STEM learning is increasing in popularity, and schools are implementing it into their curriculum. This is vital because there is also a gender gap and recognizing STEM in the classroom is even more significant for girls. STEM jobs have been continuously growing at higher rates than other occupations. There is a vital need to emphasize STEM in today’s classrooms due to the millions of STEM-related positions unfulfilled. STEM is a wave of the future.

What is National STEM Day?

National STEM Day is on November 8^th and celebrates science, technology, engineering, and math throughout the United States. This day is an opportunity to focus on helping students develop interest and advance in these fields. Creating understanding around STEM is a popular topic today and needs skilled teachers in those subjects. The need for STEM-oriented job skills is skyrocketing. Educating our young people and celebrating National STEM Day enables the next generation of innovators.

Introducing young children to STEM can vastly improve their development in crucial areas such as critical thinking and everyday social and emotional skills. More and more careers will require STEM skills, and introducing and fostering a love for these areas is essential. STEM education is a blended learning environment that shows students how the scientific method can be applied to everyday life.

Teachers should accentuate the importance of STEM education for the global digital economy. Teachers realize they are inspiring the next generation of engineers, artists, and innovators. Most of what we use today would not exist if it were not for the brilliant minds of some innovators. Students learn to embrace and utilize new technologies as this world is more technology-centered than ever before.

As a teacher, immerse yourself in STEM engaging activities and how to incorporate these learning opportunities every day in class. Students remember 90% of what they do according to The Learning Pyramid model. They will know how to apply the skills to real world situations. They will adapt and apply the skills taught, and it is a great way to motivate them to learn.

Ways to Celebrate National STEM Day in Your Classroom

Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning helps reinforce important concepts and is essential to engage students’ interests. A few examples of this are allowing students to discover fossils, exploring stars, discovering basics of creating an engine, and building a robot.

Allowing students this freedom fosters ingenuity and creativity. Incorporating STEM activities in class increases and builds resilience. Students are encouraged to think outside of the box and can make mistakes. There is an essence of risk-taking, experimentation, and teamwork. Students will always remember this type of learning and the classrooms where this is encouraged.

Extracurricular Activities and Competitions

These ideas teach the value of creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving. Creating opportunities like this make learning relevant and more engaging. A great focus is on real world problems and pushing for student-led initiatives. For example, this year would be a great time to host a mock election in class. This type of learning experience is beneficial for so many endless skills.

An example of an extracurricular activity would be to create and promote a robotics club. This combines the fun of an extracurricular activity with competition, including various age levels. They learn about all aspects of STEM and develop their skills in problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and socialization.

STEM Movie Night

A great example of a STEM movie is Hidden Figures, which depicts the true story of the women mathematicians that helped launch the astronaut John Glenn into orbit and inspired the world. This is a practical way to encourage inspiration, increase socialization among like-minded peers, and enjoy entertainment.

Visit a Museum or Have a Virtual Field Trip

Visiting museums is a great way to change your perspective and place yourself in others’ shoes. Museums instill a love for exploration and curiosity. The lessons in humanity, inspiration, society, serenity, tourism, support of the arts, and fun are among just some of the benefits. These types of experiences enrich our lives and make the world a more enlightened place.

If you can’t facilitate in-person experiences, virtual field trips are an excellent option. Your students can explore museums like the Smithsonian, visit Ellis Island, or even take a trip to the Great Wall of China.

Incorporating the Scientific Method

There are innumerable experiments and activities for the classroom involving the scientific method. A few examples of science experiments are using craft sticks and duct tape to create a bridge, and making launchers using pom poms, paper cups, and straws. Legos and other manipulatives for science experiments are enjoyable and educational. Students can make water bottle rockets, marshmallow towers, or study video game physics. Another great classroom idea is having a recycling bin and discussing the importance of recycling.

All of these are great ideas to utilize students’ minds and energy for productivity. The hands-on activities make lessons more fun and they retain information easily. They enjoy the creativity and teamwork too.

Want to explore our STEM resources for the classroom? Check out our math and science lesson plans and our technology and science writing prompts!

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Origami Project

When schools went virtual last March, the STEM teacher in my building came up with some genius projects for the students to complete at home. The directions were presented in Google Slides with pictures and samples, Flipgrids were created by the students to show off their engineering designs, and follow-up questions regarding engineering were answered. These activities were so much fun!

One activity that the students completed was an origami project which incorporated engineering and technology. Students were to take a piece of paper and choose from many different origami designs ranging in difficulty working on designs such as a butterfly or fish to a more difficult Ninja Star. Students would then create a Flipgrid to discuss their engineering design and show off their project.

Crystal Names

An easy activity in the science realm of STEM is to create “Crystal Names”. This could be completed in class, but would need to have supplies for each student as not to share. The students will take multiple pipe cleaners to write their name, and you can challenge students to write their names in cursive. Students will then take a small piece of fishing line and tie it to a wooden skewer so that the pipe cleaners can suspend in a jar. If students wish to create multiple colors for their name, they will need multiple skewers and pieces of fishing line.

The teacher will need to have a solution of hot water and borax made along with food coloring to create a crystal name. Students can make their names all the same color or can use multiple colors by keeping the letters separate and not connecting them. The teacher can call students up individually to see how they want to create their name. After the activity is complete, it is important to have a follow-up activity such as questions and research to understand how the crystals are formed.

Class Trip

A great math and technology STEM activity is one that includes using measurement and directions. One activity I used during virtual learning last spring was a class trip project I made using Google Slides. Students were given directions on how to map out their class trip on Map Quest. I had students research the different stops on the trip, Washington D.C. and Colonial Williamsburg, and then had many extension questions dealing with conversions, extra costs, gas prices, etc. It let students explore their creativity and apply their math knowledge to a real life scenario. Use this link to access the project if you want to use it in your class.

Rube Goldberg Machine

Another great STEM project using engineering skills is to create a Rube Goldberg machine. By definition, a Rube Goldberg machine is a complex contraption that uses a chain reaction to perform a simple task. This is an activity that can be completed at home by using various materials that you can find around the house. Parents, siblings, etc. may need to help students with this activity.

The first step is determine what you want your simple machine to be able to achieve. Some examples include: to turn a light off, water a plant, shut a door, move a marble, etc. Students should first sketch their idea before beginning to engineer. Taking the supplies collected, start to engineer each part of the machine.

When you have your machine complete, see which parts of the machine work and which do not. Challenge students to go back and use the engineering design process to engineer a non-working part differently to have a fully functional Rube Goldberg machine.

STEM activities can be simple or more complex. Unfortunately, with the pandemic we are currently living through, it makes having a makerspace difficult because supplies cannot be shared. It doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate STEM into your lessons, it just means you need to be more creative about it.

As I stated earlier, the STEM (makerspace) teacher in my building made the projects work for our students, and they truly enjoyed the hands-on activities and sharing them with one another. As Jules Henri Poincare stated, “It’s through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover.”

STEM challenges students to make discoveries, work through engineering failures, and rely on math, technology, and science skills to do so. When you can’t have the hands-on happen in the classroom, you bring it home and learn and work through it in a different way. We can all model to our students how to work through the challenges and not let the times we are living through defeat us!

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STEM is education for students that concentrates on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It has even evolved to STEAM, which includes art education. This approach to education combines multiple disciplines and is applied in its nature. STEM activities provide students with opportunities for critical and design thinking, as well as helps to develop observation skills. Additionally, it helps students to develop coping skills as they must follow the engineering design process, and when one design fails, they must create a new one. With St. Patrick’s Day approaching, here are some easy STEM activities you can try in your class.

St. Patrick’s Day STEM Activities for Kids

Fizzing Rainbow Pot

St. Patrick’s Day activities can be fun and educational. For this activity, students can use basic chemistry to create a rainbow pot full of fizzing color. Simply use a small black pot (you can probably find this at the Dollar Store), and fill it with baking soda, vinegar, and food coloring for a fun, rainbow explosion! If you are really daring, you can add glitter into the mixture or even put a gold coin in it for a surprise!

Rainbow or Shamrock Crystals

Students can use a few simple ingredients to create rainbow or shamrock crystals. To create a rainbow crystal, students can use pipe cleaners to create a rainbow and then put the rainbow in a container of boiling water and Borax mixture. Leave the pipe cleaner rainbow in the mixture for twenty-four hours and the crystals will form around the rainbow. You can do something similar for a shamrock crystal, but you may even find a plastic Shamrock cutout and use that to create a shamrock crystal.

Rainbow in a Jar

You can use water, food coloring, salt or sugar, a dropper, and a thin tube or straw to complete this activity. In various plastic cups you can make different salt/sugar water solutions with different densities. Use the same amount of water in each cup, but make one cup with no salt/sugar, one with 2 scoops of salt/sugar, one with 5 scoops, and one with 8 scoops. Stir until the solute is fully dissolved and add food coloring. Use a dropper to layer the solutions in a straw with the densest solution on the bottom.

To add another twist, create the solutions for the students and have them determine the densities of the solutions by layering them properly. Students can keep track on a data sheet to determine the correct order to make a rainbow with colors separated and solutions layered according to density.

Green Carnations

Another simple STEM activity is to create a solution of water and green food coloring in a jar and place a white carnation into the jar. As the carnation naturally absorbs water from the jar through its stem, the white petals will turn green and be a pretty gift for students to bring home and show off their STEM skills!

St. Patrick’s Day Slime

A favorite among the children! In order to make this, you need the following ingredients: half a teaspoon of baking soda, green food coloring, 3 cups of shaving cream foam, half a cup of white PVA glue, 1 tablespoon of saline solution, glitter, a mixing spoon, and a large bowl to mix it in!

Put the shaving cream, glue, and food coloring in first and stir; then stir in the baking soda; finally, mix in the saline solution until the slime pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You should continue to knead the slime to create the right consistency, and this is where you can add in glitter to jazz it up! The more food coloring you add in step one, the greener your slime will be!

Leprechaun Gold

You will need dull and old pennies, white vinegar, salt, two bowls, and paper towels. You need to fill one bowl with ¼ cup of vinegar and a teaspoon of salt and the other with water. Place pennies in the vinegar solution and let sit for about 15-20 seconds. When you remove these pennies, rinse them off in the second bowl full of water, and then lay them on a paper towel to dry.

Take a second set of pennies and place them in the vinegar solution, and remove them and place immediately on a separate paper towel. You will see that the unrinsed pennies will develop a blue-green film as the copper atoms from the penny combine with the chlorine from the salt and oxygen from the air to form malachite. This is what makes the Statue of Liberty have its “green” color. It creates a teachable moment and allows you to integrate some social studies into your lesson, too!

Gold Coin Catapult

You can use popsicle sticks, rubber bands, bottle caps, and glue to create catapults to launch the gold coins at the end of the rainbow! Students can work to create the catapult that will launch the coins the farthest. Coins are loaded into the bottle cap and launched off the popsicle stick and rubber band catapult you create. You can then incorporate measurement into your lesson to see whose catapult has the most power and launches the coins the farthest.

STEM activities require students to use critical thinking skills, problem solve, and think outside-of-the-box. The activities are hands-on and require students to use inquiry skills. Many of the activities mentioned above are simple and require little set-up. There are many great resources online to find STEM activities. All the activities mentioned above are projects that I or a fellow educator have tried in combination with ideas found on Little Bins for Little Hands.

Also, the STEM activities align with many of the new NGSS standards. As Albert Einstein stated, “If you’ve never failed, then you’ve never tried anything new.” STEM requires students to design and redesign different ideas. A design that is a failure is one step closer to the solution.

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