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Teachable Moment is a collection of activities and lessons to help use the precious time of learners and caregivers. Iowa STEM collaborated with the Iowa Department of Education, AEA Learning Online, Iowa PBS and the Iowa Reading Research Center to provide access to educational enrichment options for students, parents and educators.
The lessons and activities are appropriate for the grade level listed and may also be suitable for learners of other ages and levels. Click on the activity title to access the activity or lesson.
The lessons and activities are provided for educational purposes only. There may be risk involved with replicating the experiment or activity. Individuals demonstrating the experiment or activity do so at their own risk. Attention needs to be given to all parts of the video and all steps in the video need to be followed. Children should be supervised by a responsible adult if replicating the experiment or activity.
Back to topPK-Grade 5
*= Unplugged activities and lessons.
Subject: Science
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Astronomical Society of the Pacific* | PK | Research-based, science-rich astronomy activities. |
| Dancing Rice Experiment* | PK-5 | Make rice dance like magic in this super simple kitchen science experiment. |
| Egg Experiments* | PK-5 | Use one egg and a few simple kitchen items for some seriously egg-citing results! |
| Monterey Bay Aquarium | K-5 | See animals live in their own environments through the live cams at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. |
| Muddly Puddly* | PK-5 | Visit this Instagram page for sustainable play ideas and lessons. |
| National Aquarium Virtual Tour | K-5 | Visit the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD from the comfort of home! You can do a one-hour with a guided activity, or map out your own adventure. |
| NASA At Home* | K-4 | Let NASA bring the universe into your home with e-books, activities, games and more. You can even build your own Apollo moon capsule craft or land a spacecraft on target! |
| Science Center of Iowa - At Home* | PK-5 | Experience the Science Center of Iowa at home with fun resources for learners of all ages. Make everything from slime to bubbles with these fun kitchen chemistry experiments. |
| Surface Tension Experiment* | PK-5 | Check out this fun experiment with food coloring, milk and soap that demonstrates how surface tension works. |
| Yellowstone National Park Webcams | K-5 | Learn about the history of the park and view live cameras of popular areas. |
Subject: Technology
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CS Fundamentals* | K-5 | Students will create their own games, art and digital stories that they can share - all while developing problem-solving, collaboration, persistence and computational thinking skills. |
| NASA | 1-5 | Schedule a live virtual field trip at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center. |
| The Tech Interactive* | K-5 | Explore at-home experiments for all ages with The Tech Interactive's free resources. |
| Screen Free Coding* | PK-5 | Teach kids to code with only a deck of cards. |
Subject: Engineering
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DiscoverE* | PK-5 | DiscoverE has several engineering activities to download. The Foil Boats challenge has participants design and build a boat, learning about buoyancy, density and displacement. |
| Lego Challenge* | PK-5 | That Brick Life has put together a 30 days of LEGO play calendar. Challenge your kids to use their imagination and to create something new everyday. |
| Marble Run* | PK-5 | Build a marble run with an unlikely material…play dough! |
Subject: Mathematics
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ST Math | K-5 | Resources to mathematically equip all students, support schools and families, and explore math outside of the classroom. |
| Age of Learning | PK-2 | Innovative, research-validated supplemental solutions designed to improve learning outcomes for students in pre-K through 2nd grade. |
| Iowa Regents' Center for Early Developmental Education* | PK-2 | Mathematics games for educators to download, print, cut out and play. Cooking with children explores properties of ingredients and how properties changes when mixed, heated or cooling. |
Subject: STEM
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Carolina STEM Curriculum | K-5 | Weekly lesson plans with free resources for science – life, earth and physical. |
| Hand2Mind | K-5 | Downloadable daily lessons and videos by grade level, including this decimals and fractions mathematics activity. |
| National Inventors Hall of Fame | PK-5 | Activities and lessons that will turn any room into a classroom. Take this quiz to find out what kind of inventor you are, then do an activity for each style of inventor. |
| PAST Foundation* | PK-5 | After completing a simple registration form, explore a wealth of simple hands-on design/construct/build activities, including a highly relevant "Germs and Soap" activity at the kitchen table. |
| STEM Literacy Blog* | K-5 | STEM book recommendations from librarians and readers. Many of the books are connected to STEM activities, for example the windmill activity. |
Grades 6-8
*= Unplugged activities and lessons.
Subject: Science
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Volcano Observatory | 6-8 | Students can explore active volcanoes in Alaska and eastern Russia through resources and live cams of different sites. |
| Astronomical Society of the Pacific* | 6-8 | Science-rich, astronomy activities, materials and kits with downloadable documents, video and audio links for educators and families. |
| Carnegie Science Center Virtual Visits | 6-8 | Explore some of the Carnegie Science Center's most popular exhibits or choose a "theme" area with activities that include Engineering and Robotics, Animals and Aquaria, Space and Astronomy, and more! |
| Hot Ice* | 6-8 | Combine baking soda and vinegar to make sodium acetate, or hot ice! |
| NASA @ Home | 6-8 | Explore a variety of cool activities, books, videos, and podcasts from NASA. |
| NASA Wallops Flight Facility* | 6-8 | Schedule a live virtual field trip at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility Visitor Center. |
| Science Center of Iowa - At Home* | 6-8 | Experience the Science Center of Iowa at home with fun resources for learners of all ages. Make everything from slime to bubbles with these fun kitchen chemistry experiments. |
| Virgin Islands National Park Exploration | 6-8 | Virtual tours give you the chance to explore marine life swimming amongst the underwater coral reefs, or investigate the remaining handiwork of the Taino Native Americans with up-close views of the ancient petroglyphs along Reef Bay Trail. |
Subject: Technology
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| CS Discoveries | 6-10 | An introductory computer science course that empowers students to create authentic artifacts and engage with computer science as a medium for creativity, communication, problem solving and fun. |
| Popfizz | 6-8 | Explore the world of coding. In just a few hours, you'll create awesome projects. Learn Geometry and Python with Turtle Graphics. Available in English and Spanish. |
Subject: Engineering
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DiscoverE* | 6-8 | Engineering activities to download for students of all ages. The Foil Boats challenge has participants design and build a boat, learning about buoyancy, density and displacement. |
| Lego Challenge* | 6-8 | That Brick Life has put together a 30 days of LEGO play calendar. Challenge your kids to use their imagination and to create something new everyday. |
| Taking Risks and Iteration* | 6-8 | This activity focuses on risk-taking and the role it plays in that investigation and is part of a toolkit developed as a collaborative project coordinated by the talkSTEM organization. |
| The Tech Interactive | 6-8 | Explore a variety of design and building challenges using household items from The Tech Interactive. |
Subject: Mathematics
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Desmos | 6-8 | Activities, webinars and more! Dilation Mini Golf allows students to explore what happens when they dilate a single point from a center through playing rounds of mini golf! |
| ST Math | 6-8 | Resources to mathematically equip all students, support schools and families and explore math outside of the classroom. |
Subject: STEM
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A-Z Career Lab | 6-8 | Join members of the A to Z Career Lab as they research exciting jobs. |
| Bootstrap | 7-12 | Engaging introductions to computer programming. Integrates with math concepts in prealgebra, algebra and data science with no prior coding experience. Compatible with PCs, Macs and Chromebooks. |
| National Inventors Hall of Fame* | 6-8 | Activities and lessons that will turn any room into classroom. Take this quiz to find out what kind of inventor you are, then do an activity for each style of inventor. |
| PAST Foundation | 6-8 | After completing a simple registration form, explore a wealth of simple hands-on design/construct/build activities, including a highly relevant "Germs and Soap" activity at the kitchen table. |
| Raytheon Technologies* | 6-8 | Get advice directly from today’s innovators at Raytheon Technologies. Make crystal formations, form honeybee hotels and more! |
| STEM Literacy Blog* | 6-8 | STEM book recommendations from librarians and readers. Many of the books are connected to STEM activities, for example the windmill activity. |
Grades 9-12
*= Unplugged activities and lessons.
Subject: Science
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Volcano Observatory | 9-12 | Explore the Alaska Volcano Observatory and active volcanos virtually thanks to a partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey. You can learn the process behind volcanic activity as well as view live cameras of hotspots. |
| Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Foundation High School STEM Curriculum | 9-12 | Learn more about flight, aviation and piloting. |
| Spark of Science | 9-12 | The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, one of America's premiere science museums, produced fantastic (and brief!) videos depicting a variety of science phenomena. |
| NASA for Kids and Students* | 9-12 | Let NASA bring the universe into your home with e-books, activities, games and more. You can even build your own Apollo moon capsule craft or land a spacecraft on target! |
| Science Center of Iowa - At Home* | 9-12 | Experience the Science Center of Iowa at home with fun resources for learners of all ages. Make everything from slime to bubbles with these fun kitchen chemistry experiments. |
Subject: Technology
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery Education | 9-12 | Learn more about coding, STEM, and more with Discovery Education's online lessons and resources. |
| CS Principles | 9-12 | Introduce students to the foundational concepts of computer science and challenge them to explore how computing and technology can impact the world. |
| Popfizz | 9-12 | Explore the world of coding. In just a few hours, you'll create awesome projects. Learn Geometry and Python with Turtle Graphics. Available in English and Spanish. |
Subject: Engineering
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DiscoverE* | 9-12 | Engineering activities to download for students of all ages. The Foil Boats challenge has participants design and build a boat, learning about buoyancy, density and displacement. |
Subject: STEM
| Activity Title | Grade Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bootstrap* | 7-12 | Engaging introductions to computer programming. Integrates with math concepts in prealgebra, algebra and data science with no prior coding experience. Compatible with PCs, Macs and Chromebooks. Be sure to check out the Think Like A Scientist activity. |
| BrainPop | 9-12 | Keep students on track with BrainPOP’s animated movies, assessment resources and creative tools. |
| National Inventors Hall of Fame* | 9-12 | Activities and lessons that will turn any room into classroom. Take this quiz to find out what kind of inventor you are, then do an activity for each style of inventor. |
| Stay At Home With STEM* | 9-12 | Get advice directly from today’s innovators at Raytheon Technologies. Make crystal formations, form honeybee hotels and more! |