STEM PB #2 - STUCK

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Over the decades that I read picture books to students, I noticed that many of their favorites were stories that were just plain silly! This book is one of those, but it can still lead to some fun STEM challenges that integrate ELA, Science, and Computer Science!

Featured Picture Book:
Stuck
By Oliver Jeffers (2011)

Summary:
This is a silly book about a boy, Floyd, who starts off getting his kite stuck in a tree. He begins to throw things up into the tree trying to knock it down. Each object he throws also gets stuck as the items continue to get bigger and more outlandish! Finally, in the end, he gets his kite back, with a little twist!

Themes:

• Perseverance
• Developing a new plan

STEM Ideas:
1. Of course, loving drones in the classroom the way I do, I immediately thought of a drone challenge!

• Create a tree (this fort kit we use with our drone lessons works great for lots of builds!) and suspend kid-made mini-kites in it. Students have to engineer an attachment and fly their drone to retrieve the kites.

2. Have students engineer and test a “grabber tool” the boy could use to get the items back down.

• Use robotics kits like LEGO WeDo 2.0 or Prime if you have them to create the grabber
• Create the grabber with recycled materials

3. Have students create and code a program in Scratch/Scratch Jr. that recreates the story.

4. Have students create a path using pictures of the objects that were thrown into the tree in the correct order. Use Beebots, Dash, Sphero, Ozobot, or other robots to follow the path to retrace the story.
 
5. Have students engineer a tree that will hold the most weight without tipping over.
 
6. Have the students create a stop motion video that recreates the story objects getting stuck in the tree.

Do you have other ideas or need some tips for the ones I suggested?
Let me know in the comments!