#STEMontheCheap – braided STEM

Turing Tumble Virtual

Don’t want to keep track of all those marbles and parts? Try out this Turing Tumble virtual marble powered computer. Complete with challenges in the menu that get increasingly more difficult.

Julia Robinson Math Festival Puzzles

Every JRMF puzzle is hands-on, play-based, and standards-aligned. All activities designed to have a low floor so anyone can find a way to engage and a high ceiling so that everyone can find a meaningful challenge.

Exploratorium – Tinkering Library

Combining tinkering activities with books invites playful engagement with STEAM concepts and processes while also reinforcing language development, collaboration, communication, and literacy skills.

#STEMontheCheap Goldmines

Our favorite #STEMontheCheap collections filled with loads of great ideas using inexpensive materials.

Origami Jumping Frog

Seven String Kumihimo

Seven String Kumihimo uses #STEMontheCheap materials to engage systems thinkers with a Japanese braiding technique called kumihimo, while at the same time challenging them to think about how a system’s structure generates its behavior.

Raytheon STEM Challenge

#RaytheonSTEMChallenge developed with support from The Raytheon STEM Challenge is a series of STEM challenges designed for 4th-8th grade students though may be used with students below and above that grade range. Each STEM Challenge has a teacher Google Slide deck and an engineering journal specific to the challenge. Please feel free to make a…

EdScratch Tangible Coding Strips

Print these out, laminate them to make them dry erasable, and then let students do some tangible coding. A great way to get them to slow down and think about what they will code before the jump on the computer and start throwing code together. Another great idea from our Robot General Sherrie Dennis inspired…

Weather Movement Die / Dado de movimiento meteorológico

Roll the die and move as directed, like the weather! Tira el dado y muévete según las indicaciones, ¡como el meteorológico! The English/Spanish version is shown below. Find the English only version HERE. La versión en inglés/español se muestra a continuación. Encuentre la versión solo en inglés AQUÍ.

Pi Day

Our favorite Pi Day lessons and stories! Two Circles to Square Selfie Frame from NumbersAlive! Find Pi: the King of Circles! video and more resources on NumbersAlive! Article: Indiana’s State Legislature Once Tried to Legislated the Value of Pi (also described in a video in the Pi on Numberphile Playlist linked below. Pi Toss Activity…