Lesson Idea | Fill the Feeder!

In this lesson, Fill the Feeder!, K-2 students apply the engineering design process in a playful, story-based challenge inspired by Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Rubin. After hearing about Old Man Fookwire’s problem of feeding the birds without squirrels interfering, students work in teams to design and build a device that can deliver a “birdseed” (ping-pong ball) into a feeder (cup) placed in the middle of a taped circle representing a “laser zone.” With only the provided materials and without crossing the circle, students brainstorm, sketch, construct, test, and improve their designs. The activity introduces key STEM concepts such as criteria, constraints, engineering, and technology, while reinforcing that “failure” is part of the learning process. Through hands-on problem solving, teamwork, and creativity, students begin to understand how engineers use math and science to solve real-world challenges, directly addressing NGSS K-2 Engineering Design standards.

Standards Connections

NGSS:
• Connections by topic
K-2. Engineering Design

• Connections by disciplinary core ideas:
K-2-ETS1 Engineering Design
• Connections by scientific & engineering practices
1. Asking questions and defining problems
3. Planning and carrying out investigations
6. Constructing explanations and designing solutions

• Connections by crosscutting concepts
2. Cause and effect: mechanism and explanation
6. Structure and function

• Connections by performance expectation:
K-2-EETS1-1. 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.
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.
K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same
problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.