STEM Lesson Plans

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.

After learning about the importance of clean water and different types of filters, students engineer their own water filter.

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

Students will explore how gravity plays a role in orbits and the attraction between objects in space, using online simulations. In addition to the online simulations this lesson contains ideas for

The students construct and interpret an HR Diagram to better understand the significance and usefulness of the diagram.

This is a high-school level hands-on project that allows students to build their own working sundial, make predictions and assess their accuracy. This lesson ties in with the study of Kepler's Laws.

This lesson teaches students how and why it rains. They will have student-to-student interactions and hands-on learning opportunities. They will also be practicing their counting skills during the

Students identify the problem with drinking water contamination due to pesticide, prescription medicine, and hormones. They design solutions for a real-world problem that negatively affects the

Including themes of natural resources, art, and geography; this engineering lesson introduces students to the idea of mass conservation. While using the phenomena of the water crisis in Arizona,

As a follow up to the lesson The Stories Shadows Tell, students engage with an informational text to understand the relationship between the position of the sun (East vs West) the time of the day, and

This is a second grade STEM lesson in which students will observe the shadow of an object at different points in the day, comparing the size and direction of the shadow at different points. Observing

In this lesson, students will learn about Wilson Bentley, the "farmer scientist" who pioneered photomicrography to photograph snowflakes and share them with the world. Students will then design and

Students in 4th grade learned about natural disasters through this interactive STEM lesson focused on the creation on a 'tsunami-proof' home. Students used the Engineering Design Process to create a

Students will learn about water availability in Arizona and design and build a prototype/model of a rain-catchment/recycling system to provide water for a school garden.

In this unit, students will use their knowledge of weather and climate patterns to construct, place, and collect data from a rain gauge for one month. The beginning of the school year would be the

How old is Earth? How big is 1 million years compared to 1 billion years? Students will use three models to organize geologic time and practice cross multiplication to solve for a variable.

Students learn about the Colorado River watershed and the impact of water rights and usage. They will read about the past and present water flow data, build a model of the watershed, calculate data

A review of types of rocks and the rock cycle and tectonic movement. The creation of minerals. Using Associative Geology, legends, and probabilities, hunt for possible locations of the Lost Dutchman’s

Three day lesson on garbage, recycling, and composting. Day 1: Students are provided a garbage bag and no instruction on recycling. *Collect all of your disposable garbage for 24 hours. Bring it back

This is a hands-on, collaborative lesson that allows the students to include art and presentation skills in the project. The students research various aspects of a selected planet and then presents

Students will explore the drought in Arizona and design a solution for it. They will create their design in a 3D design program, write an informational paper, and present the design and information to

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.