Welcome to Vivify’s Blog!
Exploring National Parks with a STEM Challenge!
My most vivid family memories involved both travel and education. Not in a boring fashion, but super fun, “this will stick with me for the rest of my life” kind of way. Where did my traveling education occur? National Parks! And now, as an educator, I share my love for nature with a National Park project and STEM challenge. Read below for a semester unit on national parks that includes research, planning, budgeting, natural resources, and design through an experience that I hope will spark a sense of wonder and discovery for your students!
A Teacher’s Guide to Science Fair
Are you a teacher responsible for running Science Fair this year? Not sure where to start? Read on for our Science Fair Guide: Steps to Success! This post includes the basics of Science Fair, our steps to success for teachers, a free science fair poster, a nature of science lesson, and links to real student Science Fair project examples.
Rate Your STEM Lesson: What Stage is Your STEM Challenge?
What is the focus in your STEM classroom? Do you love teambuilding activities? Or perhaps you spend most of the year on engineering design? Take our quiz to find out what stage of STEM your lessons are! Then read below for more on the 3 Stages of STEM, example activities, and a free STEM lesson checklist to help plan your lesson!
Do you see what I see? Pinhole Camera STEM Challenge
Are you looking to add more science to your engineering design challenges? Watch the video below for some cool demos to share with your students followed by an engineering design challenge on how to construct a pinhole camera that demonstrates "camera obscure.” We also have a complete lesson plan connecting the challenge to the innovation of the light bulb in England!
10 Tips for Managing a STEM Classroom
STEM is an inventive, creative, thought-provoking process. But it also involves a lot of supplies, choice of partners (who we may or may not enjoy working with), and open-ended projects that lead to a sometimes chaotic environment! How do we manage all of this as a teacher trying to foster a creative STEM process yet maintain learning objectives and behavioral order in our classrooms? Here are our top 10 tips for classroom management for a STEM learning environment!
2020 Hour of Code Resources + Unplugged Coding Activity
Schools across the world will participate in an Hour of Code on December 7-13th as part of Computer Science Education Week. Check out our must-watch inspirational coding videos plus low-prep activities perfect for social distancing or distance learning.
50 Distance Learning Icebreakers & Games
Are you struggling to engage students during distance learning? Here is a list of 50 icebreakers and games to keep students engaged and motivated during remote learning! Perfect for back to school, these activities also develop important 21st-century skills like communication, creativity, and collaboration. The following list is divided into three parts: relationship-building icebreakers, fun games, and top tools for distance learning.
Thrilling STEM Activities for Kids: Roller Coaster Challenge
Let’s talk about roller coasters! Make the stimulating challenge of creating a roller coaster part of your next STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) project. By using the engineering design process, student teams are tasked with creating a thrilling ride! Students learn about the science of roller coasters, including various forms of energy, and then using common materials such as craft sticks, paper and tape, students design a track for a ping pong ball to land safely in a cup at the bottom. This activity is definitely one of my new favorite STEM activities for kids!
10 Easy STEM Career Classroom Activities
Do you talk about STEM careers in your classroom? Perhaps you don’t have a STEM background and feel intimidated. Or maybe you know about certain careers, but you are looking to expand your knowledge of the diverse field. We can help! Read on for strategies to bring STEM careers to life in your classroom! Through activities that connect STEM to student interests, we will show you how to easily engage kids with the exciting possibilities of real-world STEM.
Pi Day STEM Activities
Happy Pi Day week! Are you planning to memorize all the digits of pi or maybe just eat some blueberry pie? If you are looking for new ideas, read on for STEM activities all about Pi! We have everything from a virtual pie to a spinning pie to help celebrate Pi Day with your students.