STEM throughout the year- Unit 9 Coding

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. (This acronym can also be spelled “STEAM” in which the “A” stands for art.)

This packet is full of fun, hands-on, innovative STEM activities that your preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students are sure to love.

Why STEM?
As educators we are tasked with preparing the next generation for jobs that may not even be created yet. Students need to be able to work collaboratively with their peers and be able to problem solve. STEM offers students the opportunity to work on these skills.

STEM provides students with open-ended activities where they can go through the process of defining a problem, brainstorming a possible solution, planning, creating, and improving on their plan. This process helps prepare our students for their futures in fun and innovative ways.

How Does This Packet Work?
This packet is part nine of a ten part series. Each unit is meant to span over the course of an entire month. Therefore, students can revisit the activities and improve upon their thoughts/plan.

This packet is geared to help students think as computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians. Through a series of challenges, students will learn the basics of computer coding. They will begin to learn the language coders use and through hands-on challenges they will solve problems coders face daily. Tech options are also available!

Students will explore the basics of coding through a series of engineering, mathematic, and hands-on activities.

Activities:
1. Essential Question: How can “code” help me complete a maze? Using the mazes provided and code dice, students will navigate their characters out of the maze while becoming familiar with the language of coding.

2. Students will learn the basics of if/then statements and then create their own “video game” using math blocks and the video game background printables.

3. Students will practice using the shortest sequence of moves to complete a cup challenge.

4. The culminating activity for this month’s STEM adventure is for students to take turns being the computer and the operator for an obstacle course. Students will work in pairs to come up with a code to help them successfully navigate the obstacle course using the shortest amount of code.

In this packet you will find fully written out lesson plans, posters, activities, recording pages, and extensions to use during an entire month. These activities are perfect for fun Friday experiments, STEM labs, and science and art extensions.

Please look at the preview to get a better understanding of how this pack is set up and what is included. Your students will LOVE these lessons and activities.