Fun At-
Home STEM Projects

In collaboration with team alum and a current Civil Engineering student at Loyola Marymount University.  ​

Are you bored at home and craving a fun challenge? Well, these projects are just for you! All these projects are made from commonly found household materials. They teach students the fundamentals of STEM while having fun. Have fun with these projects and let us know if you liked them! Good luck future engineers!

1. Straw Rocket

Approximate time: 20 minutes
STEM Topic: Aerodynamics and fuel emission

Materials:

• Ruler
• 1 sheet of paper (11" by 8.5")
• Scissors
• Colored pencils or markers
• Clear tape
• Plastic or paper drinking straw
• Tape Measure

Procedure:

1. Use your ruler to draw a rectangle that is 4 inches long and 6 inches wide on your paper. Use your scissors to cut it out.
2. Use the colored pencils or markers to decorate the rectangle with colorful lines or polka dots.
3. Flip  your rectangle over, place a colored pencil or thin marker on one of the long ends, and roll the paper thinly around the pencil. Make sure the colored side of the rectangle is facing out.
4. Use clear tape to hold the paper so it stays rolled and remove the pencil.
5. Fold one end down ¼ of an inch and seal it closed with a piece of tape. You’ve made your rocket!
6. To fly your rocket, slide the paper tube rocket over the end of your straw. Hold the opposite end of the straw to your lips and blow. Liftoff!
   1. Optional: Write down the distance your rocket flies after a couple of trials.
   2. Optional: add 2 wings to your rocket and note the difference in distance. Draw 2 triangles that are 2 inches wide and 1 inch tall. Tape them along the bottom of the rocket on opposite sides.

2. Extended Grabber 

Approximate Time: 30 minutes
STEM Topic: Simple Mechanics

Materials: 

• 2 cardboard tubes
• Straw or pencil
• String
• Tape 
• Scissors
• Dixie cup or binder clips

Procedure:

1. Tape both cardboard tubes onto a solid surface. Use your straw ( or pencil) as a reference as to how far the tubes should be.
2. Make two cuts at the top of the cardboard tubes just big enough to fit the straws or pencils.
3. Put your spool on the straw or pencil. Now if you don’t have a spool, you can simply secure your rope to the straw or pencil with a piece of tape. You still have a hand crank winch! If you do use a spool make sure to secure it  with tape to the straw or pencil. What if you don’t secure it? The spool just spins around the straw and there is no ending up of string!
4. Secure your rope or string to spool with a piece of tape {or to straw directly if you don’t have a spool} and tie your basket or object to the bottom of the string.
5. Go ahead and test out your hand crank winch simple machine. ​

3. ​Mini Spoon Catapult 

Approximate Time: 20 minutes
STEM Topic: Physics; the use of stored energy to launch a payload

Materials: 

• 7 craft sticks 
• Mini rubber bands
• Plastic Spoon
• Pom Poms (anything light to launch, such as a small eraser)

Procedure:

1. Stack 5 craft sticks on top of one another and secure both ends together with rubber ends
2. Stack 2 more sticks together and secure one end of them with a rubber band.
3. Carefully open 2 craft sticks you’ve put together and slide the stack of 5 in between them. 
4. Secure your plastic spoon to the top craft stick using rubber bands. The bowl of the spoon should be at the top.
5. Crisscross one or two more rubber bands around the area where the craft sticks intersect.
6. Place your catapult on a flat surface and use one hand to hold your crossbar (the 5 craft sticks) while pushing down on the spoon. Release the spoon to test the catapult. 
   1. If your catapult is springy enough, try adding another rubber band at the bottom or twisting the one that is there so it is tighter.
7. Once it works, go ahead and launch your pom-poms!

4. Hand Crank 

Approximate Time: 35 minutes
STEM Topics: Mechanics and problem solving

Materials:

• Cardboard tubes
• Spool (optional)
• Straw or pencil
• String
• Tape
• Scissors
• Small basket (object to attach to string)

Procedure:

1. Create four beams by inserting the craft sticks into the pieces of straws.
2. Leave a small gap (about 1mm) between the ends of the craft sticks.
3. Break off a 3-4" piece of skewer. Get a piece of masking tape. Use both hands to hold the tape and stick it onto the skewer. Without letting go of the tape, apply it to the straw piece. Fold the other half of the tape over the skewer.
4. This will reinforce the connection between the sticks. Without it, the straws might bend and cause the grabber to be inoperable.
5. Young students may have trouble with this step.
6. Repeat with all four beams.
7. Use the pointed end of the skewer to carefully pierce the center of the straw.
8. Pierce another straw piece with the same skewer.
9. Pull the skewer most of the way through, then break off the skewer, leaving a 2-3" piece connecting the two straw pieces. By pulling the skewer all the way through, the pointed tip can be reused.
10. Repeat for the other two beams to create two 'X' shapes.
11. Repeat this process to connect the two 'X' shapes together as depicted.