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Design & Pitch Challenges in STEM

Design & Pitch Challenges: Teacher Resources Hub

Welcome to the Teacher Resources hub! Below you will find links to challenge-specific teacher resources pages, with links to the challenge materials, challenge teacher guides, challenge teacher slides, and many more additional resources. You can find the math topics associated with the challenges below, or in our Design & Pitch Challenges Overview Matrix.

Backed by Data

Math Topics: Statistical Analysis

Have you ever seen a statistic or a graph and thought, “that doesn’t represent my community very well”? In this challenge, you will design an influencer brand that shares data-backed content to tell stories that have been overlooked or misunderstood!

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Building Algorithms

Math Topics: Expressions and Equations

In today’s internet world, data on people’s opinions are highly prized. One way to figure out those opinions is to ask people to complete surveys where they rate or rank their favorites. Researchers create formulas that analyze those answers in an automated process. That process is called an algorithm. Algorithms are everywhere.

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Erase Food Waste

Math Topics: Percentages; Data Collection and Analysis

Catalog-perfect produce isn’t the only kind that tastes delicious. 30-50% of food grown in the U.S. gets thrown away, and weird-looking vegetables are often the first to go. But ugly food tastes great! How can you erase food waste?

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Fix It: Design for Community Impact

Math Topics: 3-D Figures; Surface Area; Volume

In every community, there are problems that need solving or things that need improving. What can you fix in your community?

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Flashy Fashion

Math Topics: Coordinate Plane; Transformations

People are always looking for the newest trends, and wearable technology is the next big thing! What kind of flashy fashion can you design?

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Gaming for Change

Math Topics: Quadratic Functions and Graphs

Lots of people love video games! Design a video game that helps improve people’s well-being by leveraging projectile motion.

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Goal Tracker

Math Topics: Functions

Everyone has goals. Some are big goals, like ending world hunger, and some are more personal goals, like the goal of drinking more water each day. Could you build a goal tracker that uses exciting new visualizations?

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Image Identifier

Math Topics: Conditional Probability

Machine learning is more accessible than ever and entrepreneurs are harnessing it in new and innovative ways. How could you creatively use machine learning to identify images, while acknowledging and addressing potential negative implications?

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Keep it Real

Math Topics: Collecting, Analyzing, and Representing Data

Smartphones are everywhere, and they make many things much easier… but sometimes they make good face-to-face conversations harder! How can you help people put down their phones and connect IRL?

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Navigating Networks

Math Topics: Graph Theory

Your challenge is to design an organization that uses weighted networks to responsibly and equitably provide goods or services to your customers.

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Negate Noise

Math Topics: Trigonometric Functions and Graphs

Millions of people around the world are continually bombarded with noise pollution. How can you use Active Noise Cancelling technology to make the world more accessible?

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Operation Lifeline

Math Topics: 3-D Figures; Surface Area; Volume

When disaster strikes, emergency response is crucial. How will you get essential refrigerated medical supplies to patients and facilities?

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Pollution Solution

Math Topics: 3-D Figures; Surface Area; Volume

The world is becoming overwhelmed by plastic waste. Can you imagine a solution to replace plastics that does not cause as much harm to the environment?

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Power Me Up

Math Topics: Ratios; Analyzing Data; Equations

Gas-powered vehicles damage the environment, and more people are buying electric vehicles. However, charging stations are few and far between. Bring (electric) power to the people!

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Prototype to Profit

Math Topics: Building Linear Functions; Solving Linear Equations

Being an entrepreneur is about finding problems and turning them into opportunities. Taking advantage of those opportunities requires understanding the situation and choosing the right approach, or business model. The right business model can be the difference between success and failure for an entrepreneur.

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Reduce Reuse Repurpose

Math Topics: Composite 3D Figures; Cross Sections; Volume

Many products that we use (often briefly) and dispose of are made of non-renewable resources. These freely available waste materials present an opportunity for savvy entrepreneurs. Could you design a product that brings new life to this waste?

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Routes Reimagined

Math Topics: Linear Functions; (possibly) Piecewise Functions

When we plan out how to get somewhere, we might consult a navigation app or a map. Unfortunately, many navigation apps prioritize the fastest routes, and many maps leave out a community’s hidden gems. What if there were a navigation app that let people plan journeys based on criteria that they care about?

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Transformative Structures

Math Topics: Geometric Transformations

Your challenge is to design a physical structure that addresses a community need and can be transformed to support multiple purposes.

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