STEM Challenge Reflection Pages for Kids {FREE}
Looking for a simple reflection page you can use with any STEM challenge? This free download is ready to go, with 2 STEM challenge reflection pages. Then use these pages each and every STEM day.
Do you have regular (or semi-regular) STEM challenge days in your classroom? Incorporating different aspects of STEM education is beneficial and important for so many reasons. STEM challenges teach creative problem solving skills and help kids see the importance of fields like math and science and how they relate to each other. Plus, it’s just a fun break from the normal, day-to-day routine! No matter what you use for your STEM curriculum or how often you include STEM challenges, this set of STEM reflection pages is for you. The open-ended design can be used with any STEM lesson or challenge. This time saver means you don’t have to find or create something new every time!
What Are STEM Challenges?
STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. You can also include Art if you’d like, for a STEAM challenge.
A STEM challenge is an open-ended problem/task you present to students that they explore and solve in their own creative way. Ideally, you’ll want to incorporate multiple STEM fields in the problem, such as a science question that includes a technology and math component.
Being comfortable with these important fields and seeing their usefulness can help get kids excited about math and science and prepare them for the future.
Want more details on what a STEM challenge is and how to plan your own lessons? Read this article on planning STEM lessons and grab a FREE set of STEM lesson planning pages.
Benefits of STEM Challenges:
As I mentioned, I believe the benefits of engaging STEM lessons are numerous.
1. Meaningful Application of Skills
First, students get to put the skills they’re learning in the classroom into action. Learning how to measure and use a ruler appropriately? Put those skills to the test with a STEM challenge that includes rulers. This will also help older kids understand fractions as they strive for precise measurements.
Learning about weather? Use math and technology to track the weather over a couple of weeks and then analyze the data in various graphs and charts.
2. Fun Change of Pace
Even though students will still be using their math and science skills, a STEM challenge can be a fun change from the normal, daily routine. They’ll still be learning and practicing skills, but the change can be a good way to motivate students and keep them engaged.
Plus, if there’s a challenge to it, students will be excited to rise to the challenge and try to accomplish the outcome in a creative way (such as designing a boat or tower, etc.).
3. Develop Creative Problem Solving Skills
Kids are naturally curious and creative thinkers. Presenting a fun and engaging STEM challenge gives them a chance to stretch those problem solving muscles and think outside the box.
This doesn’t always happen in a typical math classroom (though it should!). So stepping away from the textbook to remind students that they can think creatively and solve problems in their own way can help them take that back to their everyday math lessons.
4. Introduce New Ideas & Tools
A STEM challenge that includes a technology component can be a great way to introduce technology that students otherwise might not get to learn and use. Or simply use technology in a way that they haven’t before.
Or perhaps you want to talk about a unique science fact that isn’t otherwise included in your curriculum. A simple STEM challenge that focuses on that science topic is a way to introduce it in a fun way.
STEM Challenge Reflection Pages:
Once you’ve decided on a STEM challenge and are ready to present it to your students, you’ll want to grab these reflection pages to help them record their learning.
These open-ended pages are perfect because you can use them with ANY STEM challenge. Simply print the two pages front and back, and your students are ready for their STEM lesson.
Plus, there’s a color and black and white version included for your convenience!
On the front, students write about the challenge (what is the goal, what materials will they use) and sketch a brief plan for how they’ll tackle the problem.
Then they get to work!
After they complete their challenge, they can answer the reflection questions on the back. There are 8 questions to think about what they learned, how their solution could be improved and more.
Although there are spaces to draw pictures of their plans and their final product, this includes a lot of writing. So I would recommend using these STEM reflection pages with kids in 3rd grade and up.
I hope this is a useful resource for you and allows you to include more STEM challenges into your curriculum!
Click the link below to head over to my shop and grab these recording pages for free. 🙂
One Comment
Comments are closed.