Looking for fresh ways to challenge and engage your teen with STEM project-based learning at home? Check out these five low-cost, innovative STEAM projects they’ll love.

 

1. Podcasting

No matter the field of study or the path of one’s future career, an exemplary ability to communicate is always at the top of the list of employability skills that industry leaders say they look for when hiring a candidate. Podcasting blends information literacy with sharp writing and speaking skills. Have your teen pick an area of interest and research that topic. Searching for credible resources and organizing them into an entertaining narrative that culminates in a recording they can share with their friends, or even the world, may be just what they need to spark a passion for research, a marketable skill in any industry.

Did you know… Storytelling has been shown to increase confidence and reinforce self-worth, identity, and agency.

Here’s a short list of what you need to get your student started:

        1. Recording Software:
        2. For Mac users: Preinstalled software like GarageBand or QuickTime Player is recommended.
        3. For Windows users: The preinstalled Voice Recorder is a good option.
      2. Editing Software:
        • Audacity is an excellent and free option for editing recorded clips, available for both Mac and Windows users.
      3. Online Recording and Collaboration:
        • Riverside is a great free option for quality online recording and editing, especially if your student wants to interview a professional or collaborate with a friend in another city.
      4. Publishing:
        • Spotify offers free hosting. The show can always be migrated to another host if and when it’s time to scale up.
      5. Microphone:

What learners will gain – research skills, multimedia experience, technology literacy, design-thinking skills, collaboration, time and file management, public speaking, storytelling, and practice with written and verbal communication.

 

2. Making a Pizza from Scratch

For many teens, a tasty treat can be a great motivator. Making a pizza from scratch is a great real-world application for math and science. In this project have your student make their own pizza dough, dream up a flavor profile, and construct a pizza based on their own design.

Step 1: Make the dough

      • 400g (about 3 ¼ cups) plain flour, plus extra to dust
      • 1 x 7g packet of fast-action dried yeast
      • 1 tsp fine salt
      • 1 tsp sugar
      • 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
      • (optional) 1 tbsp cornmeal, polenta, or semolina, to roll out

Combine all ingredients together to create dough, then need the dough for ~1-2 minutes. Rest under the upturned bowl while you complete the next step. 

Notice this is where the math and science are coming in. Young pizza makers will practice accurate measurements when gathering ingredients, science when combining the ingredients into dough and watching it rise, and again how the dough changes as it bakes. 

Step 2: Gather and prepare toppings

Ask your teen to pick out the topping of the pizza if they are feeling adventurous with flavor combinations; however, sticking with classic cheese has never disappointed. Ask your teen to prep the topping as they see fit, under supervision if necessary.

Step 3: Time to bake

Stretch out the dough evenly( <¼” thick) put it on a baking sheet and add your toppings. Let the pizza rest while the oven is preheating. Place in a preheated 450-degree Fahrenheit oven for 10-15 minutes until the base is crispy and golden. 

Step 4: Enjoy!

Let the pizza cool, cut into slices, and enjoy!

Try asking your teens how they observed the dough change over the entire pizza creation process. This is a good entry point into discussions about the biology and chemistry involved in the bread-making process and food systems at large.

What learners will gain – A practical understanding of math and science, practice in patience, tuning of motor skills, data analysis and time management skills, innovation, practice with decision making, critical thinking, and experience with learning through trial and error.

 

3. Engineering Puking Pumpkins and Melons  

Who didn’t love that day in science class where the teacher showed the class how to use chemistry to make the model volcano spew vinegar-scented foam?

This project is very similar though instead of using a paper mache volcano as the vessel for this chemistry experiment, we will be using fruit! If it’s summer we recommend a melon and if it’s closer to Halloween definitely go with a pumpkin for this project.

Now we must advise caution on this project, as the use of sharp objects is a necessity; supervision may be required.

To start, you will want to acquire your vessel – a pumpkin or melon – and have your student draw designs on the skin of the fruit as a template to work from when carving. This design could be a humanoid-type face, or a geometric pattern, really, the sky is the limit.

When the design is complete cut open the top off the fruit and scoop out the guts. If it’s a round object we recommend cutting off a small portion on the bottom to create a flat surface for extra stability.

Begin carving the design! Use extra caution to avoid injury. We recommend wearing a cut glove and investing in a pumpkin carving set if you do not yet have one. Remind students to slow down and take their time; precision is key when carving.

Once the design is cut and all sharp objects are removed from the workspace it is time to make our pumpkins (or melons) spew colorful suds. Below you can find the list of ingredients and recommended proportions. To further exercise your teens’ chemistry and problem-solving abilities, let them experiment with trial and error until they create the ultimate foamy puke.

Need some inspiration? Check out our Halloween-themed attempt at this puking pumpkins project.

Ingredients:
 One carved pumpkin

Baking soda – ½ cup

Vinegar – 2 cups

Food coloring – 5 drops

A large plastic jug or a bucket works too

An outdoor space you don’t mind getting a little messy

What learners will gain – practice with observation and critical-thinking skills, design-thinking abilities, adaptability, and learning through trial and error.

4. Designing and Building a Diorama

Dioramas can be gigantic or tiny; based in a fantasy world, real life, or a place from your student’s favorite nerddom. It could be a model of a place or scene that your student finds awe-inspiring or a place dreamed up in their imagination.

This project is great for creatives, interested engineers, and tech enthusiasts. Dioramas are also great opportunities for tabletop game lovers to get some hands-on learning time with STEAM topics as their projects can be used in their tabletop worlds.

While most of these extraordinary examples use lots of expensive materials with fancy hi-tech tools, the experts at Nerdforge have proven that you can make a lot of pro-looking diorama art on a budget while utilizing everyday hand tools. Keep things affordable by getting creative with materials that can be scavenged around the home like shoe boxes and cotton balls. Pro tip: Check out your recycling bin – there are typically lots of helpful materials to use in crafting and engineering projects while being nice to the environment by giving these items a new purpose.

Don’t know where to start? This comprehensive beginner’s guide can help your student get this project’s wheels in motion.

What learners will gain – Hand-eye coordination, practice with hand tools, patience, creative problem-solving skills, design-thinking, observation, and an engineering mindset.

5. Creating a Mini Ecosystem

Creating and maintaining a healthy terrarium is a great long-term project for teens and is accessible for varying abilities and interests.

Need some more inspiration? Check out our attempt at a terrarium in a mason jar.

Part of the fun of creating terrariums is the forging for small, slow-growing plants to include in the space like mosses, small ferns, and rattlesnake plantain, to name a few. There are also a few creatures that can happily live in a sealed terrarium like isopods, specifically pill bugs.

The undertaking of building a healthy terrarium has a bit of a learning curve, but nothing your teen can not tackle successfully. The YouTube channel Terrarium Designs is a great resource for tips and tricks for creating and maintaining terrariums. We recommend their video, “10 Essential Terrarium Tips for Beginners.” SerpaDesigns on YouTube shows extraordinary examples of the high levels of beauty and innovation that can be achieved with terrariums.

What learners will gain – experience with data collection and analysis, an understanding of ecosystems, critical-thinking skills, project management, hands-on experience with research and the scientific process, observation, plant identification, botany, and horticulture, and practice with decision-making. 

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