Carolina Stem Challenge: Make It Bounce Kit

Grades 6-12. A chemistry lesson that is competitive? Yes! Bring the excitement of a Carolina STEM Challenge to your chemistry classroom and watch student engagement bounce off the walls. Introduce students to polymer chemistry as they make bouncy balls using white glue and sodium borate. After testing their cross-linked polymer’s properties, student teams are challenged to design a polymer that maximizes bounce. Teams enter their engineered material into a classroom competition and extend their learning via the engineering design process. Students will: * Perform a warm-up activity to learn the basics of polymer chemistry * Complete a design challenge that includes planning, implementation, testing, modifications, and retesting * Enter their design into a classroom competition to determine the best formulation and design * Give a presentation that explains their designs and results to their classmates Science, technology, engineering, and math extension suggestions are included to bring even more perspective to this activity. The comprehensive teacher’s manual with student guide includes both a design challenge scoring rubric and a grading rubric. Kit materials support 15 teams, and the challenge requires 1 to 2 class periods. FREE 1-year access to digital resources that support NGSS instruction included.