Tools and Activities

STEM Activities

Explore our collection of activities, how-to videos and more for a variety of STEM-related ideas sure to excite curious young minds.

Mini Lava Lamps

Chemistry gets groovy with this DIY lava lamp. Water and oil do not mix because water molecules are polar and oil is non-polar – the different types of molecules don’t bond. In the same container, water will settle at the bottom since it is denser than oil. When you add the effervescent antacid tablet, it reacts with water to create carbon dioxide. The gas bubbles bring some colored water up through the oil as they rise, then pop. Since water is denser, the colored water globules settle back down toward the bottom. This process repeats until the tablet is completely dissolved.

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Oil Spill Cleanup

Learn the science behind an oil spill cleanup.

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Stand Against the Windstorm

Engineering principles are put to the test as your team works to survive an impending windstorm. Can you create a structure that will keep you safe against the elements.

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Save From the Drain

Don’t let your prized possessions end up in the storm sewer! Design a device that can retrieve items stuck below a stormwater grate when your hands and arms can’t fit.

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Get a Taste of Mother Earth

Learn the science of elements, metals and magnetism.

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Build a Bridge

Today’s engineering design challenge: Create a bridge to cross over a local river. The objective is to design and construct a sturdy, stable bridge that can support the weight of vehicle traffic. The bridge will be a scale model and span 12 inches (12-inch gap between tables is required). Bridges will be tested by suspending weight from the center of the bridge. The client has a set budget, and it is the team’s responsibility to remain below the budget during construction. If two bridges can support the same amount of weight, the budget — or cost-savings — will be used as a tie-breaker.

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Construct a Well-Designed Trash Slider

Dive into the laws of physics by creating a vehicle/slider that can race down an incline as quickly as possible while retaining the most water.

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Build a Sorting Machine

Sorting machines create more efficient processes for everyday life. Students will build their own gravity-powered sorting machines through experimenting with different strategies and techniques to separate two different sizes of beads.

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Make Your Own Handwarmer

Handwarmers are especially useful for the bitter cold days spent outside at the bus stop or recess. Handwarmers generate heat through a chemical reaction between iron and oxygen. Heat comes as a result of the rusting process that begins when iron and oxygen are combined, with calcium chloride speeding up this process.

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Seeing All Sides

Act like a drafter or designer and see how well you can visually communicate a design concept to a teammate.

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The Ideal Classroom

This is your chance to be an architect and design the ultimate — and ideal — classroom! Learn about scale and space layout.

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Don’t Chip the Chip

Crumbs are a bummer when you open a new bag of chips. Design a package to ship a chip that will arrive in one piece.

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Stretch Your Skills to Build a Robotic Arm

Learn the mechanical similarities between robotic and human arms.

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Prepare to Launch

Aircraft carriers use catapults to get planes to high speeds over short distances and create the necessary lift for take-off. Create a flight deck to launch a paper plane across your classroom!

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Parachute Showdown

Ready for liftoff? Design a parachute that stays in the air the longest!

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Operation Try & Fly

Engage students in hands-on physics as they design and build a launcher to explore key concepts like force and velocity.

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Water Bottle Rocket

Learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion through rocket flight, more specifically Newton’s Third Law that states for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The water bottle rocket uses water (fuel) and compressed air (energy) to generate thrust. After the rocket is pressurized, releasing the stopper causes the air to force water downward and out of the bottle (action) and propel the rocket upward (reaction).

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Fly High with Catapults

Send your objects soaring while learning the laws of physics.

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Harness the Wind

Windmills have been used for centuries to convert the wind’s kinetic energy into mechanicalpower. See if you can design a windmill to lift a load off the ground.

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Off to the Boat Races

From material choices to aerodynamics to control systems, boats are highlycomplex machines. Discover the different types of boats as you design andbuild a one-of-a-kind watercraft.

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Circuit Glow Up

Create a fun paper circuit with three different lights that glow.

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Bright Bot

Build a simple circuit robot pal from a paper cup!

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Create A Homopolar Motor

Basic homopolar motors demonstrate Lorentz Force, the force that is generated when electricity moves through a magnetic field. The copper wire in this experiment conducts electricity in coordination with the battery leading to spinning wires. Watch this video to learn how you can create your own homopolar motor at home or in the classroom.

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Say Hello to Static Electricity

Learn how electrons attract protons to get objects moving.

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Let There Be Light | Popsicle Flashlight

Learn the basics of electrical circuits by assembling an LED flashlight. Anelectrical circuit needs a closed loop from the power source (battery) tothe LED to keep the light shining. Add a switch (binder clip) to interrupt theflow of electrons to the LED and introduce an on/off setting to the circuit.

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Coding in the Candy Country

Get an introduction to basic coding concepts as you set up instructions foryour teammate to navigate Candy Country.

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Quiz Time

Use a simple circuit to create a quiz that lights up with the correct answer.

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Tangram Algorithms

Coding requires a precise set of instructions (an algorithm) to execute a program. Can you follow an algorithm to create a tangram that matches the rest of your group?

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Make Your Own Operation Game

In this activity, you’ll learn about circuits while building an Operation game. And like most things, it’s much more fun to play when you make your own!

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Ruler Race

Try to out-measure your friends in this two-dimensional tag game.

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The Floor is Lava

Save the day with this structural engineering challenge.

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STEM Scavenger Hunt BINGO

Look around your home and take a walk outside to explore your world through the eyes of an engineer, construction professional, architect, planner, technologist or scientist.

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Prism Patterns

Use mirrors and reflection to design your own take-home kaleidoscope!

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Design an Incredible Edible Landfill

Experience and understand how high-tech landfills are designed.

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Full of Hot Air

Help your students’ STEM knowledge take flight as they explore weather,climate, motion and forces, and transfers of energy as they build small hotair balloons.

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STEM Activities

Experiment & Discover

Mini Lava Lamps

Oil Spill Cleanup

Stand Against the Windstorm

Save From the Drain

Get a Taste of Mother Earth

Design & Build

Build a Bridge

Construct a Well-Designed Trash Slider

Build a Sorting Machine

Make Your Own Handwarmer

Seeing All Sides

The Ideal Classroom

Don’t Chip the Chip

Stretch Your Skills to Build a Robotic Arm

Prepare to Launch

Motion, Forces & Flight

Parachute Showdown

Operation Try & Fly

Water Bottle Rocket

Fly High with Catapults

Harness the Wind

Off to the Boat Races

Code, Circuits & Problem-Solving

Circuit Glow Up

Bright Bot

Create A Homopolar Motor

Say Hello to Static Electricity

Let There Be Light | Popsicle Flashlight

Coding in the Candy Country

Quiz Time

Tangram Algorithms

Make Your Own Operation Game

Ruler Race

The Floor is Lava

STEM Scavenger Hunt BINGO

Prism Patterns

Design an Incredible Edible Landfill

Full of Hot Air

STEM Activities

Experiment & Discover

Mini Lava Lamps

Oil Spill Cleanup

Stand Against the Windstorm

Save From the Drain

Get a Taste of Mother Earth

Design & Build

Build a Bridge

Construct a Well-Designed Trash Slider

Build a Sorting Machine

Make Your Own Handwarmer

Seeing All Sides

The Ideal Classroom

Don’t Chip the Chip

Stretch Your Skills to Build a Robotic Arm

Prepare to Launch

Motion, Forces & Flight

Parachute Showdown

Operation Try & Fly

Water Bottle Rocket

Fly High with Catapults

Harness the Wind

Off to the Boat Races

Code, Circuits & Problem-Solving

Circuit Glow Up

Bright Bot

Create A Homopolar Motor

Say Hello to Static Electricity

Let There Be Light | Popsicle Flashlight

Coding in the Candy Country

Quiz Time

Tangram Algorithms

Make Your Own Operation Game

Ruler Race

The Floor is Lava

STEM Scavenger Hunt BINGO

Prism Patterns

Design an Incredible Edible Landfill

Full of Hot Air

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