Claypool Elementary School

Warsaw, IN — Claypool Elementary students recently participated in a school-wide STEM project called the “Pumpkin Drop.” Leading up to the final showcase, students engaged in the Engineering Design Process for several weeks (identifying the challenge, planning in groups, creating prototypes, testing, redesigning, and finally building one classroom model) to protect their pumpkin for Drop Day.

The unit began with a kick-off in the gym, where students watched pumpkins dropped from an 8-foot ladder. One pumpkin was dropped without protection, while others were shielded with a shirt, bicycle helmet, and life jacket to demonstrate varying levels of protection.

Each classroom was then given one pumpkin and challenged to engineer a protective cover. Over the course of a month, classes designed and tested smaller prototypes using rocks, Sphero minis, or eggs before finalizing their classroom designs.

Derek Pike, STEM Instructional Coach, explained, “The purpose of this challenge was to give K-6 students experience working through the Engineering Design Process (Plan, Build, Test, Redesign, Test again). Students were so excited to open their box and see if their pumpkin was still together.”

On Drop Day, Kosciusko REMC (KREMC) brought a bucket truck to raise the stakes by dropping pumpkins from 40 feet above the Drop Zone. After each drop, pumpkins were unboxed and examined to see if they had survived. Out of 13 classes, 6 successfully protected their pumpkin.

Fifth grade teacher Brock Rhodes highlighted the skills his students demonstrated: “5th graders at Claypool showcased the results of spending years in a STEM school. They used robots with accelerometers to test the g-force and velocity of different prototypes and discovered that a tube design with a parachute was most effective at reducing the velocity and most efficient at absorbing and redirecting the kinetic energy from the fall.”

The event brought excitement across the school, with every K-6 student participating. Students in Mr. Kamphues’s 2nd grade class shared, “The Pumpkin Drop was so much fun. We had fun working together, coming up with ideas, and building our design.” Principal Kristi Lucht added, “All Claypool students, K-6, had the opportunity to showcase their engineering and design skills today. This school-wide initiative was a great way to kick off the year with STEM learning and connect with our community partners!”

Claypool Elementary extends a special thank you to KREMC for providing the bucket truck, as well as the Claypool and Silver Lake Fire Departments, Claypool Police Department, and Claypool community partner Jolie Miller with Miller Cattle Company for supporting the event.