Top 10 STEM Activities for Spring
Originally Posted: March 16, 2023
Updated: March 2024
Spring is in the air and the perfect time to dive into STEM activities that will challenge your students to think critically, problem-solve, and work collaboratively as they learn about the importance of caring for the environment and its inhabitants. This season offers a wealth of opportunities to explore the wonders of the natural world and teach important skills through hands-on activities. In this blog post, we will share our top 10 STEM activities for spring, including designing and building a bee pollinator hotel, creating a bird nest, cleaning up an oil spill, and constructing an animal habitat. Get ready to inspire a love of science and engineering in your students and make this spring one to remember!
1: Bird Nest STEM Activity
Students will dive into the engineering design process with this hands-on STEM challenge building a nest to catch a falling egg safely. A follow-up activity teaches biomimicry by relating what was learned in building a bird nest and applying it to designing a landing pad for a space capsule!
“SO much fun. I used this in conjunction with a birdhouse building STEM challenge. The kids LOVED testing with a real egg.”
2: Bee Hotel Pollinator
Students will learn about bees, bee home preferences, and pollination. Students will then research 2 solitary bee types and brainstorm how to create a Pollinator Hotel for solitary bees. Lastly, students are tasked to use the engineering design process to take their brainstormed idea and design and build a pollinator hotel to provide shelter and a place for bees to lay eggs that satisfies this challenge’s design constraints.
“My kids absolutely loved this. It was a huge success and they’re totally gearing up to make more hotels and test even more ideas that they’ve had since completing this project.”
3: Bird Feeder STEM Activity
Your students are on a mission to design the perfect bird feeder for the local neighborhood bird population! This hands-on activity includes learning about bird anatomy and bird food, researching local bird populations, and figuring out how to turn recycled materials into an ideal feeder for birds.
“This got our 4th graders excited about using the design process. It helped that we paired with our town beautification board to have the bird feeders displayed around town. The kids took a lot of pride and the process and resources within this resource were so valuable and saved me so much time!”
4: Ocean STEM Activities
Students will explore science concepts through engaging scientific inquiry and apply an engineering mindset to two design challenges, culminating with a final project on researching and building an ocean animal observatory. These STEM activities cover environmental science topics and are also perfect for Earth Day lessons!
The Ocean STEM Unit Bundle includes:
Ocean Animal Observatory - This hands-on project is an engaging design challenge that allows students to learn how to do research, apply the engineering design process, and connect to a real-world STEM career.
Ocean Debris Engineering Design STEM Challenge - After learning about ocean pollution, students use the engineering design process to build an ocean debris cleaner that has buoyancy and can pick up microplastics.
Ocean Study: 5E Science Unit - With 40 pages of teacher slides, step-by-step guide with photos and videos, and editable student handouts - this is everything you need for a complete 5E science unit covering key tops of ocean layers, buoyancy, salinity, and density!
Oil Spill Challenge - Learn about the effects of an oil spill on the environment through a hands-on engineering challenge! The goal of this challenge is to clean up all of the oil from the feathers and from the water in the time provided. Students will work in teams to devise a plan to get the oil spill cleaned up in a specified time of work.
“Students loved this and I think the background information and videos is a part of what made the activity so engaging.”
5: Volcano Shelter STEM Challenge
Your students will have a blast working in teams to build a shelter that can survive a volcanic eruption! This engaging, student-driven activity includes an optional simulated volcanic eruption, to test the students' shelter designs, using baking soda and vinegar. This makes for an exciting and educational experience they will remember!
“My students loved learning about volcanoes and were engaged in trying to design a structure to withstand ash as well as lava. Volcano day (when we tested their designs) was an exciting day!”
6: Weather STEM: Hail Protection Challenge
Using common materials, students design a hail-proof device to protect the aluminum foil car as the hail (rocks) hits it. A full teacher guide includes photos of student projects, video resources, and handouts to guide your students through the engineering design process to solve the challenge.
“This was a fun and engaging engineering project to end our weather unit. I have several engineering projects that I use throughout the year and I will be keeping this in the rotation. ”
7: Water Pipeline STEM Challenge
Your city needs your help! The city’s water tower is broken, and they need your team to quickly design a water tower and pipeline that will provide water to two important buildings: the hospital and the school. Your students will love learning the science behind how water towers work, including examples of unusual water towers, as well as STEM Career Connections - Hydrologist and Water Engineer!
8: Botany STEM Challenge
In this extensive Botany STEM Challenge, students create window greenhouses and observe plant growth. Then they use the engineering design process to build a plant transportation device to safely carry their saplings home! This challenge also highlights Katherine Esau, a pioneer in Botany. History, science, engineering, and math -- it is all included!
“There was a lot to this bundle but I greatly appreciate the info. My STEM students and I loved this resource. We are just getting into botany and growing since spring is right around the corner. It is truly a great resource to have. ”
9: Biomimicry 5E Science Unit + STEM Design Lab
Students will complete a hands-on velcro observation to look, smell, touch, and hear the attributes of velcro. Building from this experience, students will explore key biomimicry concepts through readings, videos, and discussions including a WebQuest activity and biomimicry matching game. Students will then apply concepts of biomimicry to a STEM design lab. The lab includes surveying classmates on desired animal traits, identifying a problem, and designing a device that mimics nature. Finally, teams design a biomimicry device inspired by animals based on constraint criteria and customer demand and create an advertisement.
“My students really enjoyed diving into the different aspects of Biomimicry. We were able to make a lot of connections with the world around us, and the materials were super accessible and easy to use.”
10: Animal Habitat & Biomes STEM Diorama
Students will construct a diorama of an animal habitat after researching their chosen animal. The habitat must also incorporate a design constraint such that their animal must be able to move in and out of their shelter without the student touching it with their hands. This project also connects to the career of wildlife biology and its role in protecting and conserving animal habitats.
“My students love the resources I have gotten from this seller. The resources are always well thought out and put together.”
We hope you enjoy these spring STEM challenges! For more Vivify STEM lessons, check out our shop here.
