Electromagnetic Claw Game: Diggin' For Fools' Gold is an engineering design-based STEM curricular unit. The unit aims to facilitate the learning of major science and mathematical concepts and skills within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) respectively. The unit includes teacher guides, class activities with solutions, and assessment guidelines. 

Grade Level: 4-6

Approximate Time Needed to Complete Unit: Twelve-fourteen 50-minute class periods 

Unit Summary: Claw games are rigged! Students discover that claw games found at arcades or shopping malls are often rigged so that players are very unlikely to win. Galactic Games needs the students to help redesign the game to make it fairer but also still challenging and fun to play. Specifically, they want to use an electromagnetic arm instead of the claw, and the students are tasked with designing that electromagnetic arm. Students learn about magnets, magnetic materials, and electromagnets as they prepare to design their electromagnetic claw games. Once they have created their designs, they test them to see how reliably they can pick up and move toys. The unit concludes with students presenting their final designs to the client in a presentation.

List of Lessons:

• Lesson 1: Claw Games are Rigged: Problem Scoping
  • Objectives: (1) Identify the problem and client within the engineering design challenge; (2) Describe the problem within the engineering design challenge; (3) Establish team norms to help their team work well together. 
• Lesson 2: Magnets & Magnetic Materials
  • Objectives: (1) Make a claim supported with evidence; (2) Explain how magnets interact with each other and other materials; (3) Evaluate their role in an academically-minded team.  
• Lesson 3: Electromagnet Exploration/Variable Sort 
  • Objectives: (1) Describe how electromagnets work; (2) Identify possible ways to change electromagnetic strength.
• Lesson 4: Testing the Number of Coils
  • Objectives: (1) Identify ways to change electromagnetic strength; (2) Identify the different variables
    in an experiment; (3) Create a data table with labels; (4) Create a claim, supported with evidence.
• Lesson 5: Electromagnet Team Experiments
  • Objectives: (1) Experiment with electromagnets to collect data that will inform decisions
    for solutions/designs in the engineering design challenge; (2) Create a data table with labels; (3) Create a graph of data with labels; (4) Identify patterns in data; (5) Evaluate their role in an academically-minded team.
• Lesson 6: Plan and Try
  • Objectives: (1) Evaluate their role in an academically-minded team; (2) Use evidence from problem scoping to generate multiple initial ideas for a design solution.
• Lesson 7: Test and Decide 
  • Objectives: (1) Evaluate their role in an academically-minded team. (2) Analyze the data from testing variables of electromagnets to make decisions in their design/solution to the engineering design challenge; (3) Make a claim supported with evidence; (4) Evaluate their team’s solution to the engineering design challenge.
• Lesson 8: Redesign: Plan, Try
  • Objectives: (1) evaluate their team’s solution to the engineering design challenge; (2) Revise their design/solution to the engineering design challenge.
• Lesson 9: Redesign: Decide, Share
  • Objectives: (1) Create a presentation to effectively address their audience and portray their ideas; (2) Make a claim, supported with evidence.

Unit Standards:

• NGSS: 5-PS1-3, 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, 3-5-ETS1-3, MS-PS2-3, MS-ETS1-1, MS-ETS1-2, MS-ETS1-3, MS-ETS1-4.
• CCSS: MP1, MP2, MP3, MP4, MP5, MP6, 4.MD.B.4, 5.MD.B.2, 6.SP.B.4, 6.SP.B.5.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant NSF DUE-1238140. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Andrea Appel, Heather Butzlaff, Mandy Mach, Aran Glancy, Murat Akarsu, Jeanna Wieselmann, Kerrie Douglas, Tamara J. Moore (2022), "Electromagnetic Claw Game: Diggin' For Fools' Gold: An EngrTEAMS Curricular Unit," https://nanohub.org/resources/36118.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. Applied Electromagnetism
2. elementary school
3. engineering design
4. EngrTEAMS
5. has CCSS
6. has NGSS
7. K-12
8. Mathematics
9. middle school
10. physical science
11. precollege
12. STEM
13. teaching and learning