PROGRAM OVERVIEW
STUDENT ACTIVITIES
HANDS-ON LESSONS
EXPANDED INFORMATION
EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS
EDUCATOR ASSESSMENTS

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TEACHER TOOLKIT

APS Foundation and NTC invite you to use these e-learning resources to teach your students about the importance of STEM. The digital materials below are designed to get your students excited about understanding this important subject.

Want to know the best way to use the related videos, games, e-books and other lessons to educate your class? Watch this short video and learn how to add Connect2Next: STEM Challenge to your curriculum!


PROGRAM OVERVIEW  

Our live in-school theatrical programs are a great way to educate students about a wide variety of important topics. Theater has the ability to capture imaginations and educate at the same time! This 25-minute show features two engaging actors performing a fun story that keeps kids laughing and learning.

The Connect2Next: STEM Challenge teaches viewers about the following educational points:

  • What STEM is
  • The three C’s of STEM – Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking
  • How STEM is used to solve problems
  • How STEM learning connects to school, workplace, and community

During the show, your students will learn important lessons about STEM. You can use the lessons and activities on this page to prolong the engagement for months to come.

Educational Standards  

We know your class time is extremely valuable. That’s why we ensure that all of our digital e-learning materials are aligned with state and national educational standards. It’s important that the Connect2Next: STEM Challenge program adds to your existing curriculum and keeps students on track with their ongoing learning.

See below for details about how each digital activity aligns with educational standards and corresponds with your state’s curricula.

Educational Standards

STUDENT ACTIVITIES  

The Connect2Next: STEM Challenge student activities page features games, educational lessons, downloadable PDFs, e-books, Power Play games and more! Access in the classroom or at home to learn more about STEM and have fun joining the Connect2Next: STEM Challenge!

Student Activities Page

Student Playbook

This downloadable PDF features colorful artwork, entertaining games and activities, and expanded information to complete your understanding of water conservation. Read on your own, with your class, or with friends and family and get to know the characters of Connect2Next: STEM Challenge.

Explore the Student Playbook

E-book

This colorful, illustrated e-book is a great follow-up to the live program. Students can read to themselves or with others, and younger students can use the read-along option. The e-book takes your students on a new adventure and includes fun interactive activities throughout.

Access the K-2 E-bookAccess the 3-5 E-book

Graphic Novel

Young readers love comic books. They can be a great way to get reluctant readers to participate. The high-quality graphic novel gets students excited about continuing the journey they started with the live program. With fun artwork and entertaining characters, the graphic novel offers a page-turning experience.

Access the Graphic Novel

HANDS-ON LESSONS  

Your students can enhance what they learn from the program with these fun, hands-on lessons and experiments. These lessons can be done in the classroom or easily adapted for students to do at home with their families.

They’re a fun and educational way for students to learn with family members. The materials needed for these lessons are basic supplies that most people have at home. Follow up with your students to make sure they enjoyed and learned from these activities.

Lesson 1: Printable PDF

Matter, Heat and Insulation

Objective
Students will use the engineering process to develop an insulated container to minimize the loss of heat energy.

Purpose of Activity
Read or Listen, Identify Details, Apply Skills

21st Century Skills
Critical Thinking, Collaboration

Cognitive Level
Strategic Thinking, Extended Thinking, Skills and Concepts

Class Time
2 hours

Materials

  • Hot water
  • Plastic cup
  • Thermometer
  • Bubble-wrap, wool, cotton and other items to be used for insulation
  • Timers
  • Thermos
  • Laptops or digital device for research
  • Student sheet

Procedure

  1. Show the thermos. Explain that heat energy can be gained or lost due to the cooling or heating effects of the environment. Ask students why they think this thermos can keep something hot on a cold day and have them write ideas down.
  2. Students will conduct an investigation with hot water. The students will try to keep the hot water as warm as possible for the designated time. For the investigation, students will use the cup. They will use other insulating materials to help the container be as effective as possible.
  3. Students then make modifications to the container for a second test.
  4. Students will use the student sheet to record observed temperatures under the evidence portion and will also give reasoning. They will then formulate a claim on how these experiments work and also an explanation.

Critical Thinking Questions

Which insulation worked best to insulate the water?

  • The wool.

What role did heat transfer play in the design of the insulation?

  • Heat transfer was being prevented.

Adapted from: https://energy.utah.gov/energy-education/curriculum/


Lesson 2: Printable PDF
Cupcake Drilling

Objective
Students will model geologic drilling using layered cupcakes to learn about rocks below the Earth’s surface.

Purpose of Activity
Read or Listen, Identify Details, Apply Skills

21st Century Skills
Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Creativity

Cognitive Level
Strategic Thinking, Extended Thinking, Skills and Concepts

Class Time
60 minutes

Materials

  • White cake mix
  • Frosting
  • Food coloring
  • Foil baking cups (must be opaque)
  • Cupcake or muffin pan
  • Plastic cutlery
  • Clear plastic straws
  • Crayons, markers or colored pencils
  • Student sheet

Procedure

  1. Prepare layered cupcakes prior to beginning the lesson. See baking instructions below.
    • Mix the batter according to cake mix directions. Separate the batter into three bowls and add drops of food coloring to each bowl until desired color is achieved. Line a cupcake pan with foil baking cups. Spoon one tablespoon of each colored batter into the foil cup; order of color does not matter, and layers do not need to be smooth or uniform. Continue adding batter until the foil cup is half full. Bake according to cake mix instructions. Mix green (for grass) or brown (for soil) food coloring into the frosting. Once the cupcakes have baked and cooled, ice the top so that no part of the cupcake is showing
  2. Distribute a cupcake, plastic cutlery, three straws and student sheet to each student. Instruct students to not touch or eat the cupcake until told to do so.
  3. Explain that each cupcake represents a small part of the Earth.
  4. Ask the class what techniques could be used to determine what the cupcake looks like inside. Common answers include:
    • Scrape back the icing. This will show the cupcake’s surface, much like a bulldozer is used to expose rock, but it does not expose rocks at depth.
    • Cut or bite into the cupcake. This would work similarly to man-made outcrops (quarries, pits, roadcuts) or natural outcrops (river valleys). Unfortunately, outcrops are scarce, not always located where information is needed and limited in depth below the surface.
    • Use an “X-ray machine.” This is similar to ground-penetrating radar and seismic shockwaves that allow geologists to image the Earth below their feet. However, this approach does not tell geologists what type or age the rocks are, only how they are arranged.
    • Use the straw to drill into the cupcake. The straw can drill into the cupcake to reveal the layers below the surface. Geologists call these samples a core.
  5. Instruct students to use one straw to drill a hole directly into the center of their cupcake. Hold the straw upright and rotate it slowly until it reaches the bottom of the cupcake. Pull the straw out to reveal the colored layers of the core.
  6. Instruct students to draw the colored layers of their core on their student sheet.
  7. Using a clean straw, drill a second hole into the cupcake and draw the colored layers of the core on the student sheets. Repeat until all three cupcake cores are drilled and drawn.
  8. With a pencil, the students will connect the similar layers of the three cores to create a cross-section of their cupcake. Ask students to make an inference on what the interior of cupcake looks like based on their core observations.
  9. Use the plastic cutlery to cut the cupcake in half. Students should cut through their core holes in a straight line.
  10. Instruct students to draw the cupcake interior once it is cut open. Compare the student’s cross-section to the actual cupcake layers.

Critical Thinking Questions

What could you have done to make a more accurate cross-section?

  • Used more straws to take more core samples.

Why do geologists study the subsurface?

  • They can discover natural gas deposits, they can study rocks, they can see fossils, etc.

Adapted from: https://dev1.igs.indiana.edu/outreach/CupcakeDrilling.pdf

EXPANDED INFORMATION & ADDITIONAL RESOURCES  

You’ve covered the basics of STEM. If you really want to dig deep with your class, explore the expanded information and additional resources below.

These materials provide even more insight into the history, science, usage and importance of STEM. There are also helpful links and tips.

Expanded Information 1:

Solar Power

The surface of the Sun has a temperature of about 5,800 Kelvin (about 5,500 degrees Celsius, or about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit). At that temperature, most of the energy the Sun radiates is visible and near-infrared light. At Earth’s average distance from the Sun (about 150 million kilometers), the average intensity of solar energy reaching the top of the atmosphere directly facing the Sun is about 1,360 watts per square meter, according to measurements made by the most recent NASA satellite missions. This amount of power is known as the total solar irradiance.

A watt is a measurement of power, or the amount of energy that something generates or uses over time. How much power is 1,360 watts? An incandescent lightbulb uses anywhere from 40 to 100 watts. A microwave uses about 1,000 watts. If, for just one hour, you could capture and re-use all the solar energy arriving over a single square meter at the top of the atmosphere directly facing the Sun, you would have enough to run a refrigerator all day.

The total solar irradiance is the maximum possible power that the Sun can deliver to a planet at Earth’s average distance from the Sun; basic geometry limits the actual solar energy intercepted by Earth. Only half the Earth is ever lit by the Sun at one time, which halves the total solar irradiance.

In addition, the total solar irradiance is the maximum power the Sun can deliver to a surface that is perpendicular to the path of incoming light. Because the Earth is a sphere, only areas near the equator at midday come close to being perpendicular to the path of incoming light. Everywhere else, the light comes in at an angle. The progressive decrease in the angle of solar illumination with increasing latitude reduces the average solar irradiance by an additional one-half.

Averaged over the entire planet, the amount of sunlight arriving at the top of Earth’s atmosphere is only one-fourth of the total solar irradiance, or approximately 340 watts per square meter.

Source: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/EnergyBalance/page2.php

EDUCATOR ASSESSMENTS  

Follow-up, formative assessments for you to gauge the learning of your students are especially important with e-learning. Below are some suggestions for how you can assess your students’ performance quickly and effectively.

These assessments are easy for you and your students to complete and help ensure your class is getting the maximum educational value, retention and engagement from the related digital activities.

Elementary Educational Assessments Livestream Hands-on lessons Digital games E-book Graphic novel Interactive activities PDFs & Print materials
Ask students to reflect on the topic and draw their thoughts on paper X     X X    
Write one or two sentences identifying the main point X X   X X    
Think-pair-share X     X X    
One-question quiz     X     X  
Journal reflection X     X X    
Have students discuss three things they learned, two things they still want to learn, and one question they still have X     X X    
Hand in completed activity   X         X
Submit screenshot of completed activity     X     X  

EVALUATION

We take your feedback and suggestions very seriously. Hearing from educators with firsthand experience with our programs ensures that we continue to improve our digital resources, making them as beneficial as possible for you and your students.

Please complete this brief, two-minute evaluation to let us know what you think about the program. Enter the code you received on the half sheets from our actors or call us for your access code.

Thank you for your time and valuable input.

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