Jewel's School Gems by Jewel Pastor | Where Science and Math resources are brilliant, interactive and fun!

3 SUPER FUN STEM CHALLENGES TO CELEBRATE EARTH DAY

April 17, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

3 EARTH DAY STEM CHALLENGES | BY JEWEL'S SCHOOL GEMS Try these 3 super fun Earth Day STEM challenges to help you inspire your students to take action, not just on April 22, but every day! — **Click on the image to see it on TpT!**

Earth Day is a wonderful day of education and awareness of environmental protection and sustainability. Introduced in 1970 by Senator Nelson of Wisconsin, the first Earth Day was a huge success attended by approximately 20 million people at different sites across the United States. Earth Day is now recognized globally on April 22 by 193 countries and events are coordinated worldwide by the Earth Day Network. While one day a year is not enough to save the planet, it is a good reminder why we need to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

I have created 3 super fun Earth Day STEM challenges to help you inspire your students to take action, not just on April 22, but every day!

The first is a Waterwheel Challenge. Students are challenged to design and build a water wheel that can lift a cup out of a bucket, using plastic plates, cups, wooden skewers, jumbo craft sticks, bottle caps string, tape, a glue gun and glue sticks. The water wheel is a great small-scale example of how hydropower (or hydro energy) can be used as a form of renewable energy.

The second challenge is a wind challenge that has students designing and building a Wind-Powered Car using a milk carton, wooden skewers, drinking straws, bottle caps, and tape. This challenge will be especially fun and interesting for students as wind powered cars may become common in their lifetime. As of 2017, there was a rare version of a cell-powered car that uses hydrogen cells, which have been generated from wind power.

The final challenge in this set was a big winner with my students. Of course, you can never really go wrong when a lesson involves food! The Shoe Box Solar Oven Challenge invites students to design and build a sun powered oven that can actually cook food using a shoe box, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, black construction paper, and clear tape. You can try cooking nachos, s’mores, or English muffin pizzas. If you cook something different, please let me know in the comments below!

Just like all my other STEM challenges, each packet contains clear student directions, photos of possible finished products, suggested materials, planning and reflection, and vocabulary sheets. Additionally, for your convenience I have added ways to modify the challenges, STEAM links for discussion and extension activities, and the Next Generation Science Standards covered.

You can purchase each of the challenges individually or get all three in the money-saving Earth Day STEM Challenges Bundle! See it on TpT today!

EASY! 3 EASTER STEM CHALLENGES TO TRY! MUST DO! (PLUS AN EARTH DAY FREEBIE)

March 25, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

The Easter STEM challenges are here, and I promise, you and your students are going to love this trio! I also have a special gift for all of you. You can get my Bird Feeder STEM Challenge for FREE today! — Click on the image to see it on TpT!

Hello, friends! If you have been following my blog, you are probably eagerly anticipating the next holiday STEM challenges. Don’t worry, the Easter STEM challenges are here, and I promise, you and your students are going to love this trio!

EASY! 3 EASTER STEM CHALLENGES TO TRY! MUST DO! (PLUS AN EARTH DAY FREEBIE!) BY JEWEL'S SCHOOL GEMS | The Easter STEM challenges are here, and I promise, you and your students are going to love this trio! I also have a special gift for all of you. You can get my Bird Feeder STEM Challenge for FREE today! — Click on the image to see it on TpT!

BUT before I introduce them, I have a special gift for all of you. You can get my Bird Feeder STEM Challenge for FREE here. Just in time for Earth Day, this challenge is perfect for teaching students to reuse what we already have and protect the earth by feeding the birds. And, if you have not yet purchased any of my STEM challenges, this is a great way for you to give it a try!

First up is the Easter Basket Challenge. Get your class ready for school or community Easter Egg Hunts by designing and building an Easter basket that can hold the most eggs. In the Netherlands, where the Easter Basket tradition began, children delivered eggs in actual birds’ nests, but for this basket they will only need a plastic lid or shallow container, plastic clothespins and pipe cleaners. For the challenge, use real eggs or plastic, or right before Spring break, keep your students focused and engaged using chocolate eggs, with the promise of a sweet snack when they are done!

My students were thrilled to design and build the Easter Egg Launcher using just a few simple materials. If you would like to see the launcher in action, check out my video on TPT or show them this YouTube video:

Once they see this, they will be eager to create their own. A word of caution here, be sure to clarify the ground rules for “launching”.

The third challenge was my favorite. The Easter Egg Conveyor Belt Challenge invites students to design and build a conveyor belt for moving Easter Eggs. There is also a video example in my TPT store and, again, from YouTube.

For a look back in history and a laugh, show your class the famous Lucy and Ethel chocolate scene from the I Love Lucy Show circa 1950’s.

Just like all my other STEM challenges, each packet contains clear student directions, photos of possible finished products, suggested materials, planning and reflection, and vocabulary worksheets. Additionally, for your convenience I have added ways to modify the challenges, STEAM links and the Next Generation Science Standards covered.

You can purchase each of the challenges individually, or get all three in this money-saving Easter STEM Challenges BUNDLE. Have fun!

8 RESOURCES THAT WILL BRING MARCH MADNESS TO THE NEXT LEVEL (PLUS A GIVEAWAY)

March 12, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

It is not just college basketball players who get to have all the fun during March Madness! Teachers are CRAZY busy in March with test prep, St. Patrick’s Day, upcoming Easter holiday, and more! We have put together some fun activities to help make lesson planning a little easier. Plus, follow the Rafflecopter link at the bottom of the page to win a $50 TPT gift card and ALL the products listed below!

Easter STEM Challenge Bundle

Are you constantly on the lookout for resources that promote learning and engagement even during the holidays and near school breaks? Why not try STEM projects for a change! This Easter STEM Challenge Bundle provides hours of engineering fun while making sure your students do their research, follow the engineering design process, and reflect as to what worked and did not work. Your kiddos can design and build an Easter egg basket, an egg launcher, and an egg conveyor belt using simple and affordable materials. You and your students will surely enjoy these Easter STEM activities. Check it out HERE!

Easter Activities Bundle for Autism and Special Education

This set of activities, worksheets and flashcards with real life photos are all you need for an Easter basket! They are great for kindergarten and preschool students as well as for early age and children with autism. Your students will learn the vocabulary, improve alphabet skills, answer questions, and build sentences using words on the topic.

Fool’s Gold – Reading Mystery

This print and go St Patrick’s Day Reading Mystery incorporates a range of ELA skills in one. The main focus is for students to read the text carefully, and reread to complete the activities. Students must complete the tasks after reading each passage to discover clues. Each clue requires students to critically think to decide which suspects they can eliminate from their suspect list. The last suspect remaining is who needs to be arrested for the ‘Fool’s gold.’ There is a video hook included for optional use. It has been designed to ask questions about what is going on. That’s when they must read to find out. It can be viewed HERE.

The Case of The Misplaced Pot of Gold – Math Mystery

This St Patrick’s Day, send your children on a mystery mission to find out where Leroy accidentally left his pot of gold. Completing math questions is required to unlock clues, which will help narrow down a list of locations of where Leroy’s pot of gold is. There is a video hook for optional use to introduce this math activity. A written story is also included in the PDF case file. This fun, NO PREP activity is available in versions for grades 1-6! Find the individual grade links within the video hook product description HERE.

Multi-Step Word Problems

For many classrooms, we are starting to prepare for upcoming state testing. Break this product out this time of year to help students with multi-step word problems. This product allows the teacher to break students into differentiated groups where students can also present how they solved the problem. This product also works with whole class instruction, too.

Sir Gus Unit 5

Many teachers teaching second grade CKLA this year are already reading or about to start Sir Gus Unit 5. This product will help improve and assess student comprehension and grammar skills for this book. In addition, this unit now includes a spelling component.

Countries of the World Research Project

Need to incorporate research writing into your curriculum? This is a perfect product for introducing report writing centered on your student’s choice of country. Students will complete their own mini-book about the country of their choice along with an oral presentation.

Included in this Countries of the World Research project are:

Teacher Directions
I Can Statement Cards
Research Graphic Organizers
Final Draft forms
Parent Letter and
Grading Rubric

Several editable pages are also included so that you can customize the project to fit your needs.

Calculator Word Fun Task Cards

These calculator word fun task cards are a fun and engaging way for your students to practice math computation tasks (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). Do you remember typing numbers into a calculator and then flipping it over to see a word? Maybe you typed in .07734 to see the word hello? Now your students will have the same great memories as they practice math skills, and then check their answers using a calculator. These task cards can be used as a math center, with small groups, for fast finishers, or even as a whole class scavenger hunt. You can use the cards alone, or use the task card answer sheets included. Included are 48 task cards with 24 whole number cards and 24 decimal cards to allow for differentiation.

Do you want to win a $50 TpT gift card and ALL these fabulous resources?

To bring March Madness to the next level of awesomeness, here’s a giveaway that you can join for a chance to win a $50 TpT gift card and all of the resources in this blog post. I hope you win! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

EXAMPLES OF ST. PATRICK’S DAY STEM CHALLENGES THAT WILL INSPIRE YOU

February 28, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

3 ST. PATRICK'S DAY STEM CHALLENGES | by Jewel's School Gems | These examples of St. Patrick's Day STEM challenges will surely prevent pinching and will inspire your students to get engineering! — Click on the image to see it on TpT!

On March 17, many countries around the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Originally, St. Patrick’s Day was a religious holiday honoring Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Did you know Patrick himself was not actually Irish? Nor was his name Patrick? It is believed to have been Maewyn and that he took the name Patrick upon becoming a priest. Furthermore, he was a saint in name only, having never been canonized by the church. Nowadays, St. Patrick’s Day has become more of a secular celebration of Irish culture.

On St. Patrick’s Day many people, Irish or not, wear green. Years ago, it was believed if you wore green you would be invisible to the leprechauns who would otherwise pinch you. People began pinching those who didn’t wear green as a reminder that leprechauns would sneak up and pinch you if you were not wearing something green.

One way to ensure that there will be no pinching in your classroom is to have your students participate in STEM challenges. These examples of St. Patrick’s Day STEM challenges will surely inspire your students to get engineering instead!

First, have your students take on this STEM challenge of designing and building a Leprechaun Hat that can be worn without falling off or breaking. Your wee leprechauns will surely look adorable wearing the green!

Next, you will definitely want them to take part in my Rainbow Bridge Challenge. Have your students design and build the bridge that holds the most weight using cardboard, pipe cleaners, and craft or popsicle sticks. When they are done, there are lots of STEAM links for related activities. For a writing activity, I had my students write about who or what they thought lives under the bridge.

Last, but not least, is the infamous Leprechaun Trap. The legend claims if a leprechaun is caught three wishes will be granted. After your students complete the challenge, be sure to have them write about the wishes they would ask for.

Just like all my other STEM challenges, each packet contains clear student directions, photos of possible finished products, suggested materials, planning and reflection, and vocabulary worksheets. Additionally, for your convenience I have added ways to modify the challenges, STEAM links, and the Next Generation Science Standards covered.

Want STEM Resources for FREE?

If you want a copy of my Engineering Design Process Posters for FREE, just sign up to become a Jewel’s School Gems subscriber to access my Free Resource Library! Get these posters plus many other Science and Math resources. Sign up today!

3 AWESOME THANKSGIVING STEM CHALLENGES TO TRY RIGHT NOW

November 7, 2017 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

It always shocks me when I walk into my classroom the day after Halloween and see “November” on my calendar. Already? October is so packed with special days that I am never quite ready for it to be November. My planning has holes in it and I am still trying to figure out how to fit everything in! This year Thanksgiving comes very early, making it even more difficult for many teachers.

One solution I thought of is to tie several concepts and areas together with my three Thanksgiving STEM challenges.

Just like my Halloween STE(A)M challenges, each packet in my Thanksgiving STEM Challenge Bundle contains clear student directions, photos of possible finished products, suggested materials and photos, and building and vocabulary worksheets. Additionally, for your convenience I have added ways to modify the challenges, STE(A)M links and the Next Generation Science Standards covered.

3 AWESOME THANKSGIVING STEM CHALLENGES TO TRY RIGHT NOW by Jewel's School Gems | Struggling with planning and trying to figure out how to fit everything in? Here are three awesome Thanksgiving STEM challenges and ideas to try right now. — Click on the image to see it on TpT!

The Mayflower Challenge is so much fun for kids to create with materials you probably already have in your classroom. Use the STE(A)M links I have provided, grab some books from the library about life on the Mayflower, and add a writing activity for a complete mini unit.

The Thanksgiving Table Challenge also uses easily obtainable, inexpensive materials. The STE(A)M links I provided expand learning into several other content areas. One teacher also created a writing connection by having her students design a pretend cookbook of recipes for the items on the table.

Students LOVE the Turkey Trap Challenge. Again, the materials are easy to come by and inexpensive. If you want to expand this challenge beyond the STE(A)M links, add a writing assignment such as “How the Turkey Got Away”.

Want STEM Resources for FREE?

If you want a copy of my Engineering Design Process Posters (a paid resource on Teachers Pay Teachers) for FREE, just sign up to become a Jewel’s School Gems subscriber to access my Free Resource Library! Get these posters plus many other Science and Math resources. Sign up today!