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

10 AMAZING STEM RESOURCES TO TRY TODAY (PLUS A GIVEAWAY!)

May 15, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

May has always been a special month to me. It’s not only because both Teacher Appreciation Week and Mothers’ Day are celebrated in May, but also because it’s my birth month! To celebrate being blessed with another year of life, I decided to invite a few of my STEM seller friends to help me put together a list of 10 amazing STEM resources that will help you engage your students right to the end of this school year and beyond! Make sure to check out the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post for a chance to win a $50 TpT gift card and ALL the STEM resources listed below.

Pirate STEM Challenges

Arrrrr you ready to earn your Pirate Name? Earn gold bullion by completing these Pirate STEM Challenges and receive a REAL pirate name. Design and construct a Pirate Hat, a Pirate Spyglass, Pirate Weaponry, a Pirate Ship, a Pirate Flag and a Pirate Treasure Map!

STEM School Box Challenges

STEM School Box Challenges is a packet of 10 STEM Challenges that will fit into a school box. This packet contains: Challenge Label, Inside the Box Student’s Directions, Teacher’s Page with the directions and materials, and Student STEM Journal. These activities can also be used for STEAM Activities, Maker Spaces, Tinkering Labs, or After School Clubs. Your students will love designing, creating, engineering, predicting, comparing, building, and reflecting about their challenges. Students will problem solve and think critically as they complete their challenges.

STEM Challenges on a Budget for Grades 2-5

This pack of STEM Challenges on a Budget for Grades 2-5 includes 40 pages. It contains 20 lesson plans accompanied by 20 activity sheets. Each lesson has its own worksheet that is printer friendly in black and white. This pack is made for teachers like you who are on a small budget but want to add a lot of fun to your STEM lessons. Each lesson plan has a picture of the finished product and have been tested in a classroom and can all work. Some of the challenges included are Lego Tower, Spaghetti Structure, Tee-Pee Designer, Pipe-Cleaner Challenge, and Playdough Challenge.

Assembly Line Science Plant Pack

Just in time for Father’s Day, Summer School Fun and a whole lot more, this Assembly Line Science Plant Pack helps your class create a perfect gift for that special someone! Your students will love applying for jobs, getting hired to create a one of a kind special gift to take home, or share with someone! This pack includes everything from applications, assembly line signs, job tags, and printable station activities! What a great way to get your students thinking about what positive attributes they have that would help your company! Your students will line up for some creative science connections!

Rocket STEM Challenge

In this age of space exploration, scientist are looking for efficient ways to create spacecrafts. Let your kids experience what it is like being an aerospace engineer. Get your class excited about blasting off into a new school year with this FUN Rocket STEM Challenge! This resource includes the following: 5E Lesson Plan, Teacher Background, Informational Reading Passage, STEM Planning Sheet, and Rebuild Sheet.

End of the Year STEM Challenges

This End of the Year STEM Challenges include:
1. Mini Golf Course (Hole in One) Challenge! Students must design a Mini Golf (one hole) that can be successfully completed in one stroke (a hole in one!). They must also craft a putter. Certain types of angles and obstacles in the course are required in their design.
2. Balloon Rocket Car Challenge! Students must design a bottle rocket or car that is propelled only by the air escaping from a balloon.
3. Trampoline Challenge! Students must construct a trampoline that can bounce an object (such as a marble) after being dropped from 12 inches (1 ft) high. They must measure the height of the bounce and build the contraption that creates the highest bounce.

Each STEM Challenge has photo examples, a list of materials needed, prediction section, brainstorming section, trials 1, 2, & 3, final results section with drawings, and a reflection section.

Sailboat STEM Activity

The Sailboat STEM Activity is a great way to incorporate the engineering design process into your classroom or program! Many are familiar with the raft buoyancy challenge, and this takes it one step further by adding a sail! Now students must build a boat to hold a specific weight as well as incorporate aerodynamic principles to make it move.

Push and Pull STEM Challenge

This Push and Pull STEM Challenge has everything you need in one unit. This package contains full color posters, a slide presentation about the Inquiry Learning Process, blackline masters for the classroom and a letter home, and a step-by-step guide to setting up your room and completing the STEM challenge.

Bible Stories STEM Challenge BUNDLE Volumes 1 and 2

Have you ever wondered if STEM and Bible stories can be combined? Well, the answer is YES. Try my Bible Stories STEM Challenge BUNDLE Volumes 1 and 2 and see how fun and engaging the study of Bible stories can be when combined with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)!

Each STEM challenge contains a lesson plan; interactive notebook sheets; vocabulary, planning, and reflection sheets; photos of possible finished products; and sheets with alternative spelling.

I created the STEM Challenges included in these bundles especially for our church’s Christian Youth Bible Camp and they were a hit among students of all ages. Kid-tested, I’m pretty sure your students will really enjoy the Bible Stories STEM Challenges included in these bundles!

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

Now, here’s your chance to win a $50 TpT gift card and ALL the STEM resources featured above! Two lucky winners will be chosen on the 23rd. The first will win the gift card and the second will receive all the resources featured here valued at more or less $100! I hope you win! Good luck!

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3 BRILLIANT SPRING STEM CHALLENGES THAT WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO JUST GO FOR IT

May 6, 2018 By Jewel Pastor Leave a Comment

3 BRILLIANT SPRING STEM CHALLENGES Looking for brilliant Spring STEM Challenges? Why not challenge your students to design and build an umbrella, a nest, and a kite? Read on and be inspired. — **Click on the image to see the bundle on TpT!**

Hello, friends! Have you been out enjoying Spring? My U.S. buddies in the Northern states tell me it has finally stopped snowing! We don’t get snow here where I live in Australia, so I can only imagine what it has been like, but I do know about Spring! I am so excited to share with you my three Spring STEM Challenges.

3 BRILLIANT SPRING STEM CHALLENGES THAT WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO JUST GO FOR IT BY JEWEL'S SCHOOL GEMS | Looking for brilliant Spring STEM Challenges? Why not challenge your students to design and build an umbrella, a nest, and a kite? Read on and be inspired. — **Click on the image to see it on TpT!**

The first challenge is for students to design and build an umbrella that is waterproof and can easily be opened and closed. You probably already knew the first umbrellas were for shade from the sun and called parasols, but did you also know that until the mid 1700’s it was strictly taboo for men to use umbrellas? Another interesting fact about umbrellas is that currently there are more than 120,000 entries with the U.S. patent Office with the word “umbrella”. A google search for “crazy umbrellas” brings up full body umbrellas, dog umbrellas, and teeny tiny shoe umbrellas to name a few. This would be a fun starting point for a creative writing assignment to connect with the Umbrella STEM Challenge.

The next challenge is for students to design and build a bird’s nest which can hold at least three eggs, using only Styrofoam and materials found in nature. Before (or after) your students partake in the Bird’s Nest STEM Challenge, an interesting thing to do, is to watch one of the many live stream nest cams. Beware, they are fascinating, and you may find yourself spending more time than intended viewing!

The third challenge available this month allows you to tell your students “Go fly a kite!” and mean it literally. The Kite STEM Challenge is to design and build a kite that can fly for at least one minute using plastic bags, wooden skewers, string and clear tape. If your students think that is a long time to keep their creations in the air, share with them that the world record for the longest kite fly is 180 hours!

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, as well as the STEAM links and the Next Generation Science Standards covered.

You can purchase each of the challenges individually or get all three in the money-saving Spring STEM Challenge Bundle!

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!

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