4th Grade STEM Sub Plans | Full-Year Engineering Activities

Be prepared for unexpected absences with 12 complete, ready-to-use Grade 4 STEM and engineering lessons designed for substitute teachers, including those without a STEM background. Simply print, organize, and place them in a sub folder for quick access.

The resource pairs with the Grade 4 STEM Full-Year Curriculum, while the lessons are designed to stand alone so a substitute can select an activity without needing to know what students have previously learned.

What’s Included

• 12 no-prep Grade 4 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
• Data collection and analysis
• Safety directions
• Emergency 10-minute STEM fillers
• Classroom information page
• STEM Sub Tub setup guidance

12 Emergency Lessons

• 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

Authentic Grade 4 STEM Thinking

The lessons move beyond simple STEM crafts and provide practice with measurement, variables, data, mathematical calculations, evidence, engineering criteria, cost, efficiency, and fair testing.

Students work on:

• Making predictions
• Creating measurable criteria
• Designing fair tests
• Controlling variables
• Conducting repeated trials
• Measuring results
• Calculating means and percentages
• Evaluating cost and performance
• Supporting conclusions with evidence

For example, The Costing Challenge asks students to compare structures at different budgets and calculate load per pound to evaluate value. The Angle Lab involves testing four ramp angles, conducting repeated trials, calculating means, and predicting the result for a fifth angle. Mean, Range and Whether It Matters introduces students to comparing means while considering variation in the data.

Common Classroom Materials

No specialized STEM kit is required. Activities use accessible supplies such as paper, cardstock, straws, tape, cups, books, washers, rulers, calculators, graph paper, toy cars, marbles, protractors, stopwatches, water, paper towels, scales, clipboards, and highlighters.

A labeled STEM SUB TUB can be prepared in advance so frequently used materials are ready whenever an emergency absence occurs.

Why It Works

The resource gives substitutes ready-to-read scripts, structured lesson sequences, student pages, testing procedures, calculations, data analysis, safety directions, and clear endpoints. Teachers can prepare once and have a dependable collection of emergency STEM lessons available throughout the year.