STEM BRAIN BREAKS
Recharge & Engage
Brain breaks give kids a chance to recharge while keeping their minds engaged and learning. Plus, it’s a great way to keep spirits up when the work level is high! Why not try a STEM inspired brain break? Get the students moving with brief exercises involving problem solving, engineering and coordination.
PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS
Macgyver Tricks 3
What does the research say?
The conclusion of this article:
"In this investigation...the use of subject content related brain breaks with a moderate activity level proved to be the best option in terms of both student engagement and time taken to refocus the class."
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." Plato
POOL NOODLE CHALLENGE
The Race
You must work collaboratively with your group to move all 10 rings from one end of the room to the other without touching the rings with your hands. The pool noodles may not touch each other or be connected. If you drop any of the rings you must start over with all of the rings at the beginning. The first group to get all 10 rings to the end without dropping them wins.
Stack 'em up
Supplies: plastic disposable cups
Kids love stacking cups and it’s a great exercise in engineering and coordination. Give them a bunch of cups to see how high they can stack them in a minute. Once they get good at that, you can up the challenge by asking them to use the cups to design other shapes such as a rectangle or an octagon.
Turn & Talk - How do mistakes help kids learn?
A mistake is a F.A.I.L. - FIRST ATTEMPT AT LEARNING
Why STEM?
Turn & Talk - What skills do these activities build? Why are they important?
Add your comments to the Padlet
Incorporate movement into the lesson!
A Berry Good Idea - Bucket Relays!
Try an obstacle course
Jump over the even numbers and around the odds.
Get Tactile!
Check out activities using Legos
Work with your group to make the longest word that you can.
Ready, Set, Design!
What kind of thinking do these activities require?
Think about Blooms Taxonomy. Where would these activities fall?
Nerf Gun Math
BALLOON BUILDING
Each team is challenged to build the tallest freestanding tower using balloons and tape. We will measure the height of each tower and award points for the tallest balloon building.
Think about the process standards...
How do these activities relate to your TEKS?
What skills do they build?
Mirror Box - exploring symmetry
OREO STACKING CHALLENGE
Modeling
Brain Gym Exercise for Students