Each of the STEM Backpacks contains:
- Theme-based books – various reading levels
- Activity sheets & materials
- Step by Step lesson plan for adults
- Most lessons are also available in Spanish.
Backpack Themes:
- Engineer It! - Learn the engineering design process and design a device to float one marble.
- Food for Animals! - Learn what different animals eat and dissect an owl pellet.
- Let’s be an Engineer! - Identify characteristics needed to be an engineer, build a ‘clip mobile,’ and learn what an engineer does.
- Butterfly Metamorphosis! - Identify the life cycle stages of a butterfly, create flashcards to represent the lifecycle of a butterfly, and make a model of each stage of the life cycle. Suggested time of year: spring - there are seeds to plant and you may choose to extend the learning by purchasing caterpillars.
- Let’s Grow a Plant! - Learn what plants need to grow, grow sunflower and radish seedlings. Suggested time of year: anytime (if you want to plant the seedlings outside, late winter/early spring).
- Tornados! - Learn how tornados form, create a tornado in a bottle.
- Bugs - Our world is made up of many types of bugs. Some crawl, while others fly. Bugs can be colorful, while others are plain. Bugs may be small, while others are HUGE! Some have six legs, while others have 8! Let’s find out what makes a bug a bug.
- The Magic of Yeast - What makes a loaf of bread so airy and fluffy? What makes it rise? The answer is yeast! Yeast is a living organism that is used to create a variety of food products, including bread. In this activity, you will bake a loaf of yeast bread!
- Water- Water is everywhere! From raindrops falling on your head to clouds in the sky, water is everywhere but can look quite different. Water can be a solid, liquid, or gas and can bounce back and forth from one form to another. Explore how this happens with this STEM activity.
- Pollinators- Fruits and vegetables form with the help of pollinators which transfer pollen from one part of a plant to another to create seeds and eventually fruits. Bees are important pollinators that help this process. Without bees, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and other fruits and vegetables wouldn’t be possible! In this activity, you will create a flower and “pollinate” it with a crafty bee!
- DNA- Think about members of your family. Do members look the same or different? Short or tall, stocky or thin, blue or green eyes, blonde or brunette hair; family members may be quite different! What creates those differences? Let’s look at DNA!
How do you check out a STEM Activity Backpack?
Call the Hall County Extension Office at 308-385-5088 to reserve a STEM Activity Backpack, take the backpack home for 2 weeks, then return the backpack, materials and any unused supplies. Easy as that! (Families who are not enrolled in 4-H can check out backpacks as well!)
Thank you to Nebraska 4-H and Beyond School Bells for these activities that can be incorporated into a weekend of family fun learning, Homeschool STEM lessons, boredom-busting out-of-school day activities, and more!