Fall STEM Activities - Apple STEM Challenges

These Back to School STEM challenge activities are a great way to build community, establish procedures, and get to know how your kids tick! Plus, they’re a great intro to forces and interactions and Newton’s three laws of motion.

You want to start the school year with something that's fun, but not fluff...

...something different

...something that fires up creativity & critical thinking

...something that gets kids collaborating and communicating

...something that allows you to learn a ton about your students in a very short amount of time

...something that sets the tone for an incredible year with the best teacher ever!

In these 5 Back-to-School STEM Activities:

Students work in partners or groups against criteria & constraints lists to design and build solutions to design challenges using simple symbols of the season: apples and school supplies! (You can swap out apples for tennis balls if you don't want to use a food item.)

Modification suggestions are included for grades 2 - 8 to make these challenges engaging and productive

✅ There are five back to school STEM challenge activities included in this bundle:
⭐ Back to School STEM Activity 1: Apples Aloft
⭐ Back to School STEM Activity 2: Apples Afar
⭐ Back to School STEM Activity 3: Apple Ally
⭐ Back to School STEM Activity 4: Apple Annihilator
⭐ Back to School STEM Challenge: Apples A-head

Note: This is the printable version. If you are in a 1:1 / paperless classroom, you will want to check out the digital option for use with GOOGLE SLIDES (TM) instead.

If you have questions about which version is right for you, please feel free to leave me a question using the product Q&A below.

Materials you’ll need to do the activity are easily modified. Materials lists can be found in the product descriptions for each individual challenge linked above.

What's included in the Back to School STEM Activities Bundle?

✅ Resource includes:

• Overall STEM Tips
• Suggestions on timing and whether or not to treat these challenges as competitions
• What to say (and what not to say) during STEM Challenges
• 5-event Data Tracker handout
• NGSS aligned standards, Grades 2 – 8

Plus, each challenge comes with:

✅ Teacher Tips

• Links to STEM Challenge How-to Videos
• Links to individual challenge walk-throughs
• Materials and timing
• Criteria & Constraints (including modifications to increase difficulty for older students)
• Measuring results
• Post-design extension activities list

✅ EDITABLE Student Handouts

• Criteria and Constraints list (color and B&W)
• Results and Design Analysis (color and B&W)
• Discussion Questions (color and B&W)

✅ Extension templates

• Process Flow Map
• Math Extension
• Plus, other design-specific handouts (see each individual challenge resource description page for more details)

The preview shows an overview of what is included in each challenge. You can find more details by clicking on the individual challenges titles at the top of each preview slide or on this page. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!

What are teachers saying about this bundle?

❤️ “Wow wow wow! Everything under the sun is included in this amazing packet. I can't believe how much work you've done to collect and assemble it all. This was the most amazing set of projects to add to my mini unit on force and motion (and Isaac Newton) during my summer science camp. The materials were easy to collect, the directions were super clear (she made videos!!!) and there are more resources than you could imagine using for all age groups. She has challenges, extensions, and super cool links to songs all embedded in a clear, easy to read format.  I will use this every year!”

❤️ “I loved this resource. I used it with my STEAM classes in middle school and they had a great time and were 100% engaged!”

❤️ “My Class loves these challenges! So easy to put to use in the classroom. I also am thankful for the videos. Thank you!”

❤️ “I learned I was teaching a year-long STEAM class the day before classes started. This bundle was a life saver. I am currently breaking it down into a 5 week challenge and used someone else's suggestion of calling it the Fall Apple A-lympics. The PDFs and editable PPTs are easy to read and adapt. Materials can be found around the house or in the office, which is great for someone like me who was given last minute notice and doesn't have a huge budget. The students are working on the Apples Afar challenge right now and they are enjoying it. Thank you for your wonderful work.”

❤️ “I plan on using this as Apple A-lympics for the first week of school. I love how differentiation is worked in the labs and different levels of difficulty are recommended.”

NOTE: You can save even more by purchasing this bundle as part of the STEM CHALLENGE YEAR-ROUND MEGA-BUNDLE!!!

You might also like these resources:

⭐ Ultimate 30 Min. STEM Activities Bundle
⭐ Analyze and Interpret Data Unit

⭐ Halloween STEM Challenge Bundle

⭐ STEM Challenges: Year-Round Mega Bundle