Grade 1 STEM Sub Plans | No-Prep Emergency STEM Lessons
Be prepared for unexpected absences with 12 complete, ready-to-use Grade 1 STEM lessons designed specifically for substitute teachers. The lessons require no STEM background and use simple materials commonly found in elementary classrooms.
The resource pairs with the Grade 1 STEM Full-Year Curriculum, but the lessons are standalone and non-sequential, allowing a substitute to select any activity without needing knowledge of previous instruction.
What’s Included- 12 complete Grade 1 STEM lessons
- Word-for-word substitute scripts
- Step-by-step teacher directions
- Student pages for every lesson
- Notes-back-to-teacher pages
- Emergency 10-minute STEM fillers
- Sub folder cover
- Classroom information page
- Materials lists
- Clearly defined lesson finish lines
- Activities using common classroom supplies
- 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
Each lesson provides clear instructions so a substitute knows exactly what to say and do. Activities use familiar materials such as paper, cups, tape, index cards, books, pennies, rulers, toy cars, foil, craft sticks, straws, magnets, and flashlights.
Students have a defined task and a clear finish line, helping the substitute manage the lesson without complicated preparation or specialized STEM knowledge.
Classroom UsesThese sub plans are suitable for:
- Emergency substitute folders
- Teacher absence days
- Grade 1 STEM classrooms
- Elementary STEM centers
- Engineering challenges
- Science and STEM enrichment
- Last-minute lesson planning
- Emergency 10-minute fillers
The resource is designed to make unexpected absences easier to manage. Teachers can print the lessons once, place them in a STEM Sub Folder, and prepare a small STEM Sub Tub containing basic supplies.
Because the lessons are independent, substitutes can choose an activity based on the available time and materials. The included student recording pages and notes-back-to-teacher sheets also provide documentation of what students completed.
Overall, this resource provides a practical collection of low-prep, structured Grade 1 STEM emergency lessons that keep students building, testing, investigating, and solving problems even when their regular teacher is absent.
Get this resource as part of a bundle and save up to 35%
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
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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