STEM Activities for Families

Art and the Cosmic Connection

Students use art to describe and recognize the geology on planetary surfaces.

Grades K-12

Time 1 hr - 2 hrs

Videos for Students

Learn all about space and science with these educational videos for students.

Grades K-12

Time Varies

Slideshows for Students

Explore the solar system and beyond with these slideshows for students.

Grades K-12

Time Varies

How to Do a Science Fair Project

Learn all the ins and outs of crafting your very own science fair project.

Grades 3-12

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Space School Musical

Students join teenager Hannah on a trip through the solar system in this stellar musical about the planets, moons, asteroids and space.

Grades 3-12

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Parachute Design

Students design and test parachute landing systems to successfully land a probe on target.

Grades K-2

Time 1 hr - 2 hrs

Spaghetti Anyone? Building with Pasta

Students use the engineering design process to build a structure to handle the greatest load and gain first-hand experience with compression and tension forces.

Grades K-8

Time Less than 30 mins

Robotic Arm Challenge

In this challenge, students will use a model robotic arm to move items from one location to another. They will engage in the engineering design process to design, build and operate the arm.

Grades K-8

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Build and Launch a Foam Rocket

Students build rubber-band-powered rockets and launch them at various angles to learn about rocket stability and trajectory.

Grades 2-8

Time 1 hr - 2 hrs

Hovering on a Cushion of Air

Students construct CD hovercraft as a lesson in Newton's laws of motion and friction -- plus an astronaut tie-in.

Grades 3-8

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Planetary Pasta Rovers

Using only pasta and glue, students design a rover that will travel down a one-meter ramp and then travel an additional one meter on a smooth, flat surface.

Grades 3-8

Time 1 hr - 2 hrs

Touchdown

Students design and build a shock-absorbing system that will protect two "astronauts" when they land.

Grades 3-8

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Rocket Activity: Heavy Lifting

Students construct balloon-powered rockets to launch the greatest payload possible to the ceiling.

Grades 3-8

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

The Ring Wing Glider

In this simple engineering design lesson, students turn a piece of paper into an aircraft wing and then try to improve upon their design.

Grades 3-8

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Soda-Straw Rockets

Students study rocket stability as they design, construct and launch paper rockets using soda straws.

Grades 4-8

Time Less than 30 mins

Stomp Rockets

In this video lesson, students learn to design, build and launch paper rockets, calculate how high they fly and improve their designs.

Grades 4-9

Time 1 hr - 2 hrs

Feel the Heat

Students design and build a solar hot water heater and see how big a temperature change they can get.

Grades 4-12

Time 1 hr - 2 hrs

Build a Satellite

Students will use the engineering design process to design, build, test and improve a model satellite intended to investigate the surface of a planet.

Grades 5-8

Time More than 2 hrs

Water Filtration Challenge

Students work in teams employing an iterative design process to design and build a water filtration device using commonly available materials.

Grades 5-12

Time 1 hr - 2 hrs

Solar Oven

Students build a solar oven and learn about the importance of solar energy for establishing a lunar base.

Grades 6-8

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

On Target

Students modify a paper cup so it can zip down a line and drop a marble onto a target.

Grades 6-12

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Roving on the Moon

Students build a rubber-band-powered rover that can scramble across the room.

Grades 6-12

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Create a Halloween Pumpkin Like a NASA Engineer

Get tips from NASA engineers on how to make an out-of-this-world Halloween pumpkin.

Grades 6-12

Time Varies

Precipitation Towers: Modeling Weather Data

This lesson uses stacking cubes as a way to graph precipitation data, comparing the precipitation averages and seasonal patterns for several locations.

Grades K-5

Time Less than 30 mins

Build Your Own Space Mission

Create your own rover or orbiter and launch it into space!

Grades K-5

Look at the Moon! Journaling Project

Draw what you see in a Moon Journal and see if you can predict the moon phase that comes next.

Grades K-8

Time 30 Days

Make a Moon Phases Calendar and Calculator

Like a decoder wheel for the Moon, this calendar will show you where and when to see the Moon and every moon phase throughout the year!

Grades K-12

Time Less than 30 mins

How to Make a Pinhole Camera

Learn how to make your very own pinhole camera to safely see a solar eclipse in action!

Grades K-12

Time Less than 30 mins

RoverView 3-D Glasses

Make your own 3-D glasses that look like NASA's Curiosity Mars rover!

Grades K-12

Time Less than 30 mins

Make a Jupiter Orbiter

Build your own spacecraft and use it to uncover secrets beneath Jupiter.

Grades 1-5

Time Less than 30 mins

Whip Up a Moon-Like Crater

Whip up a moon-like crater with baking ingredients as a demonstration for students.

Grades 1-6

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Comet on a Stick

Students build their own comet models using craft materials.

Grades 2-8

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Modeling an Asteroid

Lead a discussion about asteroids and their physical properties, then have students mold their own asteroids out of clay.

Grades 3-5

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Solar System Scroll

Students predict the scale of our solar system and the distance between planets, then check their answers using fractions.

Grades 5-8

Time Less than 30 mins

Explore Mars With Scratch

Students learn about surface features on Mars, then use a visual programming language to create a Mars exploration game.

Grades 3-8

Time Longer than 2 hrs

Robotics: Creating a Roving Science Lab

In this challenge, students will program a rover to use a color sensor on several rock samples.

Grades 6-9

Time Longer than 2 hrs

Robotics: Engineering a Rocket Transporter

Students design, build and program a robotic “super crawler” to transport a payload from a starting position to a target launch pad.

Grades 6-9

Time Longer than 2 hrs

Robotics: Making a Self-Driving Rover

In this challenge, students must program a rover to get from point A to point B on a map without driving across any of the craters located between the two points.

Grades 6-9

Time Longer than 2 hrs

Rockets by Size

Students cut out, color and sequence paper rockets in a simple mathematics lesson on measurement.

Grades K-2

Time 30 mins - 1 hr

Take the Pi in the Sky Challenge

Can you use π (pi) to solve these stellar math problems faced by NASA scientists and engineers?

Grades 4-12

Time Varies