STEM Lesson Plans

This is the first of 7 Take-Off & Landing Lessons. This unit is the start the Aeronautics 2 lessons. Students must have completed the 8 Basic Handling Unit lessons from Aeronautics 1 course. (See

This lesson is an activity to see what an angle is and how is can be used to approximate the time of day or even navigating vessels by measuring other celestial bodies. Students will use sextants to

This is part 2 of a two part lesson called Sailing Down the Road. In this lesson students will design a sail that can successfully catch the wind and cause their cardboard car (from part 1) to drive

Investigative Phenomenon: When subjected to identical forces, a golf ball and a table tennis ball exhibit distinct movement. In this lesson, students discover: 1. Equivalent force may result in varied

This is a lesson designed for 4th and 5th grade. It would come at the end of the unit on Force and Motion. It describes a wonderful machine called a Rube Goldberg Machine. This lesson includes an ELA

In this hands-on lesson, students will attempt two builds. Students will identify weaknesses and strengths in both of their structures. They will then evaluate the effectiveness of their builds.

In this lesson students read about simple machines and learn that simple machines make it easier to lift or move things and that they can change direction and magnitude of force. Students use LEGOs to

Students will learn about the four forces of flight in this introductory lesson. This is lesson one of a four-part unit and provides students with the knowledge they need about flight to engage in a

In part one of this two-part lesson series, students will learn about (or review) the force of push and pull and how this applies to energy transfer. Students will gain an understanding of these

In this STEM Challenge, students add materials to help their rock roll better. Then, they examine how to push and pull their rock.

I use this lesson as a fun activity to visualize unit conversions and the immense scale of the universe. I love this lesson because I find it challenging to teach unit conversions with hands-on

Students will focus sunlight through a pinhole onto a sheet of paper. Knowing the distance between the projection and the pinhole allows students to calculate the diameter of the Sun using ratios.

"Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen is a novel about a young boy named Brian Robeson who is stranded in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash. While the book doesn't explicitly teach STEM principles, it

In this lesson students will discover the best angle that will produce the fastest speed for a hot wheel vehicle when traveling 1 meter. Students will also practice calculating speed (speed=distance

In this lesson, students will test Earth's gravity and how gravity affects objects of different masses. Students will see that mass does not have an effect but instead air resistance is what causes

This lesson aims to introduce the concept of equilibrium point by creating and revising a model. This hands-on lesson encourages students to explore the concepts of equilibrium and balance while

In this lesson, students will use their knowledge of Newton's Laws of Motion while building a functional pinball machine out of recycled materials and classroom items. Let students get creative and

In this lesson, students will explore the option of making paper from weeds, leaves and other such plant matter while deciding if this could be a solution to reduce deforestation. This is an important

Problem - Solution is a type of text structure. The objective of this lesson is for students to further understand defining problems and identifying solutions. Students will make a 3D model using

Students will build a propulsion system that can deliver a payload to a given location in this engaging paper rocket engineering lesson. Students think critically and problem solve as they work

In this engaging lesson, students build a model rocket. They design an experimental procedure based on their understanding of the forces acting on the rocket. They predict values using a flight

In this hands-on lesson, students will learn about the concept of Mechanically Stabilized Earth & Newtons Third Law. They hypothesize, conduct experiments using layered sand cubes, analyze results, &

In this lesson, students will use the LEGO BricQ Motion Prime set to build a gymnast powered car that can experiment with the three Laws of Motion. Students can modify the car to move in different

In this exciting lesson, students will use the engineering design process to devise an alternative method for retrieving the shield of Ares from Hephaestus' trap, as depicted in Chapter 15 of "Percy