Are you looking for fun science ideas for your co-op class?? You might want to give STEM activities a try! Basically STEM activities teach basic science (and some math) principles while students engage in fun hands-on group-based activities! Check out this link to find out more about STEM! Deciding what activities to do, how to run them, and materials to buy can be a little overwhelming! First, you need to consider which grade levels you are working with. Younger students need simple, fun activities that give them the opportunity to create and play with each other while learning basic concepts and beginning to follow the engineering process—exploring how to design and build. As students progress into their later elementary years, they need to be pushed and challenged to learn new science and math concepts while engaging in hands-on challenges using the engineering process. Heading into middle school, kids begin to gain more advanced math and science skills that can be put to use in the STEM classroom as they design and build with more intentionality. I've compiled a few FREE STEM activities to get you started at each level! STEM Activity Challenge Hoop Glider Competition 3rd-5th grade STEM Project for Third, Fourth and Fifth grades. This activity challenges students to build a glider that will glide as far as possible. Working in groups, students will cut and tape various hoops to their straw. They will experiment with hoops of different sizes, positioning, and throwing styles. STEM Activity Challenge Jumping Bugs K-2nd grade STEM Project for Kindergarten, First and Second Grades. This activity involves putting an effervescent tablet inside a film canister with a little bit of water. As gas is produced, pressure will build in the film canister causing the cap to pop off. Students will color and tape a bug* of their choice to the bottom of the film canister and see how high their bug can go!!! The students can experiment with the amount of tablet and water to see what works best. *Bug illustrations are also included! STEM Activity Challenge Levitating ping pong ball 6th - 8th grade STEM Middle School Classroom Project Students will work in groups to discover the phenomenon that occurs when a ping pong ball is placed above a straw and air is blown through the straw. Most people would expect the ping-pong ball to fly up and off to the side—but it doesn't. Due to Bernoulli's Principle, the ball will hover in the air above the straw. This project can end with a demonstration using a shop-vac or hairdryer with a ping-pong ball that will produce the same interesting results. STEM Activity Challenge Marshmallow Catapult 3rd-5th grade STEM Project for Third, Fourth and Fifth grades. In this activity, students will work in groups to create a catapult from popsicle sticks. They will modify their catapult in order to produce the best launch possible. Kids will have a great time launching mini marshmallows across the room while learning about potential and kinetic energy. STEM Station Activity: Troll Bridge Free STEM Station (STEM Center) Activity: Troll Bridge A little troll is looking for a way to earn some big cash and he’s decided to build a toll bridge. He needs help from STEM Man and your students to design and build a bridge that’s strong enough to hold lots of toll money. STEAM Task Cards This resource includes six Cinco De Mayo themed STEAM Activity Task Cards, an editable worksheet and a STEAM process poster! In my TpT Store, I have a resource for an ENTIRE YEAR of STEM Activities—one for each week of the school year at each of the different levels. Please click here for more information!
Learn a simple way to put together a LEGO homeschool co-op class for younger elementary students in this post.
Here is everything you need to host a fun, hands-on homeschool co-op on composting worms! Includes printable lists!
{FREE} moon phase tracking printable! Perfect for preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and even some older kiddos!
Blood typing is an interesting topic to learn about, but can get a little confusing sometimes. Blood typing illustration from Explo...
To make a cardboard periscope, first cut the tops off 2 empty quart-sized milk cartons. Then, tape the cartons together to make one long box. Next, cut a hole the size of one of your small mirrors on one side of your carton, about ¼ of an inch from the end. Attach the mirror at a 45° angle pointing downward to the other end of the carton. Finish your periscope by repeating this with your other mirror on the opposite side and at the opposite end. Point that mirror upward to reflect off the first mirror so you can see whatever is on the other end of your periscope.
There’s always excitement when I put together a new unit. It’s the same excitement you might feel at the start of the new homeschool year. I love looking for new resources and assemblin…
I am so excited to introduce you to our Family Unit Study all about The Human Body. Did you know that humans and giraffes have the same number of neck bones? Did you know that babies have 94 MORE bones than adults? Or that you breathe, on average, 20,000 times a day?! And that is
Hands-on learning helps students retain data. These hands-on activities for middle school and high school students keep older students engaged.
Read great books, exercise, sing, lapbook, dance–this My Body preschool and kindergarten science class has it all! Using Homeschool Share’s FREE My Body Lapbook as my base, I put together a co-op class for preschool and kindergarten. I only used parts of the lapbook, but all the pages you need to print are noted in the weekly …
Last week at my homeschool co-op class, I taught our Magic School Bus Science class and did a lesson all about DNA and Genetics. It was a really fun lesson to prepare and to teach
Fun hands-on Christian middle school biology lesson on creation and science in 55 minutes - Classification of plants and mammals - Taxonomy - Linnaeus, Ferns, Moss, Lichen - A Beka Science Order & Design Grade 7 - Use with your class, homeschool, after-school program, or co-op!
Fun hands-on middle school biology lesson on frog dissection and amphibian review in 55 minutes - A Beka Science Order & Design Grade 7 - Use with your class, homeschool, after-school program, or co-op!
I'm teaching an Intro to Chemistry class in our co-op for 2nd and 3rd graders. Does anyone know of some good books that introduce concepts like matter, atoms, molecules, density, gases, liquids, and solids? Let's Read and Find Out Science type or easy reader that explains these topics. Thanks!
Preschool Co-op Class Ideas: Keep preschoolers engaged with these homeschool co-op classes: 1.Themed based 2. Nature and Outdoor 3. Music...
Explore 15 class ideas for your kindergarten homeschool co-op. Art adventures to animal explorations, these classes foster learning...
Want some great homeschool co-op class ideas? Here is a huge list of different classes that we have done at ours to inspire you!
Homeschool Co-ops are not for everyone. These top ten reasons to not join a homeschool co-op will help you decide if one is for you.
Find the Best homeschool Co-op classes for your teaching needs. Elementary, middle school and high school co-op class ideas.
