Welcome to Vivify’s Blog!
The ABCs of Kindergarten STEM
In this post, we discuss how to engage the youngest learners in meaningful STEM through our brand-new Alphabet STEM curriculum for Kindergarten! Alphabet STEM was a collaborative effort from the Vivify STEM team. Read on for our favorite letters, advice on teaching kinder STEM, and grab the free kinder STEM lesson!
Celebrate the Winter Solstice with a STEM Challenge
Learn about the winter solstice with a science lesson and engineering challenge! In this STEM activity, students will explore how light reflects and refracts and how materials can be transparent, translucent, or opaque. Teams will then use the engineering design process to build a lantern to expand the light cast by a flashlight. Plus, tons of videos and real-world STEM connections!
Design a Prosthetic Leg STEM Activity...for Animals!
Looking for an engaging STEM activity that builds empathy? Read below for a Stage 2 STEM engineering activity that challenges students to learn about and design an interchangeable prosthetic leg. Students then apply concepts for a prosthetic for their favorite animals!
Design a Sustainable Eco-House STEM Project
In the Eco-House Extravaganza STEM project, students work in teams to complete the ultimate project-based learning STEM experience: planning and designing an energy-efficient, eco-friendly house! Read below for how to implement a project that incorporates environmental and earth science, STEM careers, sustainability, and teamwork. This lesson was developed by a middle school science teacher and Harvard graduate student, Kristina Ohl, who shares her experience developing and testing out this lesson so you can bring it to your classroom!
How to Teach Growth Mindset and Failing Forward
Students need to experience failure in our classrooms. They may not think so, but learning from those failures is what helps them grow. Read on for ways to empower your students to learn from their failures, aka. fail forward, with a good dose of growth mindset!
Scientific Method vs. Engineering Design Process: Which is used in STEM learning?
Are you a STEM teacher? Confused on what process to use in your classroom? Or perhaps you need a refresher on the scientific method versus the engineering design process. Read on for an overview of each, how they are used in the real world and our view of which process is best for STEM education.
Design a Mars Colony: STEM Project
Six steps to designing a colony on Mars! Students learn about Mars, brainstorm and research design solutions for food, water, energy, and other critical systems, and build a colony model from recycled materials. This is the perfect way to take your STEM or STEAM program to the next level with a project-based STEM challenge!
5 Life Science STEM Activities for Elementary
We have a responsibility to preserve our planet and its inhabitants, but what can you do to help? Teach the next generation about the species that call Earth home. Empower them to be innovative problem solvers to protect plants, animals, and insects. The following is a list of STEM activities dedicated to sharpening STEM skills and raising awareness about some of the most valuable, threatened, and endangered living things in our world. Read on for 5 life science STEM activities.
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.
How to Engage Little Kids in Engineering Activities
This week is Engineers Week! It is a time to connect kids to real-world engineering problems and expose them to what engineers really do. Read on to learn more about the engineering design process and how to use it in education, as well as how to make an engineering kit for your budding engineers. Oh, and there is a freebie too!