STEM Lesson Plans

With this hands-on lesson, students will compare and contrast the growth of plants cultivated in an SPV lab environment with those grown in natural sunlight, understanding the impact of light sources

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 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

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 lesson combines math, science and art in a sparkling and engaging activity. Student will learn about rock classifications and draw an example using geometry. Students will gain an understanding

This lesson allows students to explore why volcanoes are shaped differently and why they erupt differently. Students will investigate viscosity, silica content of igneous rock samples, and perform

This lesson is to be used as a follow up activity when learning about the water cycle. Students are able to play a game either digitally or physically to demonstrate their own journey through the

This is a smaller part of a larger Digital Citizenship Unit. Students will spend time understanding the concept of a Digital Footprint and the long term consequences of a negative Digital Footprint

Students will use geometric reasoning and the engineering design process to construct solar ovens while learning about renewable energy.

Students will be able to look at proportion and percentages of the Earth's layers. Students will research, get the percentages, and create a model of the layers of the Earth.

This lesson is about the rock cycle. Students will start by cutting and folding paper crystals. Then students review what they already know about rocks and the rock cycle. They use their understanding

Students will research what techniques engineers use to help a building withstand an earthquake and implement two researched strategies into a cardboard structure that will survive a medium sized

This is a density lab involving hot and cold water layering, salt density layers, and a PHET online lab simulation.

Students will focus sunlight through a pinhole onto a sheet of paper. Knowing the distance between the projection and the pinhole allows students to calculate the diameter of the Sun using ratios.

Within this lesson students will present their master-planned community to a test audience and potential clients. Focus on presenting to the client rather than reading information off the slide

Students will select one building from their master-planned community to construct a 3D model that absorbs/releases 8% less than the surrounding testing environment.

Lesson 2 of 4 Students will investigate and research key factors that impact urban heat islands. Equipped with evidence, students will draft a scaled drawing of a master-planned community applying

Students will use published scientific data and current evidence to identify the phenomenon known an urban heat island effect. Students will first analyze temperature data as well as land-use data

Students will continue from their research and start an investigation to help with their solution. They will first learn about compost and what it does. They will then develop and investigation and

Student partners or teams build a model of a watershed with topographical features; tributaries, mountains, lakes, rivers and valleys. Students experiment to see where the water goes when “rain” falls

This is a week-long unit which includes the following lesson objectives: -Explain that a watershed is an area that collects water and delivers it to a specific area like a lake or an ocean. -Show how