STEM SPECTACULARS

Hands-on learning shouldn’t be relegated only to our Science and Math classrooms. Iterative design teaches students how to learn from their mistakes and troubleshoot problems as they arise — and this massive collection of STEM Spectaculars helps you bring hands-on creativity to any lesson. Every resource in the collections below will challenge your students to think outside the box as they take part in all sorts of critical thinking and collaborative problem solving. Whether you’re staging a Dramatic Egg Drop or trying to construct massive towers using nothing more than some spaghetti and string — these resources are Spectacular.

STEM SPECTACULAR COLLECTIONS:

Emc2 Resources

Brainy Bridge Builders

Whether you’re building for strength, size, or stamina… you’ll need to collect all sorts of construction supplies if you want to make a bridge that can stand the test of time. Brainy Bridge Builders puts a gamified twist on a classic STEM challenge that’s guaranteed to make a splash.

Loot Lifters

In the Loot Lifters collection, your students will be working with their teammates to construct elaborate STEM contraptions with the power to retrieve all kinds of precious items that are stranded in far-flung locations around your classroom. Grab your popsicle sticks and prepare for liftoff!

Mini Marshmallow Launch Lab

Watch your students’ imaginations take flight with this sweet collection of Mini Marshmallow activities. Enter the Launch Lab to explore all kinds of themed activities where competing teams will work to build (and activate) their very own marshmallow launching catapults.

Speedy String Slingers

Take your STEM-infused review to new heights with the Speedy String Slingers collection! In each of the activities in this lineup, intrepid teams of students compete to build and use working zip lines by answering all sorts of questions related to your course content.

Stack Skirmish

Discover Stack Skirmish: a collection built for serious play and deeper thinking. Students analyze, design, create, and defend their ideas while energy stays high and prep stays low. Grounded in Bloom’s upper levels and aligned to UDL, this is engagement with purpose. Any way you stack it, it sticks.

S.T.E.M. Camp Commandos

S.T.E.M. Camp Commandos is your ticket to action-packed, student-centered STEM infusion! With five themed collections, each containing five customizable challenges, students will build, engineer, and problem-solve their way through exciting missions. Gear up and take command!

Strategic Stack Attacks

Tower past the competition with this STEM inspired stacking challenge collection. Whether you’re building massive towers out of nothing but dried spaghetti and string or trying to create the biggest pile of miniature candies that you can, Stack Attacks are a guaranteed hit.

EVEN MORE SPECTACULAR STEM CHALLENGES:

Give a click to any of the resources below to infuse a team-based STEM challenge right into your next lesson plan while students master your content!

Mix Up at the Miniature Museum

Mini models. Massive thinking. In Mix Up at the Miniature Museum, students earn LEGO materials through fast-paced review, then construct miniature exhibits tied to a secret theme. Creation, collaboration, critique: this is content mastery you can actually see on display.

Building Vocab

Are you ready to raise the roof? In Building Vocab, the more you know the higher you’ll grow! This hands-on STEM activity gives students the chance to construct massive skyscrapers. But to do so, they’ll have to become expertly familiar with all sorts of unit vocabulary.

Diorama Drama

Diorama Drama turns mastering vocabulary into a gallery of 3D models. Teams earn bricks by proving word mastery, then place each mini-build into a growing diorama. Every decision matters—where models go, how they connect, and what the scene reveals about understanding.

Canyon Dig It?!

Canyon Dig It?! turns old school review into a high-stakes mining mission. Teams earn building supplies by answering questions, then use limited resources to construct and defend a 3D model that proves their thinking. Strategy, creativity, and content knowledge collide!

Mummy Egg Wrap Rumble

Are you ready to wrap up the competition and try your hands at an epic team against team egg-stravaganza? This design challenge will test your ability to work together as you mummify an egg that’s wrapped up so safely that it will protect it from shattering upon impact.

Spooky Spider Chutes

In the Spooky Spider Chutes STEM challenge, it’s a tangled web that we weave. Can your students work together to earn the necessary supplies that will send their spiders soaring safely to the winner’s circle? Give a click to see how you can stick it to the competition!

Leaning Towers of Pasta

Holy macaroni! The Leaning Towers of Pasta puts a clever twist on one of the all-time classic team builders. Because in this challenge, competing teams will need to practice strategy, resource management, and collaborative problem solving.
Emc2 Resources