STEM Lesson Plans

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

This lesson uses a diagram of a football being punted to demonstrate the forces of motion and the transfer of energy. Students are then challenged to apply what they learned to engineer a mechanical

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

By the end of this lesson, students will understand the unique adaptations of desert tortoises and the importance of conserving their habitat. Students also engineer a habitat for the desert tortoise.

Using the book "Those Darn Squirrels" by Adam Rubin, students will design and create a bird feeder to let the birds IN and keep the squirrels OUT! Communication, collaboration, and creativity are key

Using the engineering design process, students will collaborate to plan and build a tower...but not just any old tower! This "Tower with a Twist" has to include a suspended cup that can also hold

Students will be able to understand proportional relationships with rescaling a drawing. Students will be able to draw a reduced scale drawing and enlarged scale drawing in the end. Students will also

Context: This lesson takes place in a classroom for two or more class periods Students may work in small groups of 2-4. An emphasis on the experiment of making an indestructible Edison robot Creative

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.

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 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

Students will use science and engineering practices to design and build a parachute out of everyday items. The parachute must be able to carry a metal washer to a specific target on the ground while

Students will focus is on the historical time period of 1763- 1900 CE. The objective is to select a historically accurate person and research the person's story. Then students will plan, create

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

This is a continuation of lessons 1, 2 and 3. Students will test their cars for distance and speed. Students will add weight to the car and test for distance and speed again to determine if their car

This is a continuation of lesson 1 and 2. Students will learn about kinetic vs. potential energy and apply that knowledge to their car designs.

This lesson is a continuation of lesson 1. Students will learn about Newton's Laws of motion and apply those concepts to their car designs.

Let the students experience being industrial or manufacturing engineers as they convince bag companies about the best plastic material to upcycle for a more sustainable bag option. Through the Plastic

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

Engineers often create small-size models of a new product to test its design. This is especially true with airplanes. Model testing tells engineers how a design responds to different air conditions

Students design and build air powered gliders. A fun way to teach and apply principles of force as they apply to flight including lift, gravity, thrust, and drag. Requires the same launcher used in

1. Present the project and explain the basic steps that the students will be completing over the next 2 to 3 class periods. • The students will be working and pretending that they work for an

This lesson takes place in as classroom for one or more 60 minute class periods. The data collection portion may continue for 2+ weeks (or whatever time frame you decide). An emphasis is placed on the

Students will be creating an original design using only plastic bags. Students will reuse plastic bags to create a useful product they could sell. Students will use evidence to construct an argument