Grade 1 STEM Full-Year Curriculum provides 36 weeks of hands-on STEM and engineering instruction built around practical challenges using common classroom and recycled materials. Students learn a consistent engineering process: ask questions, investigate, plan, build, test, improve, and reflect.
The curriculum includes 36 weekly challenges organized into six themed units, with five sessions dedicated to each challenge. Lessons follow a predictable structure: Engage, Investigate, Plan, Build and Test, and Improve and Reflect. Students explore concepts, collect data, examine criteria and constraints, sketch solutions, predict results, construct models, measure outcomes, make improvements, and communicate what they learned.
The resource includes criteria and constraints, predictions, measurements, data tables and graphs, unplugged coding activities, engineering design tasks, differentiation suggestions, safety guidance, rubrics, exit tickets, and assessment support. It also provides alignment with NGSS, CCSS Math, and CCSS ELA standards, including K–2 Engineering Design standards K-2-ETS1-1, K-2-ETS1-2, and K-2-ETS1-3.
Six complete units cover the school year. Engineering and Design introduces towers, paper tables, blueprints, constraints, and design challenges. Materials and Structures explores material testing, bridges, windproof houses, earthquake-resistant towers, and strong shapes. Forces and Motion includes ramps, boats, balloon-powered cars, pendulums, magnets, and motion machines. Plants and Animals focuses on seed dispersal, animal tools, shelters, camouflage, plant supports, and biomimicry. Weather and Earth includes weather instruments, sun shades, rain-proof roofs, daylight patterns, erosion, and weather reporting. STEM Problem Solving covers levers, pulleys, light and sound signals, playground design, and a final engineering showcase.
Students develop skills in engineering design, problem solving, questioning, modeling, testing, measurement, data collection, pattern recognition, algorithms, debugging, and communicating evidence. Unplugged coding activities provide opportunities to practice sequencing and computational thinking alongside hands-on STEM work.
The curriculum is designed to save teachers planning time while keeping students actively involved in meaningful, collaborative learning. Differentiation and extension opportunities support varied learners, while student designs, data, reflections, exit tickets, and assessments provide evidence of progress.
A central focus throughout the program is the engineering mindset of building, testing, improving, and testing again. Students are encouraged to use evidence from their results to make thoughtful design changes rather than simply completing a craft.
Overall, this full-year Grade 1 curriculum integrates science, engineering, mathematics, coding, data skills, and problem solving into 36 structured weeks of engaging, hands-on learning.
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K - 5 STEM Curriculum Bundle | Full-Year Engineering Activities
K–5 STEM Curriculum Bundle | 216 Weekly Engineering Challenges | Full-Year Teacher Lesson Plans for Every Grade Six full-year STEM curricula — 36 weekly engineering design challenges per grade, one for every week of the school year, in six units with a five-session structure — 1,074 pages of teacher-facing lesson plans from Kindergarten through 5th Grade, using materials you already have. This is the backbone of the K–5 STEM program: the lesson plans a teacher opens on Monday. Every other resource in the store — the challenge cards, journals, projects, task cards, early finishers, and sub plans — is built to sit on top of these six curricula. Buy this and you have the year planned. Add the companions when you want them. What's Included Six complete grade-level curricula (1,074 pages, 216 weekly challenges): Kindergarten STEM Curriculum — 36 challenges on an Ask → Imagine → Build → Share routine, sized for five-year-olds. Ends with an Invention Convention. 1st Grade STEM Curriculum — Units: Engineering & Design · Materials & Structures · Forces & Motion · Plants & Animals · Weather & Earth · STEM Problem Solving. Capstone: Young Engineers Showcase. 2nd Grade STEM Curriculum — Units: Engineering Design · Matter & Materials · Forces & Motion · Living Systems · Earth & Weather · Human Solutions. Capstone: STEM Problem Solvers Showcase. 3rd Grade STEM Curriculum — Units: Engineering Design · Forces & Motion · Matter & Materials · Life Science · Earth & Space · Engineering for Communities. Capstone: STEM Investigators Showcase. 4th Grade STEM Curriculum — Units: Engineering Design · Energy · Waves & Communication · Earth Systems · Life Science · Engineering Our World. Capstone: STEM Designers & Innovators Showcase. 5th Grade STEM Curriculum — Units: Engineering Design & Innovation · Matter & Chemical Systems · Energy · Earth & Space · Ecosystems & Sustainability · Technology & Future Solutions. Capstone: STEM Innovators Showcase. The Challenges Six units per grade, six challenges per unit, one per week. A sample from each year: K: Tower Power · A Chair for Teddy · Bridge for a Toy Car · Ramp Racers · Boats Afloat · Magnet Movers · Rain Shelter · Stop the Flood · Playground Designers 1st: Tallest Tower Challenge · Windproof House · Earthquake-Proof Tower · Balloon-Powered Car · Seed Dispersal Device · Erosion Barrier · Pulley Power · Design a Playground 2nd: Design a Stronger Bridge · Design a Water Filter · Build a Marble Run · Design a Parachute · Pollinator Garden Model · Erosion Control Engineers · Design a Water-Saving Device · Design for Everyone 3rd: Design a Bridge · Build a Wind-Powered Vehicle · Create a Solar Oven · Build a Model Ecosystem · Design a Weather Station · Create an Earthquake-Resistant Structure · Engineering for Water Access 4th: Solar and renewable energy · Communication systems · Erosion protection · Earthquake-resistant buildings · Biomimicry · Product design 5th: Water purification · Solar-powered devices · Wind turbines · Energy grids · Earthquake-resistant structures · Mars habitats · Assistive technology · Sustainable cities How a Week Runs From 1st Grade up, each challenge follows the same five-session structure — Ask, Investigate/Imagine, Plan, Build & Test, Improve & Reflect — so students learn one routine and use it all year. Kindergarten runs a simpler four-step routine in shorter sessions. Every challenge has a driving question, criteria, constraints, and a prediction before building; from 2nd Grade up, required trial counts and data to record; from 4th up, a client scenario and a budget. How It Grows, K–5 K: count, compare, build, and try again — Ask · Imagine · Build · Share 1st: change one thing and test again; measure in cm; simple data 2nd: three ideas before choosing; repeated trials; graphs; numbers as evidence 3rd: independent/dependent/controlled variables; fair tests; efficiency; claim–evidence–reasoning; unplugged coding 4th: measurable criteria; budgets and cost per unit; weighted decision matrices; source reliability 5th: trade-offs and optimization; ratios and rates; technical summaries; flowcharts and pseudocode By Week 36 of 5th Grade, students independently define a problem, research it, run the full engineering process, and report a recommendation someone could act on. Format 6 PDF files, 1,074 pages total Teacher-facing lesson plans; print-and-go All challenges use everyday classroom supplies — cups, straws, tape, paper, string, blocks — with a materials list for every challenge and no kit required Teaching duration: 1 full school year per grade Build Out From Here Each curriculum has six companion resources, all built on the same 36-week sequence and unit colors: K–5 STEM Challenge Cards — the student-facing card for every weekly challenge, plus Level Up extensions and Quick Builds K–5 STEM Journals — the student recording pages for every weekly challenge K–5 STEM Projects — the six unit capstones per grade, extended into full team projects, plus 72 mini-projects K–5 STEM Task Cards — 5–10 minute skill practice with answer keys K–5 STEM for Early Finishers — a self-managing routine for independent time K–5 STEM Sub Plans — scripted lessons for absence days All seven, for all six grades, are in the K–5 STEM Mega Bundle. Why Buy the Bundle Six curricula bought separately cost $142.94. This bundle is $89.99 — and gives a STEM specialist or a whole elementary building one 216-week engineering sequence, K through 5, with every companion resource designed to plug straight in. Ask. Imagine. Plan. Build. Test. Improve — 36 weeks, every grade.
$89.99
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1st Grade STEM Bundle | Full-Year Engineering Activities
1st Grade STEM Bundle | Full-Year STEM Curriculum | Engineering Activities, Projects, Task Cards & More Make STEM and engineering easy to teach all year long with this comprehensive 1st Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle! Packed with multiple formats for hands-on learning, this collection gives first grade students repeated opportunities to explore engineering, problem-solving, creativity, and design through engaging, age-appropriate STEM activities. With curriculum lessons, challenge cards, STEM journals, projects, task cards, early-finisher activities, and substitute plans all included, this 1st Grade STEM Bundle provides flexible resources for keeping young learners engaged while saving teachers valuable planning time. What's Included This bundle includes 7 first 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 formats for introducing, practicing, applying, documenting, and extending STEM and engineering learning throughout the school year. How It Works in the Classroom Use this 1st Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle for: • Daily or weekly STEM instruction • Engineering challenges • STEM centers and stations • Whole-group lessons • Small-group activities • Independent STEM practice • Hands-on projects • STEM journals and reflection • Early-finisher activities • Substitute teacher plans • Enrichment and extension • Flexible no-prep or low-prep STEM learning The variety of resources makes it easy to adjust instruction based on your schedule and classroom needs. Use the curriculum for structured instruction, challenge cards and task cards for shorter activities, projects for hands-on application, journals for student reflection, and early-finisher resources for meaningful extension. Standards & Learning Goals Students build foundational STEM and engineering skills through age-appropriate challenges and activities, including: Engineering Design • Identifying problems • Brainstorming solutions • Designing and building • Testing ideas • Improving solutions Problem-Solving • Thinking creatively • Trying different strategies • Learning from mistakes • Making decisions • Explaining solutions STEM Thinking • Observing and investigating • Asking questions • Making predictions • Applying reasoning • Connecting ideas to real-world situations Communication & Reflection • Describing designs • Sharing ideas • Recording learning • Reflecting on challenges • Explaining how solutions can be improved Why Teachers Love It * Uses common classroom and recycled materials — full materials list included * Complete first grade STEM resource collection * Seven complementary STEM resources in one bundle * Full-year engineering activities * Multiple instructional formats * Supports hands-on STEM learning * Encourages creativity and problem-solving * Includes projects, task cards, challenge cards, and journals * Provides early-finisher activities * Includes substitute teacher plans * Flexible for whole-group, small-group, centers, and independent learning * Saves valuable planning time Instead of searching for different STEM activities throughout the year, teachers can use this 1st Grade STEM Bundle as a flexible resource library with options for instruction, practice, enrichment, projects, and unexpected schedule changes. Download Today Add this 1st Grade STEM Curriculum Bundle to your classroom and give students a full year of opportunities to design, build, explore, problem-solve, and think like engineers! Whether you need a structured STEM curriculum, a quick challenge, a hands-on project, an independent activity, an early-finisher option, or a substitute plan, this bundle gives you resources you can reach for throughout the school year.
$48.00
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