STEM Activities & Challenges for the Whole Year! (Middle School / Jr. High)

This bundle includes 36 hands-on Junior High STEM Activities for kids in 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th grade. That's one engaging STEM Challenge for each week of the school year!

***If you are interested in a differentiated version of this resource for grades K-8, please click here. There are 22 activities included that span all of these grade levels.

The STEM activities in this bundle will challenge students to complete the given task by working in groups, although they can also be completed individually. They are fun, engaging, and facilitate group work and problem solving. These activities each include teacher instructions, a student worksheet, a grading rubric, a teacher demonstration video, and an activity-specific "Next Generation Science Standards” reference.

Each activity ends with a real-world research question. It is an extension of what the students just discovered and learned. I have also included advanced level extensions with associated Math worksheets, Research Assignments, and more. Your students will be involved, excited, and looking forward to future activity challenges in your classroom.

Please explore the preview file to get a full overview of this resource AND test out a FREE activity!

For a list of the simple and inexpensive STEM materials used in this bundle, please click here!

You can customize the text in the Worksheets, Grading Rubrics, Materials Lists, and Teacher Instructions to suit your class! A link on the materials list page will take you to the Google Slides file. It's super-easy.

Each Activity includes:

• Teacher Instructions

• Video Demo for the Teacher

• Materials List

• Student instructions (worksheet)

• Real-World Research Question, Video, or Activity

• Advanced Level Extensions

• Grading Rubrics

• Aligned NGSS standards

Teacher Instructions
The teacher instructions sheet gives an explanation of the science concepts involved and offers suggestions on how to introduce the activity. You are also reminded of the materials needed.

Teacher Demonstration Video

In the teacher demonstration video, I give you an overview of the activity challenge, talk about the materials involved and where to get them, demonstrate how to set up the challenge for the students, and discuss the science involved. Teachers have found these videos to be very helpful by showing them step-by-step how to run the activity and giving them a better understanding of the science behind it.

Materials Needed List

This will help you to quickly identify exactly what materials you need to successfully run this lab in your classroom.

Student Worksheet
These worksheets / instructions are provided to help guide each group through the problem solving and discovery process. There is a “Beyond the Challenge” section at the end of each activity. This encourages the students to research additional (often “real world”) information related to the project. There are also advanced extensions that take students even deeper into the challenge.

Grading Rubric

Grading group projects can be challenging. The grading rubric I have included will help make this process simpler.

NGSS

I’ve included an NGSS reference sheet for your convenience. This sheet shows the related NGSS for each of the 36 STEM Activity Challenges. A comprehensive NGSS list can be found here: http://www.nextgenscience.org/

This is a great resource for

• Middle school STEM Classrooms

• Science Classes

• After-School STEM Clubs

• Homeschool Groups

• Scout Meetings

• STEM Summer Camps

• Parents who love hands-on learning at home

>>>PLEASE NOTE: This product is very similar to the 3-5th grade version—STEM for the Whole Year! 36 Activities (3-5th Grade). The 6-8th grade version contains the same activities and worksheets as the 3-5th grade version, but also has advanced extension activities and worksheets that the 3-5th grade version does not have. These extensions add another layer of challenge to the original activities. Please do not purchase both bundles. If you purchase one, please email me and I will send the other to you for free. sciencedemoguy@gmail.com

This pack combines my two 16-pack bundles (16 Pack #1 and 16 Pack #2) with an additional 4 STEM Activity Challenges (STEM Engineering: 4 Activities).

About STEM learning

STEM Challenges encourage engineering skills with experimenting, prototyping, inventing, and creating. Students use their imaginations to brainstorm solutions and use their critical thinking skills to determine which solutions work best and why. STEM projects can help kids explore new concepts and principles and expose them to real-world applications. This could seem overwhelming, but the low-prep STEM labs in this bundle facilitate STEM learning using simple low-cost materials and fun activities! They spark creativity and challenge students to imagine, plan, build, test, and revise!

***Distance Learning Directions (Suggestions):

1. Send students the pdf file, directing which activity to complete.

2. Students (and caretakers, if possible) watch the teacher instruction video (link in the pdf file). This will give them detailed instructions for the activity and explain the science/stem concept.

3. Students view the worksheets on-screen and record answers/sketch on a blank piece of paper (or print the worksheet if possible). Students take a picture of their paper and project and send it to you for credit.

4. Students send you a video of themselves demonstrating the activity. Optional: students give an explanation of what they did, how they made adjustments to improve their outcome and talk about the science/STEM concept(s).

Please let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for considering this resource! :-)

-Josh

ScienceDemoGuy@gmail.com

********* CUSTOMER TIPS **********

First, do you know that you can get TPT credit to use on future purchases by providing feedback? IT'S EASY!! After you log in, go to your “My Purchases” page. Next to each purchase you'll see a “provide feedback” button. Click that button, give a quick rating, and leave a short comment. Doing this will provide you with credits that you can use on future purchases!!!

Second, follow me to be the first to know about sales, new products, and freebies!

To follow my store, look for the green star next to my store logo and click it to become a follower. It's that easy!

Third, please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or concerns.

I love science and I love helping teachers bring more “hands-on” science into their classrooms. I can be reached at sciencedemoguy@gmail.com and am usually very quick to respond.