Table of Contents
Introduction 7
Chapter 1 STEM Basics 9
What Is Science? 10
Fields of Science 11
The Scientific Method 14
Activity: The Scientific Method in Action 18
Activity: Science Fiction or Science Fact? 20
Chapter 2 Engineering 23
Activity: Building a Motor 24
Activity: Building a Truss 28
Activity: Building a Bridge 33
Activity: Building a Circuit 37
Activity: Insulator versus Conductor 41
Activity: Electricity and Magnetism: The Two Sisters 47
Activity: Balloon-Powered Car 52
Activity: Powering a Boat with Soap 55
Activity: Mousetrap Car Race 58
Activity: Water Rocket Launch 64
Activity: Mini Pyramids-Many Triangles 66
Chapter 3 Physics and Astronomy 69
Activity: Racing Juice Cans 70
Activity: Exploring Newton's Third Law 73
Activity: The Velocity of Bowling Balls 76
Activity: Static Electricity 79
Activity: Magnetizing (and Demagnetizing) a Sewing Needle 84
Activity: What Are Magnets Made Of? 87
Activity: Keeping a Moon-Phase Journal 90
Activity: Moon Navigation 93
Activity: The Easiest Constellations to Recognize 100
Chapter 4 Other Earth Sciences 103
Activity: North versus South Pole 104
Activity: Pressure, Temperature, and the Weather 110
Activity: Why Do Some Things Float? 113
Activity: Balloons, Spoons, and Density 116
Activity: The Physics of Floating Feathers 120
Activity: What's in Soil? 125
Chapter 5 Chemistry 129
Activity: How Batteries Work 130
Activity: Alkaline or Acidic? 135
Activity: The pH of Foods 139
Activity: Separating Salt from Water 143
Activity: Ice versus Dry Ice 146
Chapter 6 Biology 149
Activity: How Plants Make Food: Photosynthesis 150
Activity: Deciduous versus Evergreen Trees 154
Activity: Fermentation: Making Sourdough Starter 159
Activity: Potato, Carrot, and Cell Osmosis 163
Activity: Dominant versus Recessive Traits 168
Chapter 7 Mathematics and Computer Science 171
Activity: Designing Wallpaper Using Percentages 172
Activity: Tic-Tac-Toe Math Review 175
Activity: Algebra Dice 179
Activity: Calculating the Circumference of a Pie, Bike Wheel, Car Tire, Etc 183
Activity: The Cartesian Treasure Map 186
Activity: The Geometry Scavenger Hunt 190
Activity: Mean, Median, and Mode 193
Activity: Pies and Bars 199
Activity: Learning Probability with Cards and Dice 207
Activity: The Birthday Problem 216
Activity: How Many Zeros Are in a Quadrillion? 218
Activity: Money's Value over Time 222
Chapter 8 Getting a Head Start in STEM 227
STEM Camps and Enrichment Classes 228
Online STEM Classes 231
Other Online Learning Resources 233
Job Shadowing 236
Appendix A STEM Career Websites for Kids 241
Appendix B Bibliography 244
Index 253
