Playful STEM: OK Go Sandbox
OK Go is a wildly popular band that “likes to make stuff.” AnnMarie Thomas, a University of St. Thomas engineering educator and amateur circus aerialist, likes to make stuff, too. Put them together and the result is OK Go Sandbox, a free, video-rich repository of design challenges, curricula, and other resources that put the *fun* in fundamental STEM concepts while fostering creativity.
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Tags: AnnMarie Thomas, Curriculum, Engineering, Grades 6-8, Internet Resources, Lesson Plans, Mathematics, OK Go, OK Go Sandbox, Physics, Resources for Teachers, Rube Goldberg machine, simple machines, STEM education, STEM lessons, Teacher Resources, university of St. Thomas, Web Resources
Working in pairs, students in grades 6 to 8 follow the engineering design process to create the strongest truss bridge using a fixed amount of plastic drinking straws and tape. Let the competition begin! 
Students in grades 3 to 12 explore the effects of gravity, friction, and air resistance upon acceleration by using the engineering design process to design, build, and test their own bobsleds with the aim of reducing run times with each attempt.
Students in grades 6 to 9 learn about biomedical engineering and the human sensory system, then follow the engineering design process to create sensory-integration toys for youngsters with developmental disabilities.
Spider-Man’s creator, Stan Lee, finds inspiration in STEM. And he hopes students in grades 6 to 12 will, too, by dreaming up comics or short videos in the National Science Foundation’s Generation Nano: Superheroes Inspired by Science competition. Top entries can win up to $1,500 in scholarships, with $500 stipends for teachers. Enter by January 8, 2018. 
Middle and high school students follow the engineering design process to create wearable devices to monitor the health of humans, animals, or both in this competition sponsored by North Carolina State University’s Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST). The program includes teacher training and lesson plans to help implement the design challenge. Register teams by Feb. 15, 2018.
In this lesson on using mathematical modeling to solve real-world problems, middle and high school students work in teams to build a graph/model of their city map, then try to solve a real problem based on the model. They evaluate their solutions and present their reflections to the class.
Students follow the engineering design process to design and build a usable device to propel school T-shirts up into the stands during home sporting events while keeping costs under budget. 
In this engineering design challenge about building in hurricane-prone regions, students learn that a solid base helps stabilize a structure by constructing, testing, and redesigning a tower that can support a tennis ball at least 18 inches off the ground while withstanding the wind from a fan.
