STEM Lesson Plans

This lesson uses magnets, playing cards, metal washers, and a PhET simulation to model the effects of mass and distance as acting forces on objects in our solar system.

Students will combine science and art by using an alternative photographic process called cyanotypes or sun prints. After a short introduction to the history of cyanotypes and the process of creating

What would you do if you were dropped into the wilderness, with nothing but what you could fit into a backpack, and had to survive harsh weather, a hostile location, and possibly aggressive wildlife

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

Students will create an engineering notebook that documents their progress through the engineering design process as it applies to their choice of project, either creating a toy from “trash” or a

This is an introduction to exoplanets and their discovery. In the hands-on activity, students make a lightcurve for an exoplanet transit using data from the DIY MicroObservatory Telescope Network.

In this engaging lesson, students will use Sphero robots and a Solar System map to learn intermediate level solar system geography. Students program the robots to move from one location on the map to

This lesson is designed because kids love to compete and it primes them to use the Engineering Design process to build a boat and revise their design as needed. Students must use at least one rubber

This STEAM lesson is ideal for Tucson/Pima County Middle School Students who can participate in the annual KIDStruction building contest, but you can also duplicate many of the learning opportunities

Students read the story "Just a Second" to introduce students to geologic time. Next, they are given an activity to understand how long is 4.6 billion years. Then students complete a lab that allows

Students will investigate the geological features of the Santa Catalinas. Specifically the phenomenon of Catalina Gneiss. Students will research the formation of the Tucson basin and Santa Catalinas

Students are introduced to the javelina through reading part of The Three Little Javelina, reading about javelinas and watching an informational video. They discover potential conflicts and root

This lesson includes various activities involving the investigation of why the moon changes shapes. It is a hand's on lesson about how and why the moon phases occur. It also includes a design and

This lesson is for 2nd-5th grade students. It covers a range of AZ science standards and connects to math, reading, and social studies concepts. It also incorporates STEAM hands on activities to

Students will use evidence from an investigation to model and explain how thermal expansion of land and sea ice impact the sea level. They will quantify the impact of land ice melt and thermal

Part 1: Rotation and Revolution (of Earth) Phenomenon: Why do we experience periods of day and night? This is a 1-3 day lesson with five activites primarily focusing on rotation of the Earth which is

This is the 2nd set of 4 lesson plans that correlate with the novel "Space Case" by Stuart Gibbs. This is a literature-inspired project base learning opportunity. The lessons include straw rockets

Get your students up and moving! Together, you and your students will move and create a model of the solar system. Your kinesthetic learners will love this lesson! The solar system comes to life

Students use an interactive map and ArcGIS software to analyze the impacts of climate change on global populations.

This lesson walks students through the movement of air in the atmosphere and the energy that drives it. It contains a PowerPoint, activity, worksheet and assessment.

This is the first of four lessons based on the novel Space Case by Stuart Gibbs. This lesson will help create equitable background knowledge for the literature-infused project-based learning project

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

This lesson serves to provide an extension to lesson one. In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to build their own model of the solar system to scale, utilizing math concepts of exponents

This lesson serves as visual example of the concept of exponents and how scientific notation is utilized in science. Additionally, students will utilize scientific notation to measure distance of