Engage Your Students in our 2026 STEM Challenge:
H2Whoa! Hydroengineers at Work
A STEM Week Design Challenge for Grades 5-8 Educators
This fall, bring real-world problem-solving into your classroom! In this Challenge, students will step into the role of engineers, tackling the global challenge of access to clean water. Using nature as their innovation inspiration, limited materials, and a set budget, they’ll design, test, and refine prototype systems to capture and filter water as they build their engineering skills.
Faced with the real-life problems of water pollution and drought, students will explore how nature can inspire human innovation as they build prototypes to address these challenges. For example, how can the shape of a mountain range inspire a sloping roof design that collects rainwater in a valley below? How can naturally filtering underground soil and gravel layers teach us how to build a model that filters out pollution? Both the Hitchcock Center and the Lloyd Center are two internationally recognized examples of Living Buildings in the state of Massachusetts (a revolutionary certification program for sustainability in the built environment) and this program will expose both teachers, and in turn their students, to the engineering marvel that Living Buildings are.
To support teachers who already participated in the H2Whoa! Challenge during the previous STEM Challenge cycle, the kits will be designed to include extended materials. While the materials are designed for grades 5-8, this Challenge is adaptable for all grades.
Participating educators will receive everything needed to bring the challenge to life:
- A Challenge workshop for teachers (choose from an in-person session at the Lloyd Center for the Environment or a virtual Zoom session).
- A classroom materials kit
- A curriculum packet with unit introductions, material lists, lead-up investigations, design challenge guides, and multimedia resources to support the implementation of the Challenge.
- Access to activities and extension resources, such as the STEM Challenge Virtual Showcase, to share your students’ work.
The Challenge allows teachers to utilize grade-level-appropriate science and technology concepts that address the MA STE Standards while giving you tools to integrate inquiry-based, project-driven learning into your classroom. You’ll gain new strategies, deepen your content knowledge, and experience the challenge firsthand before using your skills to guide your own students through it.
This Challenge is easily adapted to a variety of classroom cultures across the state. The target audience is middle school students, but the Challenge will be open to any school interested within Massachusetts.
We are offering the following free registration options:
Challenge-Only
Educators sign up for the Challenge and will receive a digital Curriculum Guide to do the Challenge with their students. Massachusetts educators are also eligible to receive a materials kit to facilitate the Challenge.
Challenge + In-Person Pre-Challenge Workshop
Eligible educators will receive both a Curriculum Guide and a materials kit, as well as attend a 1-day in-person workshop at the Lloyd Center for the Environment to get hands-on with the Challenge itself. Please note that Massachusetts educators will receive their materials kit at their in-person workshop.
Date/Time: Friday, November 20th, 2026 (8:30 AM – 3:30 PM ET)
Location: Lloyd Center for the Environment, Dartmouth, MA
Challenge + Virtual Pre-Challenge Workshop
Eligible educators will receive both a Curriculum Guide and a materials kit, as well as attend a virtual workshop to get hands-on with the Challenge itself. Dates/Times TBA.
Registration is currently open for Challenge-Only and In-Person Pre-Challenge Workshop participants.
If you are interested in registering for a Virtual Pre-Challenge Workshop, please check back soon!
This year’s STEM week focuses on “STEM starts now” – at any age you can learn about STEM, from our youngest learners to adult learners, and STEM educational opportunities and jobs are here at this very moment in Massachusetts.
STEM Week (October 19th – 23rd) is organized by the Executive Office of Education and the STEM Advisory Council in partnership with the state’s Nine Regional STEM Networks.