Get ready for your first day of school with STEM! While I recommend starting with a quick introduction of rules and procedures (which you can reiterate for the first several class sessions), don’t miss this opportunity to make a meaningful (and FUN) connection on your first day in STEM class and get students pumped about what’s to come! 1 – Try a Creative All About Me Activity with a STEM Focus! This is a great way to gauge student interest in different topics and themes for your school year. For instance if you have a class that is very into sports, you may want to incorporate sport-themed S ..read more

Fly high with paper airplanes! In this paper airplane STEM activity, students will use paper (as well as paper clips and/or tape) to try and create an airplane that flies the farthest. The allure of flight has captivated human imagination for centuries. From the graceful glide of birds to the marvel of modern aviation, the dream of soaring through the skies has inspired generations.Please note that Meredith Anderson is an Amazon affiliate and this post contains affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here. Materials Needed for Paper Airplane STEM paper tape paper clips downloadable recordi ..read more

Who doesn’t love a free STEM curriculum option? If you’re ready to try out engaging online science activities with your middle schoolers, I have a great option for you to check out! The Natural History Museum of Utah has an online investigation-based program just for middle school students called Research Quest. In this program, students will get to act like real archaeologists, paleontologists, and other scientists to follow along with museum staff, while investigating and exploring different scenarios. *This post was created as part of a collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Utah ..read more

I asked my favorite STEM educators to share their favorite Valentine’s Day STEM or STEAM activities, and I just know you’ll LOVE these low-prep, high engagement STEM challenges. The GREAT news is these ideas all have downloadable resources that pair with them (available on Teachers pay Teachers), so if you want to really get the most out of these great STEM challenges and activities, check out the listings that go with each one. STEM Team Building Challenges for Elementary Students on Valentine’s Day Brooke Brown of Teach Outside the Box, and the creator of STEM Bins®, has created a set of Tea ..read more

Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to explore all things heart-related, and why not do it with science and STEM? This February 14th, try celebrating the day of love by loving on some of our favorite heart-themed experiments and activities? First, Learn About the Circulatory System The circulatory system is made up of the heart, blood vessels, and blood. How does it work? Watch some videos about the circulatory system and then learn about the different parts of the heart with a game! Videos and websites about the circulatory system and heart for kids: The Circulatory System for Kids from Le ..read more

This is a guest post was written by author Sharon Leya with additions from Meredith Anderson. Please note that the post may contain affiliate links, as Meredith Anderson is an Amazon affiliate. Read full disclosure here. What an 81-Year-Old Retired Physician and Children’s Science Educator Wants you To Know about Teaching the Grossest Subjects to Children If teachers have one thing in common, it’s that the mere mention of flatulence, urine or mucus in their classroom will send their young students into either fits of laughter or a collective “EWWWW!” According to Dr. Alan O. Feingold, MD, an ..read more

National STEM Day is November 8th! If you are already seasoned in STEM activities, you probably already have a few ideas of ways to celebrate. If you are looking to try something new, read on and you may find something that fits the bill. Why Celebrate National STEM Day National STEM Day is a celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Its primary goal is to inspire and engage students in these fields, sparking an interest in future STEM careers and innovations. Why should we celebrate National STEM Day with students? Well, aside from being a fantastic excuse to have some ..read more

Building A Voice Muffler: A Fun Sound-Based STEM Project In this free STEM challenge, students will follow the engineering design process to create their very own voice muffler. If you are studying sound, this is a challenge your students will love trying out! You won’t need a lot of expensive materials, and this activity is seriously fun for students to test out (yes, they get to try to be loud!). Overview and STEM Career Connection Acoustical engineering or sound engineering is a field that explores how sound is produced, transmitted, and manipulated and includes studying vibrations. Acousti ..read more

Plastic Bag STEM Challenges While plastic bags are not an ideal material to seek out due to their impact on the environment, it is inevitable that there are likely plenty of plastic bags that you can make use of first! Three STEM challenges that you can easily try with plastic bags are: parachutes wind-powered cars kites These all happen to be great activities for outdoors as well! If you haven’t gone outside for STEM challenges before, now is definitely the time to give it a whirl. Parachute STEM Challenge with Plastic Bags Parachutes are one of my favorite STEM challenges! It is so easy to ..read more

Do you dive right into a STEM challenge or activity without brain warm-ups? If you have the time to warm-up, your students could benefit with increased brainstorming abilities, collaboration, and focus! You don’t need to spend a lot of time warming up, so just pick one of these to try before your next STEM challenge! 1. Brain Teasers, Riddles, or Critical Thinking Warm-Ups Try a brain teaser, a STEM riddle, or critical thinking warm-ups! Why? These warm-up activities encourage out-of-the-box thinking and creative problem solving! Here’s an example of a brain teaser: You have a 3-gallon jug, a ..read more