At Home STEM Activities

NEW – Chat with a NASA Solar System Ambassador

Looking for fun science-related activities for your kids? Schedule an online video chat during which they can learn about space and engineering from an actual scientist. These personalized 30-minute sessions are sponsored by NASA and Science Heads and are absolutely free. Parental participation is required.

New – Free Online Star Parties

Science Heads is hosting free on-line star parties for people of all ages to enjoy learning about astronomy. Using remotely controlled professional grade telescopes our panel of experts will share with you live images of night sky objects – all from the comfort of your home. Each session will last approximately one hour and requires a computer and an Internet connection.

At Home Activities

Science Heads wants to help during the national health emergency. Since most local schools are closed – we will be regularly posting STEM activities here that your children can do at home.

These activities are both educational and entertaining. It’s also a great opportunity to reinforce what your children have been learning in school.

Here are some of our favorite sources for at-home science activities :

Celebrating Women in STEM (recommended by Charlotte!)

Electricity for Kids (recommended by Charlie!)

Science Snacks from the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

NASASTEM@home from NASA

NASA STEM Activities for Students

Stuck at Home Science from the California Science Center

LiveScience has published a list of links to virtual museums, educational videos, online lessons, and more.

Experiment with a home made spectroscope

Here is an activity that will keep your students engaged for hours. Have them build a cardboard spectroscope using the template below and learn about light. All that is needed is cardboard, glue, scissors and an old CD. Your students can then observe the spectrum of different light sources inside and outside your home (incandescent bulbs, fluorescent lamps, street lights, …). Have them take pictures using their cell phone and consider the following questions:

Why do different light sources produce different spectra? What can the spectrum tell us? How is spectroscopy used by astronomers and chemists?

Below are some links that may provide answers for your at home experimenters:

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-spectroscope.htm

https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/spectra1.html

https://sciencing.com/prisms-work-4965588.html

Stay healthy and safe!

Richard Stember, Exec. Dir. Science Heads

NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador