science experiment maze challenge

Magnetic Maze

This activity provides a fun way to explore magnetism. It involves the simple task of using a magnet to guide a coin through a maze drawn on the side of a plastic bottle. There are plenty of opportunities to think and talk about how magnetism works, and why magnets only attract certain materials.

Printable downloads

Follow these steps….

Think and talk about…

• What happens when you hold the magnet near the coin or ball bearing?
• Why doesn’t the bottle stick to the magnet?

Investigate…

• Does this work with all coins?
• Try some other things inside your bottle maze, such as a button, marble or hair clip. Which materials stick to the magnet?

Did you know?

The word ‘magnet’ comes from part of Ancient Greece called Magnesia, where a magnetic iron ore was mined.

What’s the science?

Many modern coins are made of steel (an alloy made mostly of iron) coated with a thin layer of either copper or nickel. Twenty-pence coins are made of an alloy of copper and nickel, and will not work in this activity.

Science in your world

Among the many everyday applications of magnets are fridge decorations that cling to (steel) fridge doors, and the magnetic strip on the inside of a fridge door that keeps the door closed. Electromagnets are coils of wire wound around an iron core. When current flows through the coil, it produces a magnetic field, which magnetises the iron. Electromagnets are found in electric motors, cranes in scrapyards and in loudspeakers and headphones.

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Bubble Fun!

Explore mixtures and materials by making brilliant bubbles!

Make a Paper Plate Maze STEM Challenge

STEM activities are a lot of fun and educational, but the best kind of STEM activities are open-ended, allowing children to think for themselves. In this paper plate maze STEM challenge, kids are challenged to make a marble maze using household materials. They must follow all elements of a real design process, including brainstorming, blueprints, prototypes, tweaking, and testing their designs.

Kids can learn a lot from a paper plate maze STEM challenge. The goal is to show kids how a product is made from start to finish, using all elements of science, technology, engineering, and math.

What you’ll need to have on hand:

• Paper plates
• Various household supplies (cardboard, straws, cotton balls, string, etc)
• Glue (we found tacky glue and hot glue worked best)

First, issue the challenge. The goal of this project is to get a maze made that fits a marble, contained inside a paper plate, that works completely, and doesn’t break when playing with it. Kids will have to use quite a few skills to get this design to work.

Supply your kids with a variety of materials. You might challenge each kid to use a different material for greater creativity.

Wait until everyone’s design is dry, then test them out.

What designs worked best? What designs were not as good? What were the best parts and worst parts of each design? How could the kids improve on them in the future?

Paper Plate Maze STEM Challenge Explained

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Marble Maze STEM Challenge

People of all ages find mazes to be fun, but did you know they are also good for your brain?  As you solve the path through a maze, your brain is busy reasoning, remembering, and problem-solving.  Just like any skill, the more you practice, the better you will be at solving mazes. 

One type of 3D maze is a labyrinth.  It consists of a tray with different pathways for a marble to travel.  The tray is set in a box that has knobs that enable it to move from side to side, moving the marble along the path.  Many labyrinths have holes along the path that you have to avoid. 

In today’s challenge, you will create your own three-dimensional tilting maze for a marble to run through! 

How to do the Marble Maze STEM Challenge

The Challenge: Create a maze to challenge friends and family!

Materials: Large paper plate, pencil, straws, scissors, glue, a marble

Challenge Criteria:   Sketch out a maze in pencil on the paper plate.  Your maze should have an entrance, twists and turns, dead ends, and an exit.  The paths in the maze should be wide enough for your marble to fit through.  Once you are happy with your design, cut the straws to the appropriate lengths and glue them over the top of each line you drew in your maze.  Let the glue dry.  Test out your maze by placing the marble at one end, then tilting and turning the paper plate to move the marble through the maze.  See if your family or friends can complete the maze as well! 

Which was more fun for you – designing the maze or completing it?

Challenge Extension

Use a large piece of cardboard instead of a paper plate to create an even bigger maze!

Copyright @smorescience . All rights reserved. Do not copy, cite, publish, or distribute this content without permission.

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