STEM Skills Lesson Plan: STEM to the Rescue!

Submitted by: Adina Popa and Dr. Kari Stubbs

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

In this STEM Skills lesson plan, adaptable for grades 3-12, students use BrainPOP and other online resources to research a science, engineering, or technology topic, and create a digital public service announcement to raise awareness of the topic.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:

  1. Study what makes a persuasive argument by critically analyzing different public service announcements (PSAs)
  2. Use a variety of technology resources to create Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to increase motivation and bring relevance to the STEM subjects
  3. Publish the finished product on YouTube

Materials:

Preparation:

Practice using applications such as MovieMaker, Finale Notepad, Audacity, Microsoft Paint, Music Composition in the math curriculum, as well as BrainPOP.

Lesson Procedure:

  1. Explore examples of PSAs pertaining to science topics.
  2. In small groups participants choose a science topic of interest for their project, brainstorm ideas for PSAs, and correlate the ideas to science standards using PSA worksheet. Sample topic list provided in materials to support this process.
  3. Research facts about the science topic using web-based content, including BrainPOP.
  4. Write the script using Kids Vid
  5. Film your students movie/s.
  6. Using mathematical formulas, students will create the musical accompaniment to their project.
  7. Use MovieMaker to compile all information, render it, and create a movie file.
  8. Publish the finished product on YouTube.

Extension Activities:

Checkout the BrainPOP Educators blog post, STEM to the Rescue - An ISTE Pre-Conference Workshop, to learn more about the ISTE pre-conference workshop that featured this lesson plan!

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, 9-12, Airbags, Analog and Digital Recording, Apollo Project, Assembly Line, Batteries, Biofuels, Blogs