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Notes for Teachers

Engineers look at simple things in creative ways and think about ways to solve the problems around them. The book in this lesson provides examples as problems become solutions through innovative thinking.

Each lesson will follow the 3 E’s: Engage, Explore, and Explain.

In the Engage part of the lesson, you will find a recommended STEM read aloud title and a brief synopsis of the book.

In the Explore part of the lesson, students will participate in an engineering challenge or STEM activity that connects to the read aloud and to the standard. A list of suggested materials will also be included.

In the Explain part of the lesson, students will reflect on their learning through writing and drawing, responding to designated prompts.

List of Materials

• Not a Stick by Antoinette Portis

• Pipe Cleaners

• Pencils and STEM Journals

• Simple materials to display at the beginning of the lesson (ex. plastic straws, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, plastic bottle caps, etc.)

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Arizona Standards

Life Science:

K.L2U1.8 Observe, ask questions, and explain the differences between the characteristics of living and non-living things.

NGSS Standards

K-2-ETS1-1 Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change and define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

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National Standards

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

K-2-ETS1-1: Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

Connection: Students observe simple materials (pipe cleaners) and define a creative "problem" by reimagining the object into something new (a tool, a toy, etc.).

K-2-ETS1-2: Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.

Connection: Students create a physical model using pipe cleaners to represent their imagined object, demonstrating how the shape matches their idea.

Common Core English Language Arts (CCSS.ELA)

RL.K.7: With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

Connection: Students engage with the book Not a Stick!, observing how the illustrations transform a simple line drawing into complex imagined scenarios (e.g., a fishing pole, a weight).

SL.K.5: Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired to provide additional detail.

Connection: In the "Explain" phase, students present their pipe cleaner creations to the class, visually displaying their work to support their verbal description.

Common Core Mathematics (CCSS.MATH)

K.G.B.5: Model shapes in the world by building shapes from components (e.g., sticks and clay balls) and drawing shapes.

Connection: The core activity involves twisting and bending pipe cleaners ("sticks") to build specific shapes or representations of objects from the real world.

K.G.A.1: Describe objects in the environment using names of shapes, and describe the relative positions of these objects using terms such as above, below, beside, in front of, behind, and next to.

Connection: When sharing their creations, students describe what they made, potentially using positional language (e.g., "I put a circle on top of the stick").

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Objective(s):

Today I can ask questions, make observations, and gather information.

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Agenda (45 minutes)

Engage: Read the book Not a Stick.

Explore: Re-imagine the pipe cleaner as something new.

Explain: Share/present how the student re-imagined the “stick”.

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Introduction

Engage:

In this lesson, students will activate their imagination as they observe all the things that the pig imagines his stick to be.

Begin by reviewing the included vocabulary words with students.

Read aloud the story, Not a Stick.

In the story, the main character has a stick but imagines that it is other things instead.

Ask the students:

● Have you ever looked at an object and wondered if it could be something else?

● The pig pretended that the stick was lots of different things--a fishing rod, a paintbrush, a sword. What else would you imagine it to be?

Provide the students with a variety of simple, yet different materials. For example, plastic straws, popsicle sticks, cotton balls, plastic bottle caps, etc.

Allow the students to manipulate the materials and talk about them in a small group or with a partner.

• What else could these materials be?

• A hat, a pencil, a pillow, a wheel.

• What might they be if you combined them together?

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Hands-on Activity Instructions

Explore (STEM Challenge):

Explain that when engineers solve problems they go through a process called the Engineering Design Process.

Review the steps of the Engineering Design Process with students:

Ask: What is the problem?

Imagine: What are some possible solutions to this problem?

Plan: Which solution is the best?

Create: What can I sketch, create, and build to solve the problem? Experiment: Does it work?

Improve: How can I make my design better?

Give each student at least 1 pipe cleaner and have them choose one way to reimagine what the stick (pipe cleaner) could be.

Students can bend their stick to make it whatever they imagine it to be.

Students should use the planning sheet to sketch some ideas for what they might create using their stick before working with their pipe cleaner.

Explain:

Have students complete the reflection at the bottom of their planning page to show how satisfied they are with their design.

Have students share their stick designs as a class.

Resources:

Read Aloud video

Not A Stick

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Vocabulary

Directions: Use the vocabulary cards to pre-teach the vocabulary words before completing the activities.

Engineer - A person who designs something in order to solve a problem

Curious - Asking questions to learn more about something.

Imagination - Thinking about new ideas.

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Differentiation

Work in a smaller group.
Adjust the amount of content.
Present content in multiple ways – take advantage of the multiple ways to present content, including: reading, listening, viewing, and interacting.
Provide key vocabulary with images.

Remediation

Extension/Enrichment

Freeplay

Allow students time to explore and create solutions to problems with space and freedom.

“What happens next?”�Help young students identify patterns and make predictions. Adding in the opportunity for students to guess what happens next whether during the story or exploring helps students recognize the logical nature and sequence of things.
Encourage students to ask questions and be curious about how things work or guide them into investigating the pipe cleaner.

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