Distance Learning Bundle: Plants in Space STEM Activity (Elementary)

lesson overview

Plants in Space Distance Learning Engineering Design STEM Activity: Students will learn about what plants need to survive and then build a mini greenhouse. Students are then tasked to use the engineering design process to design and build a device to support their greenhouse.

This activity is a bundle of the teacher guide for classroom instruction along with printed and paperless digital STEM Journals perfect for distance learning.

Included in this product:

• Complete Teacher Guide: Detailed teacher guide with links to resources, grading rubric, handouts on a STEM career connection and science background, student handouts for the engineering design process, and math extension problems.

• Instructional video: Led by an engineer, the video includes science background, STEM careers, real-world connections, and a detailed explanation for the STEM activity to guide students

• Printable Take-Home STEM Journals for sending packets home to students without internet access (editable pages in Google Slides)

• Digital STEM Journals for Google Slides, Seesaw, and Flipgrid. These can be used in the classroom for paperless handouts or assigned for distance learning through Google Classroom, Schoology, or other platforms.

• Editable Note to Families

In this activity, students will: 

• Learn about an engineering problem they need to solve. 

• Connect the problem to STEM careers and a real-world event. 

• Gather materials and brainstorm ideas. 

• Draw a design idea. 

• Build and test their device. Students will keep making changes and improving their design. 

• Share their final design.

Materials for Challenge:

• Scissors

• Tape

• Sealable sandwich bag

• 2 cotton balls

• Water

• 2 seeds such as vegetable or flower seeds, dried beans (must soak at least 1 hour), or popcorn kernels

• Materials for a plant support device such as cereal boxes, paper, plastic cups, water bottles, sticks

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