Back To School Sale

It is Back to School Sale time on TeachersPayTeachers.com!  August 3-4 (2015) only, save up to 28% off site-wide! For a treasure trove of products to boost your students’ knowledge of all things S.T.E.M., head over to our store and check out all that we have to offer.

I’ll give you a brief tour of five of our best sellers that you and your students will love:

1.    Space Lander Mission – Hands-on STEM / Engineering Project

As featured in our last blog post as well as on our product page, this activity guides your students through the engineering design process and connects math topics to real-world applications. Students will work in teams to build a lander that will keep two marshmallow "aliens" inside a cup. This product is complete with detailed instructions, hand-outs, and extension activities for a quality STEM challenge to be used in the classroom or afterschool.

2.    STEM Catapult Math & Engineering Activity (Angles and Ratios)

This STEM catapult challenge involves engineering, geometry, ratios, critical thinking, and teamwork in an engaging activity your students will love! Using the engineering design process along with math skills, teams of students will build two catapult designs from common materials. Each team will then test at three stations: Distance, Accuracy, and Power. Included are follow-up math problems for enhanced learning. One of my favorite STEM activities! 

3.    Icebreaker Activities and STEM Mini-Challenges

Great for back to school! STEM challenges are a great icebreaker and team building activity for any classroom. These simple engineering design challenges and activities get your students moving, thinking, and collaborating! Working as a team, they will learn lessons in communication, innovation, hidden assumptions, and creativity that are central to the engineering process. No math or science background needed and costs are minimal!

The design activities are to encourage critical thinking while learning and having fun with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)! Use this as a warm-up or icebreaker, team building activity, or introduction to the world of engineering! Also included are more in-depth critical thinking activities that are a great introduction to science and engineering concepts. 

Included in this product: 
1. Pipecleaner Tower Mission: Using only pipecleaners, student teams will build the tallest, freestanding tower. However, there will be some unexpected constraints along the way! 
2. Chair Challenge: Student teams will design and build their own chair using only newspapers, magazines, and tape. This challenge really forces students to think about and challenge the constraints of the problem. 
3. STEM Critical Thinking Activities: This includes four activities that are a great introduction to science and engineering thinking. Students will explore the world around them asking questions with a scientific or engineering mindset. 

4.    Math & Sports Activity  Bundle: Ratios and Proportions

Students will be surprised to learn how much math is used in their favorite sports. This product will get your kids out of their seats and playing paper football, running a relay race, or measuring their heart rate! Each activity also includes a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) career connection that will help students see why math is useful in real life. 

Activity 1: "Heart Rate Math" 
Students learn about heart rate and the importance of this number in sports medicine. They compute their own heart rate after various activities and graph the results. They calculate the target heart rate and answer critical thinking questions. 
Activity 2: "Sports Scores"
Students learn how their favorite sports calculate common statistics like batting average or throwing accuracy. Students then play a game of paper football to find their own field goal accuracy! 
Activity 3: "Relay Race" 
Students complete calculations for a set of relay race times then they hold their own race! Using common classroom items, they time the race and calculate various ratio problems such as "keeping the same pace, how long would it take to run 3 miles?"

5.    Space Math Activity Bundle: Real World Math (Fractions, Ratios, and Geometry)

Bring math to life with these fun math activities related to asteroids and space! This bundle includes four space themed activities that incorporate ratios, geometry, and algebraic expressions combined with a STEM career connections.

Activities can be completed stand alone or in a sequence. Recommended for extension of a space unit, a math center activity, or as part of an out of school STEM program.

Activity 1: Russian Meteor Event
30 to 45 minute activity that incorporates math word problems with a real meteor event. Activity can be completed as a class, in small groups, or individually. Additional background on asteroids is provided on the resources page. Supplies needed: Internet and laptop for video

Activity 2: Asteroid Invasion 
20 to 30 minute activity depending on level of students. Students evaluate and apply an algebraic equation to determine the threat of an asteroid strike. Activity is best completed individually or as part of a center.

Activity 3: Save the Earth
30 to 60 minutes activity to be completed in teams or individually. Students use critical thinking and creativity to come up with ideas to stop an impeding asteroid. The activity is flexible and can be tailored to fit your time constraints. Students can work individually or in teams. Additional background is provided on the resources page including real strategies being developed by scientists and engineers.

Activity 4: Safe Shelter Calculations
20 to 30 minute activity to be completed as a class or individually once the classroom measurements are provided. This activity centers on the need for safe shelters to protect people from an impeding asteroid. Students use geometry to determine how many safe shelters would need to be built to house all the people in their city.

Bonus! STEM Career Connection: This handout connects the space-themed activities to two STEM real world careers: Aerospace Engineer and Astronomer.

These products are just a few of many that will challenge and motivate your students through the world of science, technology, engineering, and math!  Head over to our store now to check out more exciting products and get them while they are on sale.