Ninth Grade STEM Activities for Kids (86 results)

STEM Activity

75 reviews

Have you ever seen or heard of the movies "The Mummy" or "The Mummy Returns"? Mummies have often played a part in nightmares for Western cultures, but in ancient Egypt, mummification was a serious religious ritual thought to be necessary for a person to enjoy the afterlife. In this activity, you will learn about the science behind the process of mummification by mummifying a hot dog. Read more

Homemade Rice Paper

STEM Activity

7 reviews

Have you ever encountered "paper" on your plate—perhaps in the form of thin paper for spring rolls, or cake decorating? Did it make you wonder how this paper relates to the paper you write on? You will find out in this activity! In addition, you can discover the recipe to make the edible paper you like best. Read more

How do Self-Driving Cars Know What to Do?

STEM Activity

216 reviews

How do driverless cars know what to do at an intersection? How do they know when they should stop and when it is their turn to go? What about yielding to pedestrians? In this activity, you will write your own algorithm, or list of steps, for a driverless car to follow when navigating through various road scenarios like stop signs, traffic lights, and roundabouts (traffic circles). Read more

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Make String from Algae

STEM Activity

215 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

The Impossible Arrow Illusion

STEM Activity

33 reviews

Make your own 3D printed "impossible arrow" illusion in this fun activity. No matter how many times you spin the arrow around, it always seems to point in the same direction—but its reflection in a mirror points the other way! How does it work? Try it and find out! Read more

A Sweet Earthquake Shake on Landfill

STEM Activity

8 reviews

Have you ever thought about what type of ground buildings are constructed on? Rock, gravel, sand, soil and many others—there are lots of different types of "ground." And this issue becomes especially important in areas that are likely to get earthquakes. In this activity you will build a sweet building on a homemade shake table and find out how an earthquake impacts buildings constructed on landfill. How will your structure perform in a pretend earthquake? Read more

Automatic Drone Balancing

STEM Activity

10 reviews

How do drones automatically balance themselves when you let go of the controls? Find out in this project as you build and program an experimental setup to make a drone automatically control its tilt angle about a single axis. See this page for a complete list of our mini drone projects. You may wish to do the projects in order. Read more

Build a Bathtub Toy Raft Powered by Surface Tension

STEM Activity

11 reviews

Have you ever wondered why a water strider can walk on water? Or how detergent can clean your dishes? If you look around you carefully, you can find dozens of similarly interesting phenomena that are all linked to the surface tension of water. In this science activity, you will make a little toy raft that is actually powered by surface tension, and use your vessel to investigate how surface tension works! Read more

Build a Differential from K'Nex®

STEM Activity

10 reviews

What in the world is a differential and what does it do? A differential is a mechanism that helps cars go around turns without the wheels slipping. In this activity you will build your own working model differential from a building toy like K'Nex®! Read more

Build a Water Sprinkler Toy

STEM Activity

5 reviews

Do you enjoy playing with water? Have you ever considered building a water sprinkler toy? It is easier than it looks! Get some PVC pipes, a few connectors, and a backyard water hose, then drill a few holes and start connecting! What will be your most creative and most fun design? Read more

Candy Waterfalls: Can Candy Flow Like Water?

STEM Activity

86 reviews

Have you ever poured sand out of a bucket, or poured cereal out of a box, and noticed it is a lot like pouring water? It is because sand and cereal are granular materials. This means they are made up of solid particles, but they can actually flow like liquids! Candies, like Skittles®, M&M's®, Nerds® candies and many others, are also granular materials. In this science activity, you will investigate how the size and shape of granular materials affect how they flow. And what… Read more

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