Creative and Innovative Elementary STEM

I love printing, laminating, and displaying these in my classroom for students to reference throughout the year! We have a "coding" word wall and add these to it when we start doing Scratch. I have PDF and editable formats if you wish to include more! Includes 10 printable posters: *sound blocks *control blocks *event blocks *look blocks *sprite *loop *coordinates *debug

I use this as the very first unit to introduce Scratch coding basics to my students. It is an open-ended, yet guided, 1-2 day lesson. Students will explore and learn how to use 7 different code blocks. This is designed for students to do "pair programming" with a partner. They will help each other learn, explore, code, and "debug" as they go along. This also could be used as a great "hour of code" activity. What is included: Google Slides to guide you as the teacher AND your students through one

In this STEM lesson, students will: 1) Learn about and research many seed dispersal methods used in nature (gravity, water, wind, animals, etc.), watch videos, explore pictures and diagrams, and take notes on what they learned. 2) Use a template to create a paper helicopter seed and then design a new one to either drop slower than the original or drop faster than the original by changing a variable of their choice. 3) Conduct a fair testing procedure to compare their new prototype designs to

In this resource, you will have access to Pdf printable or digital use versions of the 6 challenge cards and Google Slides to help introduce your students to Sphero, reminders of how to aim, classroom expectations, etc. Students will work in pairs or groups of 3 to move through and complete each challenge. Each challenge gets slightly harder and progresses naturally. If students have never used Sphero robots before, I recommend looking at my Sphero Basics and Practice resource first or teaching

This lesson focuses on introducing the engineering design process, following design constraints, great teamwork, perseverance, and problem-solving. It works best in teams of 2-4 students. They are tasked with making the tallest tower possible! Each group will need 100 index cards and however much masking tape you decide to allow (or can even make it extra tricky with no tape!). You can also give a constraint of time limits. There are also two bonus challenges for teams needing a greater challeng

This is created to be used with the Littlebits STEAM classroom sets. There are 3 different cards (printable or can be used digitally) with 16 challenges each. Level 1 has intro challenges designed to teach students the function of the different little bits in the STEAM class kit and their functions. It is fairly directed and straightforward in how each circuit is created. Level 2 has more open-ended challenges to create basic circuits but may be able to be solved and created in multiple differ

This is a robust and really exciting unit that integrates coding and creating their own maze video game in Scratch, learning about the basics of circuits through interactives and MakeyMakeys, and also engineering their own video game controller to connect to their computers with a Makey Makey to play their own Scratch maze! This unit is FULL of science, technology, engineering, AND math. It hits so many standards and is so fun to put it all together for a really great project your students will

This bundle includes editable Google Slides for the teacher to present and give instructions, a teacher reference sheet, printable and editable Google Docs for students to record their work. It also includes a printable Sphero protractor. This Sphero training can be used with any Sphero Robotic model and the Sphero app. Students will first test how far their robot travels with different amounts of time (seconds) at 20% power and create a line graph to help them visualize the relationship between

This resource includes: A printable PDF Maze designed to be printed out at 24X36 inches (poster board size)Google Slides lesson plan and support to walk students and teachers through a Sphero Training Lesson as well as the Maze Coding challenge. These include tips, videos, and other resourcesStudent PDF handout for students to record their data and create a line graph during the training lesson which they will use in their maze planningStudent PDF handout to plan their code for the mazeA printa

This resource will walk teachers and students through coding an "about me" project in Scratch. This is a great hour of code, beginning-of-the-year, or anytime coding activity. Students will communicate fun facts about themselves through their code and eventually share their code with you and their classmates. This lesson can be scaffolded to brand new Scratch users or can teach seasoned Scratch learners something new! This resource includes digital Google Slides with instructions on how to add

All of my most current Sphero activities are bundled into one for a cheaper price to keep your students engaged in robotics, coding, and engineering throughout the year or to use for different grade levels. All use basic and simple Sphero coding skills while also fostering creativity as they create snowplow covers, a thanksgiving float, a way for a Sphero to draw different shapes on paper, a bridge for it to cross, etc. It is great for the regular classroom, makerspaces, STEM classes, coding clu

This resource includes: A Google slide deck (editable) that will walk students and teachers through the entire engineering design and 3D design process to create a prototype bubble wand. Instructions on how to create a 3D printed bubble wand using the TinkerCAD app. It has step-by-step instructions with enough details to be successful, but open-ended enough for students to make engineering design decisions. Great project for beginners or experienced TinkerCAD users alike. STEM career connectio

This product includes: A printable pdf of a maze to code an Ozobot robot through with Ozoblockly code on an iPad/computer (not color code). It is scalable to print it out in a bigger size, I suggest a poster board size or a bit smaller than that. A Google slide deck to introduce how to use Ozoblockly code, links to videos, etc. Students will: Sequence code blocks to navigate an Ozobot through a mazeLearn how to use movement codes (turns, straight), light codes, and sound codes in the mazeWork

This resource includes 4 printable Easter egg hunt-themed coding mats (printable for standard printer paper) to be printed double-sided with block coding options and coding guidance on the back for your Ozobots to be used with Ozoblockly code! Students will: Code their Ozobots to navigate through the mazes and collect the easter eggs with sequence block-based code. Use distance and turn codes to navigate the mazeLearn to use lights and sound codeDebug their codeUse loops and more advanced codin

Get students excited about coding with real-world challenges with a Mars Rover theme! Students will first research more about the red-planet and learn more about what scientists, engineers, and programmers are using Rovers for on Mars. Students will be challenged to prepare for their mission through a variety of optional "Mars preparation" challenge cards (which include research, designing, and engineering tasks) and then move onto various real-world scenario coding challenges. The coding task

In this resource, students and teachers will walk through the engineering design process to design an instrument with a Makey-Makey and various makerspace materials that students can then code in Scratch actually to play a simple song! This resource includes: Lesson 1: Intro to Makey-Makey/Conductors and InsulatorsGoogle Slides that go through:What is a circuit? Simulations of circuitsWhat are conductors/insulatorsHow to connect and use a Makey MakeyHow to determine if materials are conductors o

This lesson was created to help introduce students to the engineering design process with a simple and basic, but surprisingly difficult, STEM design challenge. Students will work through the engineering design process with a team and also learn about prototyping, constraints, redesign, perseverance, innovation, STEM careers, and more. Students are given the task of building the tallest and most stable and strong tower skyscraper they can with 25 pipe cleaners or less. They will be given opport

In this lesson, students will code an Ozobot using ozoblockly block code to remove snow from a parking lot. Their first challenge will be to design a snow plow attachment for their Ozobot robot and work through the engineering design process (OR you can 3D print from the CAD library on Ozobot's website). Then, students will code their Ozobot to remove the "snow" (cotton balls, pom poms, or other). Students will discover their code might be very long/cumbersome with just turn and movement step

In this lesson, students will learn through discovery how the different Littlebits pieces work to create different types of circuits. They will learn how the power, inputs, outputs, and wires work for the Littlebits STEAM classroom sets. They will be guided through the activity (Google Slides) and then try out the different colors of bits. They will have a sheet in which they can record their findings and discoveries (either in Notability digitally or can print off on paper). There is also inclu

This product includes a Google slide deck to walk teachers and students through an engineering design STEM challenge to create a functional chair prototype for your school using cardboard! While MakeDo Tools and/or Chomp Saws are recommended, they are not required and you can use your own cardboard tools available to you. Students will: Be introduced to the STEM challenge, constraints, and engineering design processLearn how to use various cardboard tools (if applicable - videos are embedded/l