Be prepared for unexpected absences with 12 complete, ready-to-use Grade 2 STEM and engineering lessons designed for substitute teachers, even those without a STEM background. Simply print, organize, and place the lessons in a sub folder for easy access when needed.
The resource pairs with the Grade 2 STEM Full-Year Curriculum, while each lesson is standalone and non-sequential, so substitutes can choose any activity without needing knowledge of previous instruction.
What’s Included- 12 no-prep Grade 2 STEM lessons
- Word-for-word substitute scripts
- Minute-by-minute directions
- Materials lists
- Student recording pages
- Notes-back-to-teacher pages
- Prediction and testing components
- Repeated trials and data collection
- Clear success criteria
- Early-finisher options
- Safety directions
- Emergency 10-minute STEM fillers
- STEM sub-folder cover
- Classroom information page
- STEM Sub Tub setup guidance
- The Efficient Tower
- Material Property Test
- Ramp Trials
- Shape Strength Lab
- Boat Cargo Trials
- The Insulation Test
- Paper Airplane Lab
- Build a Marble Sorter
- Friction Surfaces
- Parachute Trials
- The Sound Barrier Test
- Design for Everyone
The lessons go beyond simple crafts by requiring students to predict, test, measure, record data, compare results, identify patterns, and improve designs.
For example, Ramp Trials involves testing three ramp heights with three trials at each height and recording all nine results. The Efficient Tower challenges students to build a tower that can hold a book while considering both height and material efficiency.
Students develop skills in:
- Making predictions
- Conducting fair tests
- Repeating trials
- Measuring results
- Recording and comparing data
- Identifying patterns
- Improving designs
- Explaining results
No specialized STEM kit is required. Activities use accessible materials such as paper, cardstock, straws, tape, books, toy cars, pennies, foil, water, ice, fabric, cotton wool, magnets, craft materials, boxes, tubes, rubber bands, plastic bags, and rulers.
A labeled STEM SUB TUB can be prepared in advance so essential supplies are available whenever an absence occurs.
Why It WorksThese plans provide substitutes with clear scripts, structured activities, student recording pages, safety guidance, data collection, and defined endpoints. Teachers can save planning time while ensuring students continue engaging in meaningful STEM learning.
The lessons also treat unsuccessful trials as useful data. Students can examine what happened, identify a possible reason, make a focused change, and test again.
Overall, this resource provides a practical, reusable system of hands-on Grade 2 emergency STEM lessons that keeps students investigating, measuring, designing, and thinking like engineers even when their regular teacher is absent.
Get this resource as part of a bundle and save up to 33%
A bundle is a package of resources grouped together to teach a particular topic, or a series of lessons, in one place.
Bundle
K - 5 STEM Sub Plans Bundle | Full-Year Engineering Activities
K–5 STEM Sub Plans Bundle | 72 No-Prep Emergency STEM Lessons with Word-for-Word Substitute Scripts 72 complete, stand-alone STEM lessons across Kindergarten through 5th Grade — each with a word-for-word substitute script, materials list, student page, and a notes-back-to-teacher page — so an unexpected absence never again means a STEM day lost. Every lesson is written for a substitute with no STEM background. The script says what to say. The directions say what to do, minute by minute. The student page says what to record. And because the lessons are non-sequential, the sub can pick any one without knowing what your class did last week. Print once, put it in the sub folder, and it's ready for the whole year. What's Included Six grade-level sub plan sets (333 pages, 72 lessons): Kindergarten STEM Sub Plans (12 lessons, 53 pages) — 20–25 minute lessons in four short chunks, word-for-word carpet scripts, picture-based student pages, and practical sub guidance for five-year-olds: the two-minute cleanup warning, switching to drawing if a build won't work, finishing early rather than rushing. 1st Grade STEM Sub Plans (12 lessons, 56 pages) — full lesson scripts, student pages, notes-back pages, 10-minute emergency fillers, sub folder cover, classroom information page. 2nd Grade STEM Sub Plans (12 lessons, 56 pages) — adds minute-by-minute directions, repeated trials and data collection, early-finisher options, and STEM Sub Tub setup guidance. 3rd Grade STEM Sub Plans (12 lessons, 56 pages) — adds variables, outliers, prediction error, and claim–evidence–reasoning. 4th Grade STEM Sub Plans (12 lessons, 56 pages) — adds measurable criteria, costing, percentage improvement, means and ranges, and source evaluation. 5th Grade STEM Sub Plans (12 lessons, 56 pages) — adds optimization, load-to-mass ratios, conservation of mass, energy chains, and flowchart/pseudocode communication. The Lessons K: Cup Tower · Paper Bridge · Float or Sink · Ramp Roll · Strong Shapes · Magnet Hunt · Chair for a Bear · Keep It Dry · Count and Build · Fix It · Sort the Box · Draw It, Build It 1st: The Ten Card Tower · Paper Bridge Challenge · Ramp Investigation · Shape Strength Test · Boat Cargo Challenge · The Great Egg Drop · Paper Airplane Lab · Build a Better Chair · Magnet Sort and Maze · Shadow Investigation · Sound Makers · Design a Solution 2nd: The Efficient Tower · Material Property Test · Ramp Trials · Shape Strength Lab · Boat Cargo Trials · The Insulation Test · Paper Airplane Lab · Build a Marble Sorter · Friction Surfaces · Parachute Trials · The Sound Barrier Test · Design for Everyone 3rd: The Variables Warm-Up · Bridge Efficiency · Ramp Pattern Prediction · The Pendulum Surprise · Friction Ranking · Insulation Trials · Paper Aeroplane Lab · Material Strength Test · The Outlier Problem · Design a Fair Test · Scale It Up · Claim, Evidence, Reasoning 4th: Write a Better Criterion · The Costing Challenge · Mean, Range and Whether It Matters · The Angle Lab · Percentage Improvement · Design a Fair Test · Scale It Up · The Source Test · Collision Protection · Encode a Message, and more 5th: Improving Is Not Optimising · Define the Real Problem · Four Ideas Before You Judge · Ratios, Not Differences · Conservation of Mass · Identify the Unknowns · The Energy Chain · Where Is Earth's Water? · Gravity and Air Resistance · Distance and Brightness · Flowchart and Pseudocode Relay · Report It So Someone Can Act Every Lesson Includes Word-for-word substitute script Step-by-step (1st) or minute-by-minute (2nd–5th) directions Materials list drawn from a standard classroom: paper, cups, tape, cardstock, books, toy cars, rulers, string, magnets, foil, water Student recording page Notes-back-to-teacher page so you know what happened Clear finish line and success criteria Safety directions Early-finisher options (2nd–5th) What Comes With Each Set A sub folder cover, a classroom information page, emergency 10-minute STEM fillers for when the lesson finishes early or the schedule shifts, and setup guidance for a labeled STEM Sub Tub — a bin of the common supplies so nothing depends on the sub finding materials. What Students Do, K–5 Predict, build, test, count, and try again (K) → build, test, measure, and record (1st) → repeated trials, fair tests, and data tables (2nd) → variables, prediction error, outliers, and CER (3rd) → measurable criteria, load per pound, percentage change, and whether a difference matters (4th) → optimization, ratios, trade-offs, and writing a procedure another pair can execute without help (5th). These aren't crafts to keep a room quiet; students collect data and explain what it means, even on a sub day. Format 6 PDF files, 333 pages total Print-and-go; designed to live in a sub folder or binder all year 12 lessons per grade, approximately 20–25 minutes each in K and a full STEM block in 1st–5th Materials are common classroom supplies; no kit required Teaching duration: 1 full school year per grade Sub Plans vs. the Other Short Activities The K–5 STEM Task Cards and K–5 STEM Early Finishers bundles are 5–10 minute activities students run themselves. Sub Plans are full lessons a substitute runs — scripted start to finish, with a class-wide structure and a page that comes back to you. If you're covering an absence, this is the one. The weekly engineering challenges are in the K–5 STEM Challenge Cards Bundle, the student recording pages in the K–5 STEM Journal Bundle, and the unit capstones in the K–5 STEM Projects Bundle. Teacher lesson plans for the regular year are in the K–5 STEM Curriculum Bundle, and everything together is the K–5 STEM Mega Bundle. Every sub plan set works on its own — no other purchase needed. Why Buy the Bundle Six sets bought separately cost $59.94. This bundle is $41.96 — and gives a STEM specialist, a grade-level team, or a whole elementary building a scripted STEM lesson ready for any sub, in any classroom, on any day of the year. Print once. Prep once. Be ready for the unexpected — K through 5.
$41.96
Bundle
2nd Grade STEM Bundle | Full-Year Engineering Activities
2nd Grade STEM Bundle | Full-Year STEM Curriculum | Engineering Activities, Projects, Task Cards & More Make STEM learning engaging, hands-on, and easy to plan all year long with this comprehensive 2nd Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle! This collection brings together multiple formats of age-appropriate STEM and engineering activities designed to help second grade students explore, create, problem-solve, test ideas, and think like young engineers. With a full-year curriculum, challenge cards, STEM journals, projects, task cards, early-finisher activities, and substitute plans included, this 2nd Grade STEM Bundle gives teachers a flexible collection of resources for instruction, enrichment, independent practice, and unexpected classroom needs. What's Included This bundle includes 7 second grade STEM resources: • STEM Curriculum — 36 weekly challenges across 6 units, 5 sessions each • STEM Journal — 180 student recording pages • Challenge Cards — 96 student-facing cards including 36 Level Up extensions • STEM Projects — 6 unit capstones plus 12 standalone mini-projects • Task Cards — 80 math, science and coding skill cards • Early Finishers — 40 no-prep challenges with choice board and bin labels • Sub Plans — 12 emergency lessons with word-for-word scripts Together, these resources provide multiple ways to introduce, practice, apply, document, and extend STEM and engineering learning throughout the school year. How It Works in the Classroom Use this 2nd Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle for: • Daily or weekly STEM instruction • Engineering design challenges • STEM centers and stations • Whole-group lessons • Small-group activities • Hands-on STEM projects • Independent practice • STEM journals and reflection • Early-finisher activities • Substitute teacher plans • STEM enrichment and extension • Flexible classroom activities Use the curriculum for structured STEM instruction, challenge cards and task cards for shorter learning experiences, projects for hands-on application, journals for recording and reflecting on learning, and early-finisher resources for meaningful extension. Standards & Learning Goals Students develop foundational STEM and engineering skills through engaging, age-appropriate activities, including: Engineering Design • Identifying problems and needs • Brainstorming possible solutions • Designing and building • Testing ideas • Evaluating results • Improving designs Problem-Solving • Thinking creatively • Using logical reasoning • Trying different approaches • Learning from unsuccessful attempts • Making decisions and solving challenges STEM Thinking • Observing and investigating • Asking questions • Making predictions • Exploring cause and effect • Applying knowledge to real-world challenges Communication & Reflection • Explaining ideas and solutions • Sharing designs • Recording observations • Reflecting on challenges • Describing ways to improve a solution Why Teachers Love It * Uses common classroom and recycled materials — full materials list included * Complete second grade STEM resource collection * Seven complementary STEM resources in one bundle * Full-year engineering activities * Multiple ways to teach and practice STEM * Supports hands-on learning and creativity * Builds problem-solving and critical-thinking skills * Includes curriculum, projects, task cards, challenge cards, and journals * Provides meaningful early-finisher activities * Includes substitute teacher plans * Flexible for whole-group, small-group, center, and independent learning * Saves valuable planning time This 2nd Grade STEM Bundle gives teachers a ready-to-use collection they can pull from throughout the school year. Whether you need a structured lesson, a quick challenge, a hands-on engineering project, an independent task, an early-finisher activity, or a substitute plan, you'll have a STEM resource ready to go. Download Today Add this 2nd Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle to your classroom and give students a full year of opportunities to explore, design, build, test, problem-solve, and think like engineers! With multiple resource formats included, you can keep STEM learning fresh and flexible while giving second graders meaningful opportunities to develop creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and engineering skills.
$49.00
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