BOO! Happy STEMoween–a combination of STEM and Halloween! With these creepy and fun STEM projects, your students are sure to get in the Halloween spirit, all while engaging with the amazing world of STEM.
Brains, Brains, and More Brains
Frankenstein isn’t the only one who loves brains, especially this Halloween! This awesome craft will be sure to keep your students entertained, all while teaching them about the different brain functions. Using five colors of Play-dough, each student will construct their own brain based on the five different areas.
This activity will get each student to think about the different parts of the brain while exerting their artistic abilities, all while getting them excited for the spooky holiday. Check out this awesome article on more step-by-step directions on this brain model activity.
Candyland
What to do with leftover candy? Build with it! In this activity each student individually, or as a team, will create their very own Candyland. By using candy and some type of sturdy stick, have them compete to see who can build the most extravagant town full of candy! There are endless options for what to build with, such as gumdrops, candy pumpkins, marshmallows, popsicle sticks, toothpicks, straws, and so much more.
It’s up to you what you want your class to focus on building, such as the biggest structure, the most number of structures, the tallest…the options are endless! Check out this article that focuses on building the tallest candy structure.
Design and Build a Better Candy Bag
Another idea for leftover candy-let it be a part of an experiment! The TryEngineering.org lesson Design and Build a Better Candy Bag demonstrates how product design differences can affect the success of a final product — in this case a bag for holding candy. Students work in pairs to design and build a better candy bag.
In this lesson, students will apply STEM concepts to a product design and learn how design impacts product performance!
Paint the Rainbow
What’s better than eating skittles? Painting with skittles! In this arts and craft experiment, your students will use different colored skittles to create a design on a plate. Encourage them to design something related to Halloween! After, pour a thin layer of water–just enough to spread across the plate–and watch the colors flow!
This experiment will leave kids fascinated but also with a new knowledge on why some colors travel and others do not. Have them take notes, or share their thoughts aloud about what they notice and why they think this is happening. Fun fact–you can also use jelly beans too.
Leave a comment if you tried a different candy!