5 Easy STEAM Project Ideas Kids Will Love

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Science,Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics also known as STEAM has sparked a new way to energize STEM subject.  Here are 5 easy STEAM Project ideas kids will love to get you started on this new teaching adventure.

Create a Playground

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Who hasn’t dreamed of having their very own playground? This STEAM project idea makes every kid’s dream come true. Create your own blueprints and then build a model from materials you have at hand. Can it get any more fun than this?

Build Bridges

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Help! The counting bears are trapped on desk islands. Can your class come to the rescue and build bridges from popsicle sticks, string, and tape? Your class will love planning the bridges, building them, and then writing about the bears’ adventures. The STEAM bridge making challenge is a blast.

Plant a Butterfly Garden

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Monarch butterflies can smell milkweed from miles away. If you plant it they will come! It only takes a few plants and some flowers and you can have your very own monarch butterfly habitat. Your class will love observing the monarch butterfly metamorphosis. Even better, the garden will attract monarchs for years to come.

Build Boats

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A boat building STEAM challenge is a great way to justify some water play on a hot day. We use several plastic tubs and use leftover materials to build flotation devices. You can make it a competition by inviting the kids to see how many counting bears or other materials the devices can carry before sinking.

Build a Fort

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Who doesn’t have amazing memories building forts as a kid? Even better than building a fort is building one with your friends. This project lends itself to the end of the year when plenty of boxes and building materials are available and many regular classroom items have been stored already. Some teachers even ask students to bring blankets, pillows, and flashlights. We have used boxes, chairs, blankets, tables, and butcher paper. Whatever your materials are, this activity is a sure crowd pleaser and who doesn’t want to be the coolest teacher ever?

We would love to hear your STEAM project ideas! What easy STEAM projects do your students love?

 

STEAM Education Fibonacci Numbers

 

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The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.

~ Albert Einstein

Leonardo Pisano Bogollo, aka Fibonacci rediscovered the number pattern that is now generally referred to as the Fibonacci sequence. Fibonacci recognized that certain numbers seem to occur in nature more frequently than chance would allow. The number sequence is also used to calculate the golden mean or golden ratio, known in mathematics by the Greek letter phi.

You can easily calculate the sequence in your classroom or at home by adding the last two numbers to make the next.

Here is the sequence:

0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34…

The first two numbers in the sequence are added and the sum creates the next number.

0+1=1. 1+1=2 2+1=3 3+2=5

We usually open our Fibonacci math enrichment unit with posting the number sequence on the board as a challenge. We ask the class to find the pattern. Surprisingly enough even the first graders usually figure it out.

One of our favorite activities is to go on a Fibonacci number hunt walk. We take the kids for a walk and try to find natural items that show numbers in the Fibonacci sequence.

Here are some example from our last walk

Bougainvillea
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The Bougainvillea shows three bright pink leaves.

This California native has 5 petals.

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We had to count a lot of petals to find a perfect daisy.

We wrote in our journals and drew some of the flowers after the hike. A great way to introduce kids to the Fibonacci sequence.

 

 

 

Baby Chicks in the Classroom

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The chicks have hatched! After 22 days in the incubator the big day finally came. We had been worried because the incubator was left open on day 14 as the class went on a field trip to the Zoo. The eggs were left in the cold for more than 6 hours! A quick internet search revealed that chicks can survive several hours without incubation. We candled the eggs but there was not much to see on day 14. Since we had two duck eggs we candled those as well and the little ducks were paddling in their eggs!

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On day 21 we came in on a Sunday to make sure the chicks were doing fine. Nothing was happening. What in the world could we tell the kids? We sang to the chicks (really) and finally we heard a faint chirping. The next day things started to get going. We first saw a small hole.  The eggs started shaking and rolling. We could also hear them chirping in their eggs pretty loudly, but no chicks yet. It is very tempting to help a chick out of the egg at this point. You can see the beak through the pip. Their struggle seems so real. However helping a chick hatch is usually fatal. It really makes you think about struggle in general. Maybe there is more purpose in it than we realize.

It took an additional 24 hours for all of them to hatch and it took all of our restrained not to intervene and help.  Now they are chirping and running around in their nesting box and our yard. We take them into the school garden and let them peck in the dirt and fluff their feathers in the sun. What a treat for the end of the school year!

If you are interested in incubating your own chicks you can find more information right here.