SDG 4 – Quality Education

Strawbees aligns with SDG 4 by providing inclusive, interactive, and engaging educational experiences that promote deep learning through making. The approach to STEAM learning Strawbees provides supports problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration, which are essential 21st-century skills.

Strawbees Classroom builds upon our philosophy to create resources for quality education. The Strawbees Classroom is built with both the teachers and students in mind. Strawbees supports teachers, as they support and educate students, by developing relevant standards-aligned curriculum, and creating a Classroom with all resources, activities, and lesson plans at their fingertips.

Strawbees understands education as a global and common good, fundamental human right, and a way of realizing other rights. We achieve this goal by creating resources and content with flexible and inclusive learning opportunities for teachers with low entry barriers, a wide range of outcomes, and high expectations of what can be achieved for students using the Creative Learning Spiral from MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten as the backbone of our lesson plans.

A Strawbees bridge-building challenge teaches students about structural integrity, material efficiency, and engineering principles while incorporating mathematics and physics concepts. By testing different designs and analyzing their effectiveness, students gain a hands-on understanding of scientific inquiry while developing communication and teamwork skills.

SDG 13 – Climate Action

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing the world today, and SDG 13 calls for action to mitigate its effects and promote environmental responsibility. With Strawbees students can explore renewable energy, sustainable design, and environmental resilience.

A project on hurricane-resistant architecture, for instance, could task students with building Strawbees structures that can withstand simulated extreme weather conditions. By testing different shapes and materials, students learn about climate adaptation and disaster preparedness, developing an understanding of engineering’s role in environmental resilience.

SDG 3 – Health and Well-being

Promoting health and well-being is an important part of science education, and SDG 3 highlights the need for innovative solutions to global health challenges. Strawbees can be used to explore biomechanics, assistive technology, and human-centered design.

Students could design a prototype for an assistive device, such as a Strawbees mechanical arm to understand the principles of biomechanics and engineering in medical applications. This kind of project encourages students to think about accessibility and innovation in healthcare, reinforcing connections between science, technology, and human well-being.

SDG 6 – Clean Water and Sanitation

Ensuring access to water and sanitation for all is another SDG goal which involves improving water quality, achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, as well as implementing integrated water resources management at all levels.

A Strawbees urban planning build could have students design models that demonstrate how water can be distributed safely, connecting engineering principles with access to clean water (SDG 6). By linking their work to real-world water scarcity issues, students develop a deeper appreciation for the role of innovation in solving global problems.

SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

The idea for Strawbees sprouted when inventor and co-founder of Strawbees, Erik Thorstensson, transformed plastic scrap into clothespin-like connectors while play-prototyping with children in India to create and build with using the die cutting machine now known as the Sustainability Station. With this exciting discovery, Thorstensson also imagined how a single-use straw could be repurposed as a building block for creation over consumption.

Thus began the innovative journey from straws and connectors to create Strawbees with the grand vision in hands-on learning starting with waste and found materials. As the company progressed through the stages of inventing, reinventing, and now growing as a global leader in hands-on STEAM education.

With a mechanical engineer specialized in environmental product design as a founder, Strawbees has stayed true to one of its core values, sustainability, in its ongoing practice and research for the future. In creating with Strawbees, teachers and students have the unique opportunity to join in the process of sustainable tinkering, creating designs that are reusable, recyclable, and that reduce the use of waste materials.

Strawbees straws and connectors are durable and reusable in themselves, and enable educators and learners to make over and over again with these same materials. Students can rapidly prototype a lightweight design then quickly disassemble the build to create a new model. In addition, the straws are now prepared pre-cut, which supports responsible production in lessening waste from cutting the straws. 

Students, in turn, can focus more of their time and energies on discovering new ideas, hands-on opportunities to learn, reiterating and refining designs, and growing communicative and collaborative skills as they imaginatively share about their Strawbees designs. Sustainable consumption with Strawbees also includes reimagining and repurposing items like cardboard, paper, and egg cartons. These materials can be creatively combined and continually repurposed with Strawbees straws and connectors to make curious and innovative three-dimensional builds of all shapes, scales, and sizes.

SDG 5 - Gender Equality

Strawbees play an important role in empowering girls to achieve their dreams. The founder of Girls Who Code, Reshma Saujani, founded the organization as part of her “mission to close the gender gap in tech.” In 2017, only 24% of computer scientists were women. As she stated in her Ted Talk, girls are often taught to value perfection over bravery and may be reluctant to take risks by taking coding and engineering classes in high school and college. Instead, Saujani relates, and we can empower girls and women by emphasizing bravery, rather than perfection. 

In the latest guide for women in tech in 2023, Jennifer Gregory reports, "Less than one in five employees in the tech industry are women, despite the fact that women make up more than half of the U.S. workforce." [5]

Strawbees approaches building, design, and coding, with a low risk, low frustration entry level. At the same time, the Learning Spiral helps all students, girls in particular, become accustomed to tinkering and persevering through problems and landing on several solutions. There is a level playing field which allows girls to quickly build the confidence they need to one day pursue opportunities and careers in STEM fields.

Since the SDGs address a wide range of challenges, they naturally support interdisciplinary learning, making Strawbees a powerful tool for cross-curricular STEAM connections.

Science & Environmental Education – Climate and Sustainability: SDGs related to climate action, clean water, and sustainable land use connect directly to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). A project on renewable energy, for example, could involve building wind turbines or solar panel stands using Strawbees, reinforcing concepts in energy conservation and environmental science.

Mathematics – Data Analysis & Problem-Solving: SDGs like Zero Hunger (SDG 2) and Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10) integrate well with math skills, teaching students to interpret data, analyze trends, and model solutions. Strawbees projects requiring measurement, geometry, and proportional reasoning enhance mathematical thinking in applied contexts.

English Language Arts – Research & Communication: Strawbees challenges encourage students to present, write, and debate their findings, aligning with ELA standards for literacy and communication. A project where students document and explain their Strawbees designs in a technical report supports evidence-based reasoning and public speaking skills.

Computer Science & Technology – Robotics & Automation: Using Strawbees with micro:bit, students can explore robotics and coding, applying computational thinking to design smart environmental solutions, such as an automated irrigation system that responds to soil moisture levels (SDG 15 – Life on Land).

Art & Design – Creativity & Sustainable Innovation: The SDGs promote creative problem-solving, and Strawbees helps students prototype sustainable solutions, such as biodegradable product packaging or modular, reusable structures, integrating engineering with artistic and sustainable design principles.

Discover how Strawbees can transform your approach to STEAM learning while meeting SDGs. Explore Strawbees kits, lesson plans, and resources, and see how easy it is to bring innovative, standards-aligned computer science education to your students.