I know when people think of Home Alone, the first thing that comes to mind for many is the traps at the end of the movie. As I was watching the movie this year, I realized there are so many other STEAM/Maker connections that can be made throughout the story. I love to connect STEAM activities to a story for deeper meaning, but I have to admit that this choice board is a hybrid between the movie and the book. The cardboard cutout references the house party scene in the movie, the salt distributor references Mr. Marley and his trash can and shovel in the movie, and the tool to carry bags references when Kevin goes grocery shopping and the bags break on the way home. I felt they presented some great opportunities for critical thinking and problem solving!
Estimating a Timeline
Using the provided template, students are supposed to work backward from when the burglars are supposed to arrive and estimate how long it would have have taken to set up each trap. This will definitely spark some conversation about how long it would take to collect the resources needed and then to set up the trap. Afterwards, students can compare and graph results as a class and determine the most reasonable time for when Kevin would have had to leave church to set up the traps in time before 9:00pm.
Note: This spreadsheet is set up so that students only have to enter information in the yellow cells. The focus should be on problem solving the logistics, and not determining Google Sheet calculations. If you would like to take it one step further, students could delete the existing calculations and create their own.