STEM Lesson Plans

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 is a hands-on activity where students can visualize, using Skittles as atoms, the concept of balancing chemical reactions. Many students get thrown off by the fact that products often look, smell

Students learn about photochemical reactions which are chemical reactions that require light as activation energy. Students create ball and stick models to recreate sample photochemical reactions

In a chemiluminescence chemical reaction, light is generated as a product. What causes light to be generated from chemicals that interact? This chemistry lesson explores the reasons why light is

In this lesson plan, students will be able to build a simple electric motor and study how simple changes affect the motor's rotation. They will learn how energy comes in many forms, and how electric

In this lesson plan, students will be able to investigate battery cells as they construct their own simple batteries: They will know that batteries are a common store of energy for many devices that

Student teams design insulated beverage cups with the challenge to test them to determine which material works best as an insulator to keep a hot beverage warm for as long as possible. Students test

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,

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

In this lesson, students cover concepts like states of matter and chemical changes. Students will apply these concepts to an activity where they will make fake snow. Students will be challenged to

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.

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 an introductory activity to reaction kinetics at an AP Chemistry level. Students use model kits or Legos in an activity that allows them to model how changing the concentration of reactants in

Engineers create and use new materials, as well as new combinations of existing materials to design innovative new products and technologies—all based upon the chemical and physical properties of

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 create a Google slideshow presentation to document their progress through the engineering design process, which includes: researching the science of sound, then creating an instrument

After learning about emission spectra, electron energy levels, orbitals and configurations, and periodic trends for atomic radius and ionization energy; this is concluding activity that require

This is a phenomena-based introduction to how emission spectra of elements and the connection to electrons and energy levels. Students first get to explore the emission spectra of several gases using