Science & STEM

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There are so many great ways to learn Science that aren’t just from a textbook. Reading is necessary and provides foundational learning, however experiments, observation, creation and documentation are all important skills while learning the practice of Science.

2024 Indiana Science Competitions

Future City Jan 8, 2025 City Essay & Project Plan, Jan 18, 2025 City Model, Presentation and Q&A

Project ideas

Invention Convention:

Project Rules

Project Rubric

Nationals Prize Guide 2024

Indiana Science Olympiad March 2025

Celebrate Science Indiana Oct. 12, 2024

Indiana State Museum Eco-Science Challenge April 25, 2025

Tri-State Science and Engineering Fair March 13, 2025

Central Indiana Regional Science and Engineering Fair March 15, 2025

National Innovator Challenge

National STEM Challenge

Hoosier Science & Engineering Fair 

The items below are my favorite tools to teach 3 children across a wide age range - photos are linked!

The cover of a board game called 'Cellulose,' which is about plant cell biology. The illustration shows a stylized plant cell with various organelles, including a large blue nucleus and surrounding structures, set inside a green cell wall background.
Photo of the ION compound building game box, featuring colorful atom illustration and game cards used for educational chemistry activities.
Box for the game 'Compounded,' a chemistry-themed building game with a yellow and dark blue design.
Board game box titled 'Cytosis: Virus Expansion' with illustration of a virus, and a game instruction sheet in background.
Cover of a book titled 'Blood and Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides' by Linda Allison, featuring cartoon children and a dog around a table with medical items.
Photo of the "Subatomic: An Atom Building Game" board game box, opened game components, and instruction sheets on a table.
Box of Science Ninja Valence Plus game featuring animated ninja characters and chemical symbols in the background.
Child's toy binoculars in green, yellow, and blue colors, with packaging showing a child wearing them and the text 'GeoSafari Jr. Kidnoculars'.
A children's educational toy set called 'Primary Bucket Balance' with colorful plastic parts, including a yellow balance beam, red and blue base, and red weight containers, used for teaching about measurement and balance.
Various colorful poker chips in red, blue, green, and yellow colors arranged on a white surface.
Box of Learning Resources STEM Explorers Magnet Movers with various magnetic pieces, including balls, bars, and rings in bright colors.
Book cover titled 'Engineering Made Simple' with illustrations of engineering tools, gears, a circuit board, and a bridge, promoting a complete guide with ten easy lessons and quizzes.
A science-themed card game called 'Science Ninjas Valence' with game boxes, instruction sheets, and categorized playing cards showing elements like Hydrogen and Oxygen.
Book cover titled 'The Complete Middle School Study Guide: Everything You Need to Ace Science in One Big Fat Notebook.' Features a black background with green and white text, and a small cartoon character in green at the bottom left.
Box cover of Peptide, a protein building game, showing a colorful illustration of a cell with proteins, DNA strands, and mitochondria, designed for ages 10 and up, for 2 to 5 players, lasting 30 to 45 minutes.
Photo of a board game titled 'Periode,' featuring colorful tiles representing elements from the periodic table organized by categories like metals, nonmetals, and noble gases. The game includes a game board, informational cards, and tokens.
The box of a science board game titled 'Cytosis'. The game is designed for ages 10 and up, for 2 to 5 players, and involves cell biology. The artwork on the box features colorful illustrations of a cell with various organelles and a blue background w
Cover of a book titled 'The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth,' featuring illustrations of animals like a giraffe, a polar bear, a whale, a lion, a horse, and an ant, as well as diagrams and scientific elements highlighting Earth's ecosystems.
Lego Gear Bots building set with 62 Lego elements for creating 8 different machines, featuring colorful robotic characters and tools.
Circuit Maze electronic current logic game with game box and game board featuring colored pathways and components.
Educational robot mouse coding game set with green tiles, purple blocks, orange arches, a blue robot mouse, and cards for coding instructions.
Green GECKOBOT mechanical model kit box for ages 8+ from Thames & Kosmos, featuring a walking gecko model built from parts, with a smaller inset image showing the model's surface climbing capability and mechanical details.
Box of Gravity Bugs STEM experiment kit featuring a yellow and blue free-climbing MicroBot resembling a crab, with advanced suction cup design for climbing smooth surfaces, designed for ages 8 and up.
Picture of a board game called 'Robot Turtles' with colorful game pieces, cards, and a game board.
Lego Chain Reactions kit box with colorful bricks and green balls, includes instructions and over 30 Lego elements for designing and building moving machines, suitable for ages 8 and up.
LEGO Gadgets building set box showing 58 LEGO bricks, with images of robotic gadgets and machines, and text indicating it is for building 11 machines, with a yellow background and red, blue, and gray accents.
A colorful children's science-themed Bingo game box featuring animals, plants, and natural elements, with a label for learning science facts.
The packaging box for the STEM experiment kit titled 'The Amazing TIGHTROPE-WALKING Gyrobot.' It features an image of a small, round robot with a transparent top, and two orange legs with wheels. The box highlights features such as walking on a tight
Microscope with slide, two containers of stains, glass slides, and other accessories on a white background.
Set of four packs of educational slides in yellow, red, green, and blue, each containing 12 slides, with colorful icon symbols of a plant, ladybug, lightbulb, and bear below.
Colorful plastic pattern blocks in various shapes and colors, with a clear jar that has an orange lid and label reading "Pattern Blocks"
The box contains a Pattern Block Activity Set by Learning Resources for children aged 4 and up. It includes 124 double-sided pattern blocks, 20 cards, and 40 designs for creating geometric patterns. The set is designed to develop early math and criti
Collection of educational human body models including brain, skeleton, heart, and a torso showing internal organs.
The image shows a laser maze game called ThinkFun Laser Maze: Beam-Bending Logic Game. The game includes a small grid-based board with several white towers, some with red and purple accents, and a laser emitter with a red light. The box displays the
Green game box labeled "Guess in 10" by Skillmatics, for ages 6-99, with animal illustrations including a giraffe, panda, tiger, dolphin, and polar bear, featuring a lightbulb with text "The quick game of smart questions," and a bird flying above. Su
RollerCoaster Challenge building game with a gray base, colorful tracks, and a red roller coaster car, with the game box titled 'Thinkfun Roller Coaster Challenge' showing children riding a roller coaster.
Colorful 3D puzzle pieces representing a microscopic view of a cell or microorganism, including various shapes and colors.
An educational toy set for children featuring a blue storage box labeled 'Melissa & Doug,' a wooden human body model with removable parts, and various body part puzzle pieces.
Children's science lab set with safety goggles, beakers, test tubes, and educational cards on a white surface.
Disney's Eye Found It! hidden picture game with game board, cards, game pieces, and faux coins
Four children's activity books with colorful covers are displayed inside a blue plastic container. Topics include Super Mind Design Book, Mighty Mind Challenger, Sea Explorer, and Zoo Adventure.
Q-Ba-Maze 2.0 mega stunt set packaging with colorful marble run components and a red spiral loop.
Green pack of hand2mind Makerspace task cards for ages 3 to 5, featuring a roller coaster graphic and a warning label about choking hazards.
Cover of a book titled 'Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding' by Bernard J. Nebel, Ph.D., with children conducting a science experiment outdoors on a chalkboard with words 'Natural' and 'Living' written on it.
Set of STEM challenge cards in a box, featuring activities like dancing ghosts, hands-free harvest, and more, with colorful cards and instructional text.
Educational STEM challenge box for grades 2-5 featuring activities for students to explore science, technology, engineering, and math concepts.
A box of STEM Challenge cards for grades PK-1, containing 30 colorful cards with topics like overview, plants, animals, insects, and weather, designed for young students to engage in STEM activities.
Two toy off-road vehicles, one blue and one orange, above a colorful plastic roller coaster set with tracks, ramps, and a small car at the start.
Collection of colorful animal toys, including a giraffe, dog, bear, duck, lion, monkey, and cat, arranged on a white background.
Colorful toy building blocks, vehicles, and geometric shapes arranged to spell 'STEAM' for science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.
Colorful magnetic building blocks arranged in a castle-like structure with two toy figures and a toy cart in front, and a close-up of a green magnetic tile in the top right corner.
Colorful magnetic building blocks arranged in castle and boat shapes with floating star, fox, and fish figures
A set of 16 colorful toy figurines surrounding a box of Picasso characters, with diverse outfits and poses, on a white background.
A Botley 2.0 coding robot activity set with a blue robot, maze tiles, dice, flags, and remote control, designed for children ages 5 and up.
Unboxed set of Coding Critters toy with various plastic parts including animal figures, trees, and accessories, along with the product box and instruction manual.
White plastic container of AeroGarden Liquid Plant Food with green label indicating it is for seed starting, vegetative growth, flowering, and fruiting plants.
Hydroponic seed pod kit with plant growth items including nutrient bottles, seed starter pods, clay pellets, and grow lights.
Wooden robot tank with remote control, an assembled wooden robot car with wheels, and two small wooden remote controls, sitting in front of a box labeled 'Poraxy STEM Kits'.
Set of STEM educational kits and components, including a solar-powered robot car, a robot arm, a motorized platform, and a wooden box with electronic parts, with a STEM kits box in the background.
A STEM kit box labeled 'Paraxy STEM Kits' with parts including a laser-cut wooden Ferris wheel, a star-shaped lamp, a helicopter, and a battery pack for educational engineering projects.
Children's toy set with a green ramp, yellow cylinders, blue cart, orange and purple cap, and a transparent container with three green balls.
Children's STEM Dominoes in colorful plastic pieces with a slide, hoops, and a play launcher, packaging box in the background.
Set of colorful marble run toys with various track pieces and bases in red, blue, and white.
Box for simple machines STEM experiment kit featuring mechanical engineering models like pulleys, levers, and gears, suitable for children aged 8 and up.
Lego aquarium with fish, plants, and underwater scenery inside a glass tank.
Cover of a LEGO Build It book titled 'Farm Animals' with LEGO farm animals, a barn, and a red background.
Book cover titled 'Build It! Make Supercool Models with Your Favorite LEGO Parts,' featuring LEGO models of an octopus, a whale, a crocodile, and a duck in an ocean and swamp setting.
Cover of the book titled 'Build It! Make Supercool Models with Your Favorite LEGO Pieces' featuring colorful LEGO models of a cactus, a deer, a helicopter, and a train against a background with desert and ocean scenes.
Book cover titled
Cover of a Picassoties idea book with colorful pixel art letters spelling 'idea book' on a blue background.
Book titled 'Build It! Volume 2,' featuring images of LEGO models including a blue bird, purple and black helicopter, yellow dog, pink and green cactus, flowered vehicle, and colorful bridge, with a red LEGO brick background.
Book cover titled 'Build It! Make Supercool Models with Your Favorite LEGO Parts' featuring images of LEGO structures, including a white building resembling a landmark, on a green baseplate.
A LEGO building set titled 'Build It! Medieval World' featuring LEGO castle walls, towers, and knight minifigures with a colorful background.
Geode science kit with rocks, a magnifying glass, and informational booklets from National Geographic.
Four dissectible science kits in colorful packaging, each reveals a different organ or skeletal structure when opened, including a frog, stingray, piranha, and rat.
Electronics and motor circuit kit box featuring a colorful spinning top, motor, wires, and circuit components.
Lighting circuit kit box with electronic components, wires, and LEDs arranged on a black circuit board, showcasing the Snap Circuits Light project.
A boxed Electronic Snap Circuits RC Snap Rover toy with a clear plastic chassis and blue wheels, designed for building and operating a remote-controlled car, with the box highlighting features like operation in the dark and compatibility with over 20
Snap Circuits My Home educational kit box with a circuit assembly representing a house structure, featuring components to learn how electricity works in a home setting, including indicators for age range 8 to 108.
A LittleBits electronics kit with various modular electronic components, a USB power supply, wires, tools, and a purple storage box, designed for building electronic projects.
Children's coding toy called Code Car; blue car with switches, lights, and a USB port connected to a coding kit; product box displays a young boy and awards, including Purdue Family Choice Award and McDonald's Family Choice Award.
Boxed educational toy called 'Code Piano Jumbo' with a green musical keyboard, volume knob, and coding components, promoting learning real coding through music for ages 8 and up.
Educational coding kit labeled 'Code Lab' with LED lights, sensors, and control buttons for learning programming.
The Ultimate Kit for learning coding, featuring LED rainbow pixels, an LCD maker screen displaying a greeting, a maker board, a maker board computer, and accessories, with a yellow banner indicating over 100 code projects and experiments.
Medical test travel case with lancets, test strips, and a blood collection device inside.
A green and white sphere with a pig face logo in the center.
Cover of the book titled "Junk Drawer Engineering" by Bobby Mercer, featuring illustrations of a slingshot, a crowbar, and a bundle of fettuccine pasta, with text about 25 construction challenges.
Box for HABA ball track toy for bathtubs, featuring a colorful suction cup-mounted track with rotating star-shaped and boat-shaped pieces, designed for children to play with in the bath.
Board game box titled "Life in the Ocean Card Game" featuring an underwater scene with a dolphin, clownfish, and jellyfish, with a character illustration of a woman with curly hair and glasses at the top.
A small spherical robot with a transparent cover showing internal components, a blue wheel on one side, and the brand name 'Sphero' on the lower front.
Box of Klutz Maker Lab Rocks, Gems, & Geodes kit showing 36 rocks for starting a collection, with various colorful rocks and geodes displayed on the packaging.
A STEM kit with wooden pieces and tools from Poraxy, including a scissor lift, a pulley system, and a balance scale, designed for educational experiments for ages 8 and up.
Book cover titled 'The Sassafras Science Adventures Volume 1: Zoology' by Johnny Congo & Paige Hudson. Features cartoon animals including a giraffe, penguin, and a butterfly against a colorful swirling background.
Educational STEM game set with a mini robot, colored rings, game cards, game pieces, and a small vehicle, all for kids.
Cover of 'Atlas of Ocean Adventures' featuring various ocean animals including sharks, whales, dolphins, jellyfish, and colorful fish, with a blue background.
A spiral-bound educational book titled 'Junk Drawer Robotics' with a subtitle 'Level 1: Give Robots a Hand.' The cover features images of electronic components, robot parts, and circuit diagrams, emphasizing robotics engineering for kids.
Cover of a book titled 'Junk Drawer Robotics Level 2: Robots on the Move'. It features images of various robot parts and electronic components, with a shimmer of circuitry and a coiled pink wire.
A STEM experiment kit titled 'Motors & Generators' for children ages 8 and up, featuring components to learn about magnetic fields and convert motion into electricity, including mini motors, wires, and gears.
Box of Brain Busters card game featuring a human body diagram and a photo of a smiling child.
Weather science mini observatory toy by Green Science, showing a colorful educational science kit with weather experiment tools, plants, and small containers.
Board game box titled "Anatomy Fluxx" with illustrations of the human brain, lungs, intestines, liver, heart, and kidneys on a grid background.
Chem C1000 experiment kit box with various test tubes, containers, and lab tools for beginner chemistry.
Box of the educational board game 'Scabs & Guts' featuring cartoon illustrations of colorful, smiling body organs like brains, stomachs, and intestines with a playful design. The box highlights the game's fun and educational nature for children aged
Cover of a National Geographic Kids book titled "Weird but True! Human Body," featuring a smiling skeleton wearing sunglasses and holding a sign that says "HUMAN BODY," with a subtitle indicating "300 outrageous facts about our awesome anatomy."
Cover of a science activity book titled 'Foundation Chemistry Beakers & Bubbles' with illustrations of three children in lab coats holding beakers, and various badges and labels.
Box cover for the card game 'Virulence: An Infectious Card Game.' The artwork features illustrations of red and orange virus and bacteria particles against a blue background. The game's title is in large yellow and red letters at the top, and it is d
Ecosystem Savanna board game box with illustrations of various savanna animals, including elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, cheetahs, and a monkey, along with smaller game cards showing a leopard, zebra, lion, and savanna landscape.
Educational card game box titled "Professor Noggin Wildlife of North America" featuring illustrations of a hawk, a fox, a raccoon, and a forest scene with trees and wildlife.
Board game titled 'Ecosystem' with illustrations of wolves, deer, and other animals in a forest scene, including playing cards with animal images.
A set of science-themed cards and boxes, including the Science Ninjas: Valence game and playing cards with elements like salt, hydrogen, and oxygen, laid out on a white surface.
Board game box titled "Bugs and Slugs" featuring cartoon bugs and slugs, with various colors and characters, and a blue badge that says "Learn about all that creeps & crawls."
Box for the board game 'GenoType,' featuring a design with green peas on a wooden surface and photos of game components and gameplay on the side.
A card game titled "Coral Reef" with underwater ocean scenes and marine life illustrations, featuring a deck of cards showing various sea creatures like a lobster, octopus, sea turtle, and fish.
National Geographic Ultimate Dual Microscope set with binocular microscope, focusing tools, slides, and accessories.
Book cover titled 'Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World' by Rachel Ignotofsky, featuring illustrations of women scientists, a microscope, a rocket, a DNA strand, and scientific equipment.
The card game titled 'The Human Body' features a box with images of lungs, a skull, and cartoon illustrations of a woman holding a chest X-ray. The box is red with white and pink text and graphics, indicating it is a Professor Noggin's card game numb
Board game box titled "Wingspan" featuring a soaring bird with outstretched wings on the front.
A BrainBox Animals game box featuring illustrations of a lion, rhino, and tiger.
Board game titled Wingspan: Oceania Expansion featuring a flying bird with outstretched wings on the box cover.
Box of Wingspan Asia board game with a illustrated peacock on the front, pink background, and white and red text.
Box featuring an illustration of a white snowy owl in flight with wings spread wide, labeled 'WINGSPAN EUROPEAN EXPANSION'.