End of the Year STEM Activity

Are you looking for a way to keep your students engaged through the end of the year? This set of STEM task cards will help your students keep their hands and minds busy with challenging construction tasks.

Through this activity, students will use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to build a variety of items. A reflection sheet is also included for students to think about challenges they encountered and what additional materials would be helpful with their design.

Tips for Differentiation + Scaffolding 

A team of dedicated, experienced educators created this resource to support your end-of-year lessons.

In addition to individual student work time, use this STEM activity to enhance learning through guided science groups, whole class lessons, or remote learning assignments.

If you have a mixture of above and below-level learners, check out these suggestions for keeping students on track with the concepts:

🆘 Support Struggling Students

Help students who need help understanding the concepts by completing the activities with a partner or small group.

➕ Challenge Fast Finishers

For students who need a bit of a challenge, encourage them to create different items with the materials provided.

🛴 Scoot Activity 

Place the cards around the room. Assign students or pairs to a starting point card. Give students time to review the card and build what is on the card with the given material.  After a set amount of time, students will disassemble their creations and rotate to the next card when you say, “SCOOT!” Continue in this manner until students return to their starting point.

👋 Exit Ticket

Use these cards as a formative assessment after your lesson. Pick a random assortment of cards and project them on the board for the whole class to see. Students can record their answers on a sheet of paper, sticky note, or their notebook.

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or editable Google Slides version of this resource.

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access.

To keep the task cards out of pockets or under desks, punch a hole in the corner of each to place them on a binder ring.

Gather building materials and put them in a central location or by individual task cards.

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This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and Teach Starter Collaborator.

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more activities and resources that cut down on lesson planning time:

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