STEM Activities for Kids (482 results)

Half-Life with Coins

STEM Activity

21 reviews

You may have read about nuclear disasters at sites like Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima in the news or in a history lesson. Disasters like these can take years or even decades to clean up, and make it unsafe for humans to live nearby for even longer. Why does the contamination last so long? In this (perfectly safe!) activity, you will learn about radioactive decay using coins. Read more

How Biodiverse is Your Backyard?

STEM Activity

23 reviews

Have you ever wondered how many different types of animals live around your home, like in your backyard or a local park? Animals come in all shapes and sizes, each a small part of the amazing diversity of life. These differences can help people use systems to classify animals into different groups. One way people classify animals is by their phylum. Do you know which phylum you belong to? In this science activity, you will investigate the diversity (or biodiversity) of the animal life around… Read more

How Do Arctic Animals Stay Warm?

STEM Activity

45 reviews

How lovely it is to come home after a chilly winter walk to a cozy house, put on your fluffy slippers, and settle by the fireplace with a warming cup of hot chocolate. Animals like the polar bear, the Arctic wolf, or Antarctic penguins are not so lucky to have such a place. How do they face the extreme winter temperatures? Most take on “winter coats” in the fall. Wondering what these coats look like, and how they help keep animals warm? Do this cool activity and you will feel it… Read more

Featured

Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

224 reviews

Did you know that the seaweed you've seen in the ocean or even eaten as a snack is inspiring innovators to imagine new materials? Large brown algae, like kelp, contains polymers—long chains of molecules—that are more environmentally friendly than the ones in most plastics. These natural polymers (alginates) could eventually be used to create sustainable everyday objects. Try your hand at using a bit of chemistry to turn biodegradable polymers from algae into your own custom… Read more

How Does a Wind Meter Work?

STEM Activity

30 reviews

Have you ever wondered how wind is made? Wind is caused by a difference in air pressure. Air travels from areas of higher pressure to places where there is less pressure. And just as air flows out of the high-pressure inside an inflated balloon if the opening is not tied, air in the atmosphere will move to a lower pressure area, creating wind. The speed of that wind can be measured using a tool called an anemometer. An anemometer looks like a weather vane, but instead of measuring which… Read more

How Empty Is an Empty Bottle?

STEM Activity

3 reviews

Did you know that airplanes and sound have something in common? Can you guess what it might be? Air pressure! It is fascinating how air—something that is so fluid and invisible—can power an amazing number of fascinating phenomena. In this activity you will use your own breath to blow a small paper ball into an empty bottle. It sounds simple, but is it? Try it out and see for yourself! Read more

How Far Can Your Sneeze Go?

STEM Activity

22 reviews

Do you cover your coughs and sneezes? How far do you think the droplets can travel if you do not cover them? Why is this important to help prevent the spread of diseases like COVID-19? Try this activity to find out! Read more

How Heavy Is Your Air?

STEM Activity

3 reviews

If you’ve ever accidentally let go of a Helium balloon while outside, then you know that some gases are less dense than others. In the case of your Helium balloon, it most likely floated away before you could catch it, because Helium is much lighter (or less dense) than the air in our environment. We don’t often think about gases having density, but they do! In this activity you’re going to explore the different densities of some common household gases, including the air that… Read more

How Many Seeds Do Different Types of Fruit Produce?

STEM Activity

21 reviews

Do you like your strawberry jelly with or without the seeds? Are you glad to have a seed-free watermelon, or do you enjoy spitting the seeds into the garden? You might not like finding seeds in your fruit, but fruit is a plant's tool for dispersing seeds to create offspring. In this activity you will investigate how many seeds can be dispersed for each type of fruit. Based on the number of seeds they produce, how productive do you think some of your favorite fruits are? … Read more

How Particle Size Determines Chemical Reaction Rate

STEM Activity

26 reviews

Did you know that flour can explode? Luckily, this does not happen spontaneously on your kitchen counter, but only if the conditions are right. The trick is that you need a very fine powder of flour to make an explosion happen. In fact, any solid flammable material that is dispersed in the air as a dust cloud will explode once it is ignited. Why is that? It has to do with the particle size of the solid material, which determines how rapidly a chemical reaction takes place. In this activity, you… Read more

How Strong are Eggshells?

STEM Activity

89 reviews

Have you ever seen an arch structure in a building, such as over a doorway or surrounding large windows? Arches have been used in structural engineering since ancient times. In this activity you will test the strength of a naturally occurring arch shape: the shell of an egg. So grab some eggs and put them to good engineering use in trying to answer the following question: Just how much mass can an eggshell can support? Read more

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