Stay Safe in Severe Weather! STEM Shelter Building Challenge

Help your students understand how severe weather impacts living things and how to design structures that can withstand it. This STEM challenge will engage your students while focusing on creating structures to withstand the strong winds and rain during severe weather.

This weather STEM Challenge is a hands-on design challenge that encourages students to apply what they know about natural resources, materials, and the need for durable shelter while they design and create houses that can withstand high wind and rain.

Build a Shelter Severe Weather STEM Challenge Overview

This resource has multiple components as described below. Please note that this STEM Challenge is designed to be completed over the duration of several days or weeks, and it can be a take-home STEM activity as well. To get your students started, they are introduced to the following scenario:

You have been chosen to take part in a Wilderness Survival Reality TV Series. You have been dropped off in the middle of the forest with one goal…SURVIVE!

On day one, your first goal is to build some sort of shelter to keep you safe, dry, and protected from the elements. How can you create a shelter that will protect you from sudden rainstorms, high winds, and other forms of severe weather? Use what you know about natural resources, different materials, and design to construct a survival shelter. This shelter must be able to withstand the following tests:

Test 1—High Wind Test—Your structure must remain intact when placed directly in front of a high-speed wind source (fan).

Test 2—Water Protection Test – Your structure must protect a person from a rapid downpour of water during three rain events.

What Weather STEM Activities Are Included?

This resource includes everything you need (except for building materials) to get your students on track toward building durable and waterproof survival shelters. It includes detailed instructions, material lists, and the following graphic organizers and templates to guide students toward the completion of the project.

• Survival Shelter Design Planning Sheet
• Survival Shelter Materials Needed Planning Sheet
• Survival Shelter Sketch Organizer
• Survival Shelter Testing Observation Tracker
• Build a Shelter Experiment Conclusion Worksheet
• Build a Shelter Experiment Reflection Sheet

We recommend downloading this resource and printing it as a packet for students to work from. This helps keep their materials organized and easily accessible during planning and building sessions.

Download and Print Your Weather STEM Design Challenge

This resource is available as a printable PDF file and as a fully editable Google Slides document. To get your copy, click the dropdown arrow on the download button and select your preferred file type.

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