We know how important it is to keep all students connected to curiosity, especially when they’re home this summer. That’s why we offer a range of resources and experiences that provide endless opportunities to investigate real-world problems, uncover understanding, inspire innovation and pursue unlimited possibilities.
Whether sitting down for a meal together, playing outside, or doing chores around the house, find opportunities to use the questions below with your children. Because when we’re curious, amazing things happen.
Make a list of objects that would melt in the sun. Think about what’s on your list that you might want to take on a picnic (i.e., ice cream, popsicles, ice for drinks).
Come up with a plan to keep your picnic items cold on a hot and sunny picnic day at the park. Then, design and test your plans!
Are you ready to get your “Hands-On STEM”? This action-packed series empowers the next generation of STEM solution seekers with the skills they need to take on some of the planet’s greatest sustainability challenges. During each episode, our host Brandon Okpalobi will introduce students to a local or global issue, explore why it is happening, connect with inspiring people who are working to find solutions, and help student solution seekers uncover their own potential with exciting Hands-On STEM activities.
Join Us for Hands-On STEM On DemandWe’ll explore our latest sustainability challenge: ENERGY!
Imagine, plan, design and test your own rain collection device.
Look out your window on a rainy day. How much rain do you think is falling down right now? How could we find a way to measure the rain? How would you tell if it rained more or less today than it did yesterday?
Create your own rain collection device to observe this phenomenon. Find a way to collect water and decide how you want to measure the water levels collected (for example, the collected rainwater is two erasers high today). Record your observations to answer the questions above.
Go on a walk around the community, neighborhood, or nearby park. Bring along a piece of paper, pencil, and a clipboard and create a list and tally of the number of certain items you find (mailboxes, swing sets, squirrels, etc).
What is there the most of? What is there the least of? What do you wish you had more of in your community?
Take a pair of pliers and a wintergreen Lifesaver candy in a dark closet, then quickly pinch the Lifesaver. What do you observe and how do you explain it?
Create a “positive vibes” video!
Brainstorm a list of positive adjectives that describe personality traits. Create a catch phrase or slogan for your favorites, and make a video with a mobile device. Link to your friends and/or classmates to celebrate their positive qualities.
Ask each family member to list all the ways they use plastic in one day. Be specific—used shampoo in a plastic bottle, brushed with a plastic toothbrush, ate a snack packaged in plastic. Look at the lists together to see if any uses could be eliminated or changed.
Place a plastic chip bag in the microwave for five seconds. What do you observe and how do you explain it? Place plastic bags between parchment paper and iron them. What do you observe and how do you explain it?
Road analysis: take a walk along one arterial road and identify the range of building types, animals, and land use. Create a photo tour slide show.
Discovery Education offers exclusive and original content that fuels curiosity wherever learning is taking place. Bring new excitement and relevance to the topics you teach with Discovery Education’s collection of high-quality standards-aligned curricular resources.