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Fall into Fall with These Seasonal STEM Activities

Changing seasons represent a unique opportunity for educators to inspire and engage students with related content. Take the most advantage of this autumn season by utilizing these seasonal STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) ideas, designed for easy implementation in any classroom!

 

Why Do Leaves Change Color?

One of the most captivating parts of the fall season for young minds is the changing and eventual decaying of the leaves. Make explaining the science behind this habitual process fun with this simple and quick STEM activity.

Requiring only basic household supplies, this activity from How Wee Learn helps students conceptualize the how break-down of chlorophyll is responsible for leaves’ gradual color change every autumn through the use of rubbing alcohol and a coffee filter.

Get started here.

 

Photosynthesis Lesson Plans

To get more in-depth about why leaves change colors, use these photosynthesis lesson plan ideas to get started teaching about the subject.

Accompanying resources to lesson plan ideas include where to find foliage cams and images to supplement learning.

See the full resource here. 

 

Track Fall’s Falling Temperatures

Get your students involved in the changing climate around them by having your class track fall’s falling temperatures using this resource from Education World.

Includes a free-to-print worksheet for tracking temperatures and instructions on how to have students graph their findings throughout the season. Check it out here. 

 

 

The Hack-O-Lantern!

It may sound like a campy B-list horror film, but the Hack-O-Lantern is actually a one-of-a-kind tool that can turn the seemingly mundane activity of carving a pumpkin into an opportunity to steer kids into the STEM pipeline.

Designed by littleBits, the Hack-O-Lantern not only makes for a superb classroom decoration during the month of October, it also is a perfect group activity for introducing children to programming basics.

Find out how it works in the video below. See how you can purchase here.

 

Do Vampires Really Exist?

Take a bite out of this! Kill two birds with one stone by using this creative activity to teach kids both math and computer skills.

Students will use Excel and this learning activity to use real-world statistics to determine if vampires exist. A perfect spooky activity rooted in STEM!

The activity and detailed instructions are available here. 

 

Encourage Budding Engineers By Finding the ‘Perfect Egg Drop’

This activity from Lemon Lime Adventures is a good way to break up the monotony of the school day by encouraging kids to get outside and test out their engineering skills.

Through trial and error, students will use data recording to determine how to keep an egg intact. Make this an autumn-themed activity by encouraging kids to decorate their eggs with their favorite fall designs to up-the-ante on finding a solution to keeping them intact.

Get started by checking out Lemon Lime Adventures’ page.

 

A Tasty Hands-On Experiment!

This delicious experiment from TinkerLab teaches young learners about science by experimenting with creating popped corn from a dry cob.

This is an ideal activity for fall-themed parties where munching is involved, say you can add an educational element to the fun part of eating snacks in class.

Check it out here. 

 

Pumpkin Math, Pumpkin Engineering, Pumpkin Literacy!

There’s no such thing as too many pumpkin-themed things! This activity teaches students to get creative and build structures from stale pumpkin candy. The possibilities are endless. See here to find out why. 

 

Fall Play-Doh Engineering Fun

September 16th happens to be National Play-Doh Day, making it a great time to roll-out this Play-Doh engineering activity.

Using Play-doh, paper straws and fresh leaves, use this activity to see what your budding young engineers create.

Check out the activity instructions.

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