STEM Lesson Plans

This hands-on lesson introduces students to gardening and the sustainability of food. Students will grow small gardens and manage them.

Students are constructing a cardboard control vehicle. Throughout this process, they will practice working with circuits and motors. In this lesson, students will begin working on the electrical

In this lesson, students will be creating a working model demonstrating Earth’s rotation and revolution. Students will be able to explain the differences between Earth’s rotation and revolution

Students will continue their investigation into school waste by exploring the area provided for a composting. Students will measure to find the volume of the three compost spaces. They will then

In this engaging and interactive lesson, students explore adaptation and creative problem-solving. Inspired by "The Great Turkey Race," students will engage in a hands-on engineering lesson to design

Students will build an ice snowman and a house for him to live in. They will collaborate to design a structure to keep him from melting. This project uses basic materials to study insulation and

As an intro to Thermal Energy, students are challenged to create a warmer that will keep my coffee warm. Students project will be tested in class, data will be collected, compared, and graphed.

An introduction to Newton's Laws of Motion. Students will utilize two or three options to move a balloon across a tethered line. Students will compare and contrast two different size balloons moving

Rad Roller Coasters Part 2 comes at the end of our paper roller coaster project. Students will collect data on their coaster and use that to calculate velocity, potential energy and kinetic energy

This lesson is for a multi-day project where student groups will plan, design, and build roller coasters out of paper and tape. It tests their knowledge of Physics and Engineering Design.

Students use their knowledge from the 2 previous lessons to design, draw blueprints, and build a load bearing bridge.

Students explore different types of bridges and then practice building them with K'Nex sets.

Students explore designing bridge prototypes with spaghetti to find weak points and redesign a new prototype.

Teams brainstorm ideas that meet the size and material design constraints and create prototype bridges of the most promising solutions. They test their bridges to see how much weight they can hold

In groups of 2-4, students will work through the Engineering Design process on building a tower as tall as possible with 100 index cards, that supports the weight of an object, chosen by the teacher.

A hands-on lesson that teaches students about simple machines and types of energy.

Students will help come up with a solution to support their community. While teaching them the importance of innovation through a picture book! Let's bring teaching through pictures and words back!

In this lesson, students will be introduced to 3D printing. Students will be put into groups and challenged to engineer a structure using a 3D pen. Whichever structure is both the tallest and

In this lesson, students will embark on an exciting exploration of greenhouses. They will discover how greenhouses provide a special environment for plants to grow by letting in sunlight and trapping

Engage your students by learning about the Ferris Wheel and constructing a ferris wheel in a collaborative assignment. The informational text of Mr. Ferris and His Wheel is linked for your convenience

This plan was created by me and used in my afterschool STEM club in January. It tests building a soda can heater. The plan begins with the story, Snowy Day, and brings into focus the need for heat and

Students write a summary about the layer they have been studying. Students create an animal and organism that is found in their layer. Students create a background of their layer and add vines from

After learning about Ancient Rome, students will be able to put their knowledge and skills to use with the Roman Aqueduct challenge. Each group will be challenged to build a working aqueduct using the

In this engaging elementary school lesson, students use the engineering design cycle to identify and solve problems, incorporating technology while reflecting on their process and sharing their