Welcome to this month’s Simply STEM activity! Today, we are making our own cell phone stands! Your students will have to figure out how to design a cell phone stand that is stable and will be able to hold the weight of their cell phone. They can come up with their own designs, or they can follow this tutorial if they don’t know where to start!
Name: Cell Phone Stand
Time: 15 minutes
This activity will put your student’s engineering skills to the test! The design of their cell phone stand has to hold the weight of their phone and fit their phone properly. Start by instructing them to measure the dimensions of their phone and then weigh them. Ask them to make predictions about the outcome. Do they think the stand will hold their phone? Are the materials strong enough to handle the weight of the phone? This activity will also help students understand that certain materials have a different amount of mass and that will help them figure out how to design their stands based on their phone’s measurements.
Materials List:
- 1 pack of popsicle sticks
- 1 pack of paper clips
- Rubber bands
- Glue or tape
- Stickers (any design, optional)
Step 1: Take two popsicle sticks and place them horizontally on a flat surface.
Step 2: Take two other popsicle sticks and cut them in half to make four smaller pieces.
Step 3: Tape (or glue) the smaller popsicle sticks to the outer edges of the two longer popsicle sticks. The shape you should end up with is a rectangle. You can also use decorative tape.
Step 4: Take four paper clips. Bend two paper clips with the longer piece facing up. Bend the other two paper clips with the shorter piece facing up. The clips with the long piece facing up will go in the back of your stand and the shorter pieces will go in the front. Tape or glue the paper clips in their places.
Step 5: Add rubber bands to the front and back of your stand. This will help add extra sturdiness to your stand.
Step 6: Decorate your stand with whatever you want! For my stand, I used flower stickers to make a spring themed cell phone stand.
Step 7: Place your phone in your stand and test it. Does it hold the weight of your phone? Does it feel sturdy? If not, modify or add parts to help it hold your phone.
Final product:
