6 Picks for St. Patrick's Day STEM
Bring on the luck of the Irish with these six fun, hands-on STEM projects for St. Patrick's Day!
From the magical pot of gold at the end of a rainbow to lucky charms, leprechauns, shamrocks and more, St. Patrick's Day is brimming with opportunities to tweak science and engineering activities to fit the day.
Try one of these green picks for chemistry, engineering, and physics fun with students of all ages:
- Leprechaun Snot: It just takes a bit of green to turn favorite slime-making science into something that has the kind of gross factor students love. (Tip! An NGSS-aligned slime lesson plan is available for educators.)
- Shamrock Launcher: Use cardboard tubes and the energy stored in a rubber band to make a fun cotton ball launcher. Use green cotton balls for high-flying St. Patrick's Day fun! (See also: Simple Science Activities with Cardboard Tubes.)
- Light Up Your Pot o' Gold: Use copper tape, a coin cell battery, and LEDs, to explore paper circuits and make light-up cards or artwork.
- Lucky Lava Lamp: Use the fizzing power of Alka-Seltzer® to make a bubbling lava lamp. (Tip! This exploration of chemical reactions works well in all colors! For more fizzing fun, see 5 Fizzing, Foaming, and Bubbling Science Projects! Many of these activities can easily be given a colorful twist to work for St. Patrick's Day!)
- Gold Getaway-Mobile: Build and "drive" a car that speeds along with the wind. (For other fun vehicles students can make and test, see Rev Up STEM Learning with Car Science Projects.)
- Milk Rainbow: Create mesmerizing rainbows while exploring surface tension with this simple activity using milk, liquid soap, and food coloring.
See these experiments in action in this fun science video:
Other Colorful Science Projects
For other color-themed student science projects, see:
- Shimmy, Shimmy Soda Pop: Develop Your Own Soda Pop Recipe (green inspiration)
- Does Color Affect Taste?
- Green Candy Chemistry with Paper Chromatography!
- Stroop Effect
- 20+ Color Science Experiments
More STEM Calendar Connections
Discover other creative STEM tie-ins on our STEM Calendar for Educators: Month by Month STEM Projects.
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