By Rosalinda Cardoso

As we inch closer to a new year and another winter break, we at NSTEM want to ensure that you are making the best of your time together while taking a little time to enjoy the season. Engaging your students in the science behind snow, snowflakes, and ice can be a fun pathway to STEM learning outcomes while staving off the winter blues. We at NSTEM encourage you to be the spark that ignites curiosity and interest in your winter world, no matter the temperature outside!
This activity from the American Chemical Society is designed for kindergarten students and is estimated to take a class period to complete. Using a minimal supply list of cotton swabs, construction paper, and glue, your students will make a model of a six-sided snowflake to understand water in its solid form and how water forms in clouds. This lesson will introduce your students to STEM learning outcomes by investigating nephrology (the study of clouds and temperature) and hydrology. This plan also includes a winter-themed reading list to excite you and your students for some cozy winter story times no matter what’s happening outside!
This activity from The Smithsonian Institution Archives is designed to demonstrate categories of snowflakes and how they form. This lesson is designed to take 45 minutes to an hour to complete and only requires minimal supplies (cardboard, glue, and a little bit of velvet fabric). Although this challenge is designed for grades 3-6, it can be easily adapted for a younger audience. Try performing the outdoor exercise as a demonstration instead of small groups, making one single board for your students to share (if you need to stay indoors, gather some snowflakes on a board, take pictures with your phone, and create a slideshow of your samples that can be used for future reference). Emphasizing the final classroom exercise can be a festive way to introduce students to STEM learning objectives by exploring basic shapes through observational and comparative analysis.
In this Oak Ridge Institute for Science & Education lesson, students will work individually and collaboratively to design and test an insulator for a ‘snowman.’ In this experiment, each group will be assigned a ‘snowman’ with three ice cubes sealed in a plastic bag. This lesson is designed to take three sessions, each estimated to take around 40 minutes, during which students will be introduced to STEM learning processes by using the scientific method to explore heat energy and thermal transference. Although this lesson is designed to target 3rd-grade students, it can also be adjusted for a younger audience by demonstrating the outdoor challenge for the entire class instead of small groups. Be sure to check out the suggested class reading (“The Snowman” by Raymond Briggs) for a full cozy/winter effect.
At NSTEM, we believe learning and teaching should be equitable for all. Therefore, our featured activities and lesson plans are free to use and require minimal supplies to enjoy. We also believe that lesson plans and activities should meet the needs of both you and your students, so our featured list allows for simple modifications to better serve the needs of younger or more advanced audiences. So stay warm out there and have a winter-themed blast-and-a-half this season!
Do you want more resources on the topic of Winter STEM activities? NSTEM’s vast resources database provides thousands of searchable STEM resources by category, school level, and state. This comprehensive library includes info on enrichment activities, curricula, internships, scholarships, and more. Check out a free sampling here. Or get an NSTEM membership today to unlock the complete list.
Grades K-2 are where it all starts with STEM education. The National STEM Honor Society focuses on “From Pre-K to Career, NSTEM from the Start!” To start your K-2 Chapter of the National STEM Honor Society, click here. Grades 3-5 continue the STEM education journey, where students are interested in the natural world and in how things work, responding to stories told by teachers that give purpose and meaning to STEM disciplines, which molds them into thinkers, problem solvers, and creators. The National STEM Honor Society sees grades 3-5 as a critical point in the NSTEM journey. To start your grade 3-5 chapter of the National STEM Honor Society, click here.