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Winter STEM Activity & Book Pairing Guide

Winter STEM Activity & Book Pairing Guide

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Need an easy to implement Winter STEM Activity? Try pairing it with a children's book you might already have! Literacy and STEM go well together. It's a great way to enhance student's comprehension of the story in a hands-on way. Keep your students engaged in a different way while easily implementing STEM into your classroom.

This video originally aired LIVE on my Facebook Page; Naomi Meredith: The STEMTech Co. 

Come and join in on the fun on Facebook, or watch the recording of this episode.

Amazon Affiliate links are included for each of the books listed. While purchasing through my link, it's no extra cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return. 

Winter STEM Activity  | Watch the recording down below:

 

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

 

Winter STEM Activity  | Ten on the Sled

This rhyming story takes younger students on a quick winter adventure. The animals all try to clamor onto the sled throughout the story; all 10 of them!

For this STEM challenge, students go through the Engineering Design Process for this challenge: How can you build a sled that fits all 10 animals on top? Students will first learn about sled design and plan how they want their creation to look like. Once their plan is ready, students can start to build.

Minimal materials are needed:

  • popsicle sticks
  • pipe cleaners
  • straws
  • unifix cubes (to tape the animal images onto)

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Tape isn't one of the materials listed; that definitely makes this a challenge for students (in a positive way). This allows students to learn how to bend, twist and connect the pipe cleaners, which might be a skill they aren't used to.

While testing their design, students will try to fit all 10 animals on top. While the sled doesn't have to be functional, that can be a great next step fro this challenge.

Click here to grab this lesson for you class! 

winter-stem-activity

Winter STEM Activity  | Gingerbread Man Boats

This STEM challenge can go along with any version of the Gingerbread Man you may have in your classroom. I know I have a quite a few versions myself!

Based on some of the more original versions of the story, the Gingerbread Man comes to the river at the end and climbs on the fox's back to try and make it across. Well, we all know what happens next….

What if there was an alternate ending? Students can create a solution to this new ending and help the Gingerbread Man have an engineer mindset instead.

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Students will use their knowledge about sinking and floating and design an invention that will help the Gingerbread Man cross the river. SciShow Kids have a great YouTube video about sinking & floating for younger students.

Provide various Makerspace materials to choose from. Here are some that were available when I tried this with students: 

  • bubble wrap
  • cardboard scraps
  • straws
  • masking tape
  • small plastic cups
  • recycled plastic lids
  • aluminum foil
  • wooden blocks
  • popsicle sticks

Having items that also sink and those that also float at first, but get logged with water (paper) is helpful as students make their decision and test their designs.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class!

 

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Winter STEM Activity  | Snowmen at Night

Again, this STEM challenge can be used with any of the Snowmen at Night series or other snowman books you have in your classroom library. This lesson uses robots, again, can be any moving type your classroom has. Don't have any robots? Here is my ultimate list of suggestions to check out! 

There are various images of snowmen dressed up in different outfits. Using the cards provided, students will place them on a grid or whichever layout they desire. Next, students will code the robot to build and dress the snowman in order that would make sense.

For example, if the image of the snowman show them wearing glasses, glasses wouldn't be collected first because there is no where to put them! By using the image to help visualize, students will reverse engineer the order the snowman should be built, then decorated. Of course, there are multiple solutions to each snowman image card which makes this a great challenge for students.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class! 

 

Other blog posts you might enjoy:

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What questions do you have about these activities? Have any other ideas to share? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!

winter-stem-activities

Winter STEM Activities Kids Will Love

Winter STEM Activities Kids Will Love

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Try these Winter STEM Activities in your classroom that the kids will love. Make the chilly days feel warmer by sparking creativity. There are a variety of low-prep, hands-on activities to try.

This video originally aired LIVE on my Facebook Page; Naomi Meredith: The STEMTech Co. 

Come and join in on the fun on Facebook, or watch the recording of this episode.

Here are the key takeaways from this episode:

Winter STEM Activities  | Watch the recording down below:

Sphero Sleds

A Sphero Lesson Plan where students go through the Engineering Design Process. A lesson where students create a sled for Sphero and code to pull it through the Iditarod Dog Race!

Throughout this challenge, students will learn about sled design and apply that to their work. While coding through the race, the use of angles and sped will help determine if Sphero can successfully travel through the maze.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class! 

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winter-stem-activities

Gift Wrap STEM Challenge

STEM activity with student Engineering Design Process printables & digital pages to help determine the most effective method for wrapping a gift. An area and perimeter activity that can be used year round.

Using the 3 videos provided, students are to pick one of the wrapping methods shown. Then, they actually wrap the gift with the method.

Afterwards, students will unwrap the gift and count how much tape was used, and the area and perimeter of the paper on the box. Encourage students to write on the wrapping paper to show their work.

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Once students calculate their wrapping paper numbers, have students compare their results to determine which wrapping method might be best. There will be a lot of debate on this topic!

I found packs of smaller boxes at the Dollar Store for kids to wrap so that all the boxes were the same size. I had wrapping paper I bought on sale from the previous year. Or even asking for donations would be an alternative to get more wrapping paper for this challenge.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class! 


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Playdough Snowmen | 3 States of Matter & Measurement

Learn about the 3 states of matter & how to build the best snowman. Build your own snowman and use the corresponding states of matter activity and measurement activity.

Students will model what each of the states of matter are, according to a snowman.

For the next challenge, students will build a snowman as tall as they can and use different tools to measure their creation.

This is perfect for a station that students might rotate to throughout the week or even during a class party. The must-have material needed before getting started is playdough of some kind.

Click here to grab this for your class! 

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Toothpick Snowflakes | Angles & Symmetry

There is a lot of science behind how snowflakes are made in nature. Learn how snowflakes are made, build a snowflake with toothpicks and solve math problems by using your design!

After planning and building their snowflake design, students will modify their work and record the following math observations:

  • intersecting lines
  • acute angles
  • obtuse angles
  • right angles
  • straight angles
  • perpendicular lines
  • parallel lines
  • lines of symmetry

This lesson works well either whole group or as a math station that students travel to throughout the week.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class! 

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Ten on the Sled | STEM & Stories

STEM activity with student Engineering Design Process printables & digital pages to accompany the book Ten on the Sled by Kim Norman. A Winter STEM activity for Kindergarten, 1st, & 2nd grades.

Connecting STEM & literacy is a great ways to boost students' reading comprehension by helping them remember the story.

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After listening to the story, students will watch a video about sled design to inspire their creations. Next, students will build their sled that needs to fit all ten animals out of popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and straws. I didn't use tape to add an extra challenge and encourage kids to think about their materials in a way they haven't before.

For the animals, I printed out the included images and had kids cut and tape them onto unifix cubes or LEGO pieces. This allows the animals to stand up on the sled.

Click here to grab this lesson for your class! 

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Other Blog Posts You Might Enjoy: 

winter-stem-activities

What questions do you have about these activities? Feel free to direct message me on Instagram, @naomimeredith_ and I would love to chat with you!