I love springtime in the classroom! The weather is beautiful and the students seem to be in greater spirits because of the sunshine. There is definitely some renewed energy for the last couple of months of the school year. 

This is the time of year I usually start incorporating spring themed books, STEM activities, and lessons into my plans.

There are so many great books to choose from but one of my favorites is If I Built A Car by Chris Van Dusen. This fun book is a story about a boy telling his dad what kind of car he would build if he could! 

After we read this story, I make a STEM connection with my Wind Car STEM Activity. This fun activity gives students the opportunity to design and create a wind car. It is a fun team building activity that gets students thinking critically as they design and build a car after reading the book. 

Economics is integrated into the lab through discussions and understanding scarcity, human, natural, and capital resources. Students collect the data of the distance their cars traveled. Through this experience students will learn many concepts as they are engaged in a FUN activity!

Another one of my favorite STEM activities to do in spring is my STEM Kite Challenge. What kid doesn’t love to fly a kite?  This challenge will engage your students as they learn about kites, design, and test their kites! Students will construct kites after they research them. Students will go through the Engineering Process as they build and test their kites using various materials to construct it. If you want a literacy connection, you can connect this to Iqbal by Francesco D’adamo.

These STEM activities are a great way to get your students engaged in your lessons, especially when they’re tied to a book! Want more ideas for connecting STEM and literacy? Check out my post here!