Vivify STEM Blog
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!
Get Your Elf Off That Shelf with STEM
Do you participate in the Elf on the Shelf tradition? Take the Elf antics up a notch by adding some STEM flair. We have compiled a list of our favorite ways to both entertain and educate using Santa’s little helper.
The Best STEM Challenge Ever
Join us as we give you all the details about our popular Space Lander STEM Challenge and link up with some other great STEM educators sharing the BEST STEM CHALLENGE EVER!
Teachers love the Space Lander STEM challenge because the students are completely engaged. Students not only learn, but deeply understand the engineering design process, key science concept, and math standards all while improving their soft skills involved in teamwork.
Valentine's Day STEM: Warm-ups & Activities
STEM is not about finding THE answer, as there is almost always more than one way to solve a problem. Encourage creativity while exercising those young minds! Here are some warm-up prompt ideas to get those lovely lobes thinking and in the mood for some Valentine’s Day STEM...
...In this season of love, you will also fancy the following Valentine’s Day STEM activities. These two resources will get kids excited about using their STEM skills to solve a sweet (candy!) problem and help them exercise off all of that sugar with some fun real-world math. ...
STEM in Sports
The Super Bowl is almost here! While I am planning to consume large amounts of buffalo wings and chips and dip, I am reminded that there is more that goes into this monumental day in America than just good entertainment. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), is present in every aspect of this beloved game. This truth provides a wonderful opportunity to get kids involved in an early love of STEM.
Space Lander Mission
Last year, I started a new Space Club program at four middle schools. Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I searched the web for ideas and curriculum to implement. I soon became excited to find great resources like NASA and TeachEngineering, but I was also overwhelmed as a simple Google search for "Space STEM activities" gives you a mere 89 million hits. Wading through a lot of junk eventually brought some gems that I could implement, and I leave it to another post to rant about the lack of quality in many activities that claim to be "STEM."
The Story Behind Heart Rate Math
Heart Rate Math is one of our first TeachersPayTeachers products and continues to be our best seller. I think the popularity is due to the ease of incorporating into the classroom with minimal prep and supplies. Here is the story behind our first product--