STEM Lesson Plans

This is part 2 of a two-part series. This lesson looks deeper into early electronic encryption tools and how they relate to cryptography today. The tools discussed are: Hebern Rotor Machine, Enigma

In this lesson students evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of conventional, petroleum-based plastics, bioplastics, and their different varieties. The lesson is driven by class/group research

Biologists have noticed that the saguaro mortality rates have increased in Central and Southern Arizona. They don’t know why - but they have some ideas. In this unit, students will learn more about

In this lesson there will be several small activities; on the first day students sort seeds and describe the different characteristics of the seeds; as an introduction and to engage students. Students

This lesson provides the opportunity for kindergarten students to develop a mock oil spill and develop methods to help ocean life after an oil spill. Student will hypothesize methods that can

In this lesson students will explore bugs and their attributes. Students will also understand the difference between an insect and a bug, use math skills such as counting and symmetry, and also have

This lesson includes a slide show and FITB notes page introducing Urbanization in a HS Environmental Science class. Benefits and drawbacks of urbanization are discussed, with a documentary about

In this lesson, the students will use the Sphero bots and the data they collected in previous lessons to create block-code to navigate a course for the Sphero Bolt to travel. The block code used is

Students learn how energy transfer and electrical circuits energy are similar and different.

Investigate how red wigglers rebuild soil by processing food scraps and depositing their casts into the soil. Student groups will have their own worm bins to care for and they will gather data about

In this lesson, students will work individually to build a working periscope. They will make a simple one out of card stock and then being creative with whatever supplies their teacher gives them

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

This lesson is the 3rd lesson in a series of 4. It has the students learning about measuring angles and calculating missing angles to determine the angles on a practice Sphero Bot course. Once the

This lesson is to help students create geometric shapes by writing codes to allow their robot to create the assigned shape.

This is a lesson geared toward junior high and high school classes to introduce students to the idea of cryptography and encryption. This lesson could be simplified for younger students by removing

In this lesson, students will design and build their own mini golf hole (first on scaled paper, then using cardboard and recycled materials). One obstacle must be made out of a net. Students will get

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 lesson is in collaboration with the National Park Service and contains additional activities from the Jr. Ranger program. Using the NPS brochure guide/map and Plantnet app, identify plant species

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

In this hands-on lesson, students study and record water quality readings by gaining an understanding of the significance of the readings along with the use of the correct vocabulary.

In this engaging lesson, students move the learning from within the classroom to outside its walls in order to study and record air quality readings (with no tech and tech applications). Students gain

Students physically manipulate a couple of springs and then collect data from a spring force Phet simulator, graph the data, calculate the area under the curve of their linear line and then, hopefully

This lesson is day 3 of a 3-day plan. Students use outside resources to modify and test helmet effectiveness with pocketlab sensors. In this hands-on lesson, students will create a prototype and run

In this engaging lesson, students will develop an understanding of how solar panels convert sunlight into electrical energy. They will investigate factors affecting the amount of electricity generated