STEM Lesson Plans

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

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

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

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 is the beginning stages of planning for a greenhouse. Students work to gather data and information about possible locations for the greenhouse by using their perimeter skills.

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

Students will be paired up, or a group of three if one odd number, and create a Mom and Dad creature with Dominant and Recessive Traits that get passed on to two offspring through the flipping of a

This lesson is the final lesson after teaching all four of Earth's Spheres. The lesson is designed to show the interaction between the Earth's spheres. Students will be assigned two spheres and then

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

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 lesson is from Arizona Game and Fish Department. The lesson has students look at data on elk-vehicle collisions on State Route 260. The road is being widened to a two-lane divided road with elk

This two-part lesson models STEM instruction in the context of an ELD classroom. In part 1 (this lesson), the goal is to promote scientific academic discourse in an ELD classroom. Students use a

Students will learn about the history of the National Parks Service and the different biomes and environments within the United States. Then, they will choose a National Park to research and present a

Oil Spill; Students are challenged to clean up an oil spill in a river environment. Students create the river environment in a container and add water, plants, sand, and animals. They will spill 1/4

The lesson covers the definition of a mountain, how continent boundaries are determined (specifically in reference to Europe and Asia), how we measure the baseline of a mountain, and finally the

Students make a terrarium from rocks, soil, and plants to understand how 4 spheres and water cycle work in a closed system.

Students will identify a problem, time-telling, and use it to create sundials. They will conduct an experiment and use the data to show how the sun moves in relation to the Earth in the sky. After

Lesson 2 of 2. Create a shelter that can withstand an earthquake. Students research earthquakes and then use a prototype to create a earthquake proof shelter.

Lesson 1 of 2. Students will create a prototype water disaster shelter for displaced families. Must meet different criteria and allows for brainstorming and creativity. Helps students understand

Students explore genetics and create a model to represent how genes are passed down from a parent plant to an offspring plant. This lesson could be adapted to address 1st Grade Life Science Standard