Teacher Resources | Science Buddies Blog (Page 4)

2024 Rubber Band Car Engineering Challenge—10 Steps to Success

February 13, 2024 8:00 AM

Follow the 10 steps below to do the 2024 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge with your students! This year's challenge is the Rubber Band Car Challenge. Getting a high score requires creative thinking and engineering to make a car that can go as far as possible. How far will your students' cars travel? The 2024 Rubber Band Car Challenge is an exciting way to have students try engineering. As they design, build, test, and improve their cars,… Read more

Why Integrate Science Projects in the Classroom—A Teacher's Perspective

February 12, 2024 8:00 AM

Why should teachers have students do independent science projects? In part one of a three-part series, the new STEM Content Managing Editor at Science Buddies offers a teacher's perspective. Note: In this week's blog, we introduce Janna Privette, the new STEM Content Managing Editor at Science Buddies. With seven years of experience teaching middle and high school science, Janna has effectively integrated independent science projects into a variety of… Read more

10 Reasons to Do the Rubber Band Car Challenge

January 30, 2024 8:08 AM

Thinking about the 2024 Rubber Band Car Challenge? Here are 10 reasons this is a great STEM challenge for your students. The annual Science Buddies Engineering Challenge makes it fun for students to try engineering. Each year, the Science Buddies Engineering Challenge presents an innovative and engaging engineering task and asks students in grades K-12 around the world to use the engineering design process to brainstorm, design, build, and test a… Read more

16 Science Projects & Experiments to Teach About Electricity

December 21, 2023 8:00 AM

Use these free STEM lessons and activities to teach about electricity, electrodes, electrolytes, current, batteries, generators, and more. We all interact with electricity dozens of times a day. Every time we flip a switch to turn on a light, we use electricity. Every time we check a cell phone, open a refrigerator, or turn on a computer or TV, we are using something that depends upon electricity in the background. We use electricity without… Read more

26 Science Projects and Experiments To Teach About Types of Energy

September 8, 2023 8:00 AM

Use these free STEM lessons and activities to help students get hands-on building, testing, and exploring the science of energy and the different types of potential and kinetic energy. From the classic snake-in-a-can prank to stretching and shooting rubber bands across the room, bouncing a basketball, or rolling a marble down a ramp, kids know energy in motion when they see it. The world is full of energy, and energy is constantly being used,… Read more

13 Lessons to Teach About the Chemistry of Mixtures and Solutions

September 1, 2023 8:00 AM

Use these free STEM lessons and activities to help students get hands-on experimenting with the science and chemistry of mixtures and solutions. Most students have a basic concept of "mixtures." They have combined ingredients in the kitchen. They know that beverages, paints, and glues are mixtures. They may realize that blood is a mixture, as is the air we breathe. They know that some things "mix" well and others don't and that some mixtures are… Read more

11 Tips and Best Practices for Assigning and Managing Science Fair Projects

August 9, 2023 8:00 AM

Part 3 in our STEM education series on the benefits of student science projects and science fairs. These best practices streamline the assignment and management of independent science projects and help ensure students stay on track. Unlike many other types of homework, independent science and engineering projects take time. These projects may span several weeks on your classroom calendar. The extended time allotted to science projects is a benefit and… Read more

13 Icebreaker Activities for Science Class!

August 4, 2023 8:00 AM

Kick off the new school year with one of these STEM activities! Easy to plan, low-cost, and accessible to all grade levels, these creative science and engineering icebreakers help set the stage for a great school year. Students will get to know one another, maybe remember your name, and leave knowing that science class is going to be awesome! It's back-to-school time! This means a brand new year, maybe a brand new group of students, or even a new… Read more

16 Science Projects and Lessons About Visible Light

July 31, 2023 9:00 AM

Free STEM projects, experiments, lessons and activities to teach students about the science of visible light. The free STEM projects, experiments, lessons and activities below help educators teach K-12 students about the physics of light, specifically, visible light, with hands-on exploration and active learning. The resources below have been grouped by grade band to help educators select the experiments and lessons that best fit their needs. (Note:… Read more

The Value of Science Fair Projects

July 26, 2023 8:00 AM

Take a closer look at the benefits of independent science projects, from skills development to standards fulfillment. This is Part 2 of our STEM education series exploring the combined value of students doing science projects and showcasing them at science fairs. As summarized in the first post in this STEM education series, independent science projects are part of a powerful combination of "science project + science fair" that fuels an… Read more

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