learn how insulating your home can improve heating and save on energy. Suitable for pupils aged 5-13. (60 mins)

Win A Car

There are three closed doors. You can win a car if you open the correct door. The host opens one door which is empty, Should you change your chosen door for a greater possibility of winning?  This activity is for pupils to understand probability