Download STEM Activities
Photo: GEAR UP Virginia - Shoemaker activity
Download free STEM activities designed and curated by GEAR UP programs and national partners in STEM in three topic areas: app development, maker education, and math/coding/robotics.
Use our student survey to evaluate the efficacy of these and other activities on STEM beliefs and aspirations. Check out additional STEM resources recommended by GEAR UP programs.
App Development Activities
The following activities were designed in partnership with MAD-learn. Some activities must be done sequentially and some require the use of the MAD-learn software platform.
Thinking of an Idea for a Mobile App
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 hour Instructor Experience: Beginner
Participate in a brainstorming session to build a list of potential app topics.
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 hour Instructor Experience: Beginner
Examine, analyze, and rate competing mobile apps on a specific set of criteria.
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 hour Instructor Experience: Beginner
Develop a plan for an app idea previously developed. Create a mind map to inform content development and app functionality. Prerequisite: activity 1
Designing Your App’s Look and Feel
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 hour Instructor Experience: Beginner
Learn the psychology behind using color and images in building a mobile app, then create a logo that helps establish and reinforce a brand. Prerequisite: activity 1
Decoding HTML: Cracking the Code
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 hour Instructor Experience: Intermediate
Examine, analyze, and create visual representations of a set of HTML code.
Deconstructing HTML & CSS Codes
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 90 min Instructor Experience: Intermediate
Learn what HTML and CSS codes are and understand how various commands and tags help build an app screen’s functionality via reverse engineering.
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 90 min Instructor Experience: Intermediate / Advanced
Build app screens and program them to function correctly. Prerequisites: MAD-learn subscription; activities 1, 3, 5, 6.
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 90 min Instructor Experience: Intermediate / Advanced
Test an app for publication to MAD-store and revise to meet standards as needed. Prerequisites: MAD-learn subscription; activities 1, 3, 4, 7.
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 2 hours Instructor Experience: Beginner
Prepare a “pitch” for a panel of judges for an app idea or a completed app. Prerequisites: activities 1, 3, 4.
THE ACTIVITIES give the students an opportunity to participate in a unique activity and also connects STEM to the real world.
Teacher, Berea College Partners for Education GEAR UP (KY)
Maker Education Activities
The following activities were designed in partnership with Maker Ed.
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 hour Instructor Experience: Beginner
Upcycle a t-shirt into a tote bag while learning about sustainability.
Grades: 7 - 8 Time: 75 min Instructor Experience: Beginner
Design and construct a container out of recyclable materials to safely protect an egg.
The Great Debate in the “Board” Room
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 2.5 hours Instructor Experience: Beginner
Connect the challenges in your community that you want to solve to STEM by presenting and debating them.
Grades: 7 - 8 Time: 3 hours Instructor Experience: Beginner
Design and engineer a complex and convoluted machine using a variety of simple machines to water a houseplant.
Grades: 7 - 8 Time: 2 hours Instructor Experience: Beginner / Intermediate
Design and make a shoe that successfully stays on your foot.
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 hour Instructor Experience: Beginner / Intermediate
Design an airbag to prevent an egg from cracking when dropped in a cup.
The students were engaged from start to finish and their creativity was on full display.
Teacher, GEAR UP New Mexico
Math / Coding / Robotics Activities
The following activities were provided through a partnership with Texas Instruments. Activities require specific hardware as noted, which can be borrowed from TI by completing this form.
Middle grades math: Transforming Fish
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 - 2 hours Instructor Experience: Intermediate
Discover how video games show movement by graphing ordered pairs that can be stretched (and shrunk) by multiplying (and dividing) the coordinates. Required: TI-84 Plus
Algebra I: Going Into Business
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1 - 2 hours Instructor Experience: Intermediate
Identify the break-even point in running a business through a scenario as a dog washer. Required: TI-84 Plus
Coding: Making Music with Code
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 1.5 - 4 hours Instructor Experience: Intermediate
Program the output of various sounds, tones, and music. Designed with first-time coders in mind. Required: TI-Innovator Hub and TI-Nspire CX II graphing calculator
Coding: Smart Irrigation System
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 5 - 6 hours Instructor Experience: Advanced
Design and build a system that utilizes a limited amount of water in a “smart” way to grow crops. Required: TI-Innovator Hub and TI-Nspire CX II graphing calculator
Coding: Modeling the Four-Chamber Heart
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 4 hours / activity Instructor Experience: Advanced
Model the electrical activity of a four-chamber heart using coding, LED's and Play-Doh, an electrically conductive modeling compound. Required: TI-84 Plus CE
Robotics: Mars Rover Challenge, Part 1
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 2 hours Instructor Experience: Advanced
Learn and use basic concepts for robotic vehicle control along with math concepts to write a program to drive a Rover on Mars. Required: TI-Rover and TI-Nspire CX
Robotics: Mars Mineral Challenge, Part 2
Grades: 7 - 12 Time: 2 hours Instructor Experience: Advanced
Explore using sensors to control a robotic vehicle. Required: TI-Rover and TI-Nspire CX
Evaluate STEM Activities
Assess the impact of STEM programming on student beliefs and aspirations related to STEM by administering brief student surveys, ideally before and after implementing a STEM activity.
RESOURCES
Additional STEM Activities
Explore the list of other organizations that provide free STEM activity guides, curated by STEM experts in the GEAR UP community.
RESOURCES
Texas Instruments: Inspiring Generations STEM
University of Colorado: PhET Interactive Simulations for Science and Math
PBS LearningMedia: Teaching NGSS Engineering Design Through Media
University of Cincinnati: STEM Education Research Guides