How to use this page
Pick your grade band below and the page hides the activities you don't need. Every lesson lists time, materials, steps, and one discussion question. Use Print this lesson for a single handout, or print the whole page for a February binder. Each lesson has its own link, so you can drop it straight into a lesson plan or a message to your team.
Activities use common classroom supplies. Anything with water, launchers, or batteries should run with goggles and adult supervision, and the blood activity uses colored water or cards only, never real blood.
A four-week February plan
One week per theme, about three lessons a week. Swap the order freely; each lesson stands on its own.
Sky and Earth
Benjamin Banneker, Gladys West
Shadow clocks and the three-clue hunt build to GPS and Earth's shape.
Power and safety
Lewis Latimer, Garrett Morgan, Marie Van Brittan Brown
Circuits, signals, and alarms: inventions that keep homes and streets safe.
Life and health
George Washington Carver, Percy Julian, Charles R. Drew
Soil, plant chemistry, and blood science, including two scientists with Alabama ties.
Flight and space
Bessie Coleman, Katherine Johnson, Lonnie Johnson, Mae Jemison
From paper gliders to rockets, with two more Alabamians: Lonnie Johnson and Mae Jemison.
The lessons
Benjamin Banneker
Born free in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1731, Banneker taught himself enough mechanics to build a working clock out of wood. In 1791 he helped Andrew Ellicott survey the boundaries of the District of Columbia, running the astronomical instruments, and he published an almanac every year from 1792 through 1797.
STEM concepts: Earth's rotation, patterns in sky data, prediction
Build a shadow clock
- Time:
- 30 min, plus check-ins
- Materials:
- Paper plate, pencil or straw, tape, marker, a sunny spot
- Push the pencil through the center of the plate and set it outside on a flat surface.
- Every hour, trace the pencil's shadow and write the time on the line.
- The next day, use your marks to tell the time without a clock.
Talk about it: Why does the shadow move even though the pencil stays still?
Make a mini almanac
- Time:
- 2 weeks of 5-minute data checks, plus 1 class period
- Materials:
- Daily sunrise and sunset times for your town from a weather service, graph paper or a spreadsheet
- Record sunrise and sunset each day for two weeks and calculate daylight length.
- Graph daylight minutes against date and describe the trend.
- Predict next week's sunrise times, then check how close you were.
- Write one almanac page for your town in the style Banneker used: dates, sky events, and a short note to readers.
Talk about it: Banneker did his calculations by hand for a whole year. What would make that work hard, and how did patterns help him?
Lewis Latimer
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, in 1848, Latimer drew the patent drawings for Alexander Graham Bell's 1876 telephone. In 1882 he patented a better process for making the carbon filaments inside light bulbs, which helped make electric light practical and affordable, and in 1918 he joined the Edison Pioneers.
STEM concepts: Circuits, conductors and insulators, resistance
Light the bulb
- Time:
- 40 min
- Materials:
- AA batteries in holders, small bulbs or LEDs, short wires, test objects (foil, coin, eraser, paper clip, craft stick)
- In pairs, connect a battery, wire, and bulb so the bulb lights.
- Add a gap in the circuit and bridge it with each test object.
- Sort the objects into 'lets electricity through' and 'stops it'.
Talk about it: Why do wires have plastic on the outside and metal on the inside?
Pencil-line filaments
- Time:
- 1 class period
- Materials:
- Pencils of different hardness (2H, HB, 6B), paper, 9-volt battery, LED, alligator clips, multimeter if available
- Draw thick lines of equal length with each pencil.
- Clip each line into a circuit with the LED, or measure its resistance with the multimeter.
- Compare brightness or resistance and rank the 'filaments'.
- Connect the results to why Latimer's better carbon filament mattered.
Talk about it: What makes a good filament: low resistance, high resistance, or something in between? Why?
George Washington Carver
Born in Missouri around 1864, as slavery was ending, Carver spent nearly five decades at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. There he promoted crop rotation and sustainable farming.
STEM concepts: Soil nutrients, plant growth, controlled experiments
Bean garden experiment
- Time:
- 15 min to plant, 2–3 weeks to observe
- Materials:
- Dried beans, cups, two kinds of soil (garden soil and sand), water, ruler
- Plant beans in each soil type and label the cups.
- Water them the same amount and keep them in the same light.
- Measure and draw the plants twice a week and compare.
Talk about it: Which soil helped the plants most, and what does that tell a farmer?
Design a crop rotation
- Time:
- 2 class periods
- Materials:
- Garden soil test kits (nitrogen, pH), soil from two spots, research sheet on legumes
- Test soil samples for nitrogen and pH and record the results.
- Research how legumes such as peanuts and peas add nitrogen to soil.
- Plan a three-year rotation for a small farm plot and explain each choice with your data.
- Present your plan as if advising a farmer, the way Carver did.
Talk about it: Why would planting the same crop every year wear out the soil?
Garrett Morgan
Morgan patented a safety hood in 1914, and in 1916, after a gas explosion in a tunnel under Lake Erie, he wore it in and brought eight trapped men to safety. In 1923 he patented a traffic signal with a third, warning position between stop and go, the job the yellow light does today.
STEM concepts: Engineering design, timing, speed and stopping distance
Traffic signal game
- Time:
- 30 min
- Materials:
- Red, yellow, and green cards; open floor space
- Play 'red light, green light' with only two cards and notice what happens when the color switches.
- Add the yellow card as a 'get ready to stop' warning.
- Talk about which version was safer and why.
Talk about it: What would happen at a busy corner with no warning before the light changes?
How long should a yellow light be?
- Time:
- 1–2 class periods
- Materials:
- Calculator or spreadsheet; optional: LEDs and a microcontroller or Scratch
- Choose three road speeds and convert each to feet per second.
- Estimate yellow time as reaction time (about 1 second) plus speed divided by twice a comfortable braking rate (about 10 ft/s²).
- Compare your answers across speeds and graph them.
- Optional: program a three-light signal using your timing.
Talk about it: Why does a faster road need a longer yellow light?
Bessie Coleman
Unable to get flight training in the United States because of her race and gender, Coleman went to France to train. On June 15, 1921, she earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the first issued to an African American woman, and came home to fly in air shows.
STEM concepts: Forces of flight, variables, fair tests
Paper airplane test pilots
- Time:
- 40 min
- Materials:
- Paper, tape measure, masking tape for a launch line
- Fold one basic airplane and fly it three times, measuring each distance.
- Change one thing only, such as wing size, and fly it three more times.
- Compare the averages and decide which design flew farther.
Talk about it: Why did we change only one thing at a time?
Glide ratio lab
- Time:
- 1 class period
- Materials:
- Card stock, scissors, paper clips, tape measure, a raised launch point
- Build a glider and launch it from a measured height.
- Measure the distance it travels and calculate glide ratio (distance divided by height).
- Adjust wing area or nose weight and test again.
- Explain the changes using lift, drag, weight, and thrust.
Talk about it: Coleman flew loops and figure eights. Which force would she have to control most to do that?
Percy Julian
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1899, Julian completed the first total synthesis of a natural product in the United States, a drug for glaucoma. At the Glidden Company his team made products from soybean extracts, including fire-fighting foam, and found ways to produce cortisone in commercially useful amounts. He earned more than 100 patents and election to the National Academy of Sciences.
STEM concepts: Mixtures, separation, plant chemistry
Soybean detectives
- Time:
- Homework plus 20 min in class
- Materials:
- Food labels from home, chart paper
- Students bring in or photograph food labels.
- Circle any ingredient that comes from soybeans, such as soy lecithin or soybean oil.
- Make a class chart of where soybeans hide in everyday food.
Talk about it: Julian turned one plant into many products. Why would that be useful?
Separate it like a chemist
- Time:
- 1 class period
- Materials:
- Coffee filters, washable markers, water, cups, rulers
- Draw a marker dot near the bottom of a filter strip and dip the edge in water.
- Watch the colors separate as the water climbs and measure how far each travels.
- Calculate each color's distance relative to the water front.
- Connect this to how chemists separate useful compounds from plants.
Talk about it: Why do different substances travel different distances?
Charles R. Drew
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1904, Drew developed ways to separate, protect, and package blood plasma on a large scale. He led the Blood for Britain program, which collected more than 14,000 donations, and he spoke out against segregating blood donations by race. He later chaired surgery at Howard University.
STEM concepts: Parts of blood, compatibility, data and probability
Blood in a jar
- Time:
- 30 min
- Materials:
- Clear jar, water or light corn syrup, red candies or beads, white beans, lentils
- Fill the jar mostly with the liquid: that is plasma.
- Add red beads for red blood cells, a few white beans for white cells, and lentils for platelets.
- Talk about what each part does in the body.
Talk about it: Drew found a way to save the liquid part of blood. Why would that help hurt people far away?
Blood type match-up (simulated)
- Time:
- 1 class period
- Materials:
- Printed blood-type cards or colored water samples (no real blood), compatibility chart
- Give each student a blood type card.
- Use the chart to find who can safely donate to whom.
- Tally the class results and compare them with the share of each type nationally.
- Discuss why blood banks need donors of every type.
Talk about it: Why is type O negative called the universal donor for red cells?
Katherine Johnson
Johnson joined the Langley laboratory of NASA's predecessor in 1953. Her trajectory calculations supported Alan Shepard's 1961 flight, and before John Glenn's 1962 orbit he asked her to check the computer's numbers by hand. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
STEM concepts: Coordinates, projectile motion, checking calculations
Plot the rocket's path
- Time:
- 30 min
- Materials:
- Coordinate grid worksheets, colored pencils
- Give students a list of points to plot in order.
- Connect the dots to reveal a rocket's curved path.
- Have them write their own point list for a partner to solve.
Talk about it: Why do space teams need exact numbers instead of guesses?
Check the computer
- Time:
- 1–2 class periods
- Materials:
- Stomp rocket or soft ball, tape measure, protractor, spreadsheet
- Launch at a measured angle and record the landing distance.
- Use the range equation to predict distance from launch speed and angle.
- Build the same prediction in a spreadsheet, then check one row entirely by hand.
- Compare predicted and measured results and explain the differences.
Talk about it: Glenn asked Johnson to check the computer's numbers by hand. When should we double-check technology?
Marie Van Brittan Brown
A nurse from Queens, New York, Brown worked with her husband, Albert, an electronics technician, to design one of the first home security systems. It used peepholes, a sliding camera, TV monitors, two-way microphones, a remote door lock, and an emergency button. The patent was granted in 1969.
STEM concepts: Engineering design process, circuits, user needs
Who's at the door? periscope
- Time:
- 40 min
- Materials:
- Small cardboard boxes or milk cartons, two small mirrors, tape, scissors (adult help)
- Cut a window near the top on one side and near the bottom on the other side.
- Tape a mirror at an angle behind each window.
- Look through the bottom window to see over a table or around a corner.
Talk about it: Brown wanted to see who was at the door without opening it. What other problems could a periscope solve?
Engineer a door alarm
- Time:
- 2 class periods
- Materials:
- Battery pack, buzzer, foil or a magnetic reed switch, wires; or a micro:bit
- Write a problem statement: who needs this alarm and why?
- Sketch two designs and pick one using criteria such as cost and reliability.
- Build a circuit that sounds when a door or box lid opens.
- Test, improve, and present, including one privacy question your design raises.
Talk about it: Home cameras keep people safe but also record neighbors. Where would you draw the line?
Gladys West
Born in Sutherland, Virginia, in 1930, West worked at the Navy's base in Dahlgren, Virginia, from 1956 to 1998. Her models of the Earth's true shape, built from satellite data, laid groundwork for GPS, and she entered the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2018.
STEM concepts: Distance, circles, trilateration, models
Three-clue treasure hunt
- Time:
- 30 min, outdoors
- Materials:
- Strings cut to measured lengths, three landmarks, a small 'treasure'
- Hide the treasure, then measure its distance from three landmarks.
- Give teams the three string lengths as clues.
- Teams stretch each string from its landmark to find the one spot where all three meet.
Talk about it: Why do we need three clues instead of one?
Find yourself like GPS
- Time:
- 1 class period
- Materials:
- Graph paper, compasses, rulers
- Mark three 'satellites' on a grid and give each a distance to a hidden point.
- Draw a circle around each satellite with that radius.
- Find where all three circles cross, then discuss why real GPS needs a model of Earth's exact shape.
- Extension: research what a geoid is and why the Earth is not a perfect sphere.
Talk about it: If the map of Earth's shape were wrong, how would your GPS position change?
Lonnie Johnson
Born in Mobile, Alabama, in 1949, Johnson earned engineering degrees at Tuskegee and worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Galileo, Mars Observer, and Cassini missions. While testing a heat pump in 1982 he hit on the idea for the Super Soaker. He holds more than 100 patents and entered the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2022.
STEM concepts: Pressure, force, energy, iterating a design
Squeeze bottle splash zone
- Time:
- 30 min, outdoors
- Materials:
- Squeeze bottles of different sizes, water, sidewalk chalk, tape measure
- Squeeze each bottle once, gently, from a starting line.
- Mark where the water lands and measure.
- Repeat with a hard squeeze and compare.
Talk about it: What made the water go farther, and why?
Pressure and range lab
- Time:
- 1–2 class periods
- Materials:
- Water bottle rocket kit or bike pump launcher, safety goggles, tape measure
- Choose one variable: pump strokes, water volume, or launch angle.
- Launch three times at each setting and average the distances.
- Graph range against your variable and describe the relationship.
- Redesign one part of the rocket and test whether it improves.
Talk about it: Johnson found his big idea while working on something else. How can a 'failed' test lead to an invention?
Mae Jemison
Born in Decatur, Alabama, in 1956, Jemison earned a chemical engineering degree at Stanford and a medical degree at Cornell. NASA selected her in 1987, and on September 12, 1992, she flew on Space Shuttle Endeavour's Spacelab-J mission, becoming the first African American woman in space.
STEM concepts: Experimental design, constraints, life science in space
Pack for space
- Time:
- 30 min
- Materials:
- Picture cards of supplies, kitchen scale or 'weight points' worksheet
- Give each team a weight limit for their mission bag.
- Teams choose supplies and add up the weight.
- Each team explains its top three choices.
Talk about it: Why does everything on a spacecraft have to be planned so carefully?
Design a space experiment
- Time:
- 2 class periods
- Materials:
- Research sheet on microgravity, proposal template
- Pick a question that might work differently without gravity, such as how seeds sprout or how a flame burns.
- Write a hypothesis, variables, and a procedure that fits in a shoebox-size space.
- List the safety limits astronauts would need.
- Pitch the experiment to the class as a mission science team.
Talk about it: Jemison was a doctor and an engineer. Why would a space mission need both?
Scholarships to share with students
Pass these to seniors, counselors, and families. Deadlines change every cycle, so check the link before a student applies.
- UNCF STEM Scholars ProgramHigh school seniors and college freshmen · up to $25,000 over college
Tiered support for students headed into STEM majors. The 2026–27 deadline was April 15, 2026; watch for the next cycle. Program page
- National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)NSBE members, high school through graduate school · $5,000–$17,500 sponsored awards
More than $1 million across 122 scholarships in the fall 2026 cycle. Applicants need an active membership and a verified GPA. NSBE's announcement lists two deadlines, December 11, 2026, and February 26, 2027, so confirm on the scholarships page. Scholarships page
- Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF)Current students at TMCF member schools (public HBCUs)
TMCF runs sponsored STEM scholarships each year. Its 2026–27 Wells Fargo Access Scholarship, up to $10,000 for STEM majors, closed July 17, 2026, so start watching for next year's round in early summer. Example listing
- CareerOneStop Scholarship FinderFree search tool from the U.S. Department of Labor
A no-cost database students can filter by state, major, and background. A good first stop before paying for any service. Search scholarships
Last checked October 19, 2026.
Grants for your classroom
- Toshiba America FoundationK–12 teachers · science and math project grants
Grants go straight to teacher-designed projects. Deadlines: grades K–5 on October 1; grades 6–12 under $5,000 on March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1; grades 6–12 over $5,000 on May 1 and November 1. Apply
- Fund for TeachersFull-time PreK–12 teachers with 3+ years of experience
Self-designed summer learning fellowships. The 2027 application opened October 1, 2026, and closes January 21, 2027, at 5 p.m. Central. Details
- DonorsChoosePublic school teachers
Post a classroom project, such as a set of circuit kits or a launcher, and let families and donors fund it. Start a project
Last checked October 19, 2026.
Federal STEM education in 2026: what has changed
Here is what the federal government has done on K–12 STEM over the past year and a half, and what it means for grant writing and student programs.
AI education and the student challenge
An April 2025 executive order created a White House Task Force on AI Education and a Presidential AI Challenge for K–12 students and educators. Its first cycle was scheduled to take submissions in January 2026, with a national championship slated for June 2026, in elementary, middle, high school, and educator categories (Georgetown CSET).
A September 29, 2026, executive order directs federal agencies to replace the term "artificial intelligence" with "super intelligence" (White House). The challenge now runs as the Presidential SI Challenge, open to K–12 students, educators, mentors, and community teams (ORISE).
A grant priority that favors AI and computer science
In April 2026 the Department of Education finalized a supplemental priority it can apply across its discretionary grant programs. It favors projects that build AI literacy, embed AI and computer science in curricula, and train teachers (MeriTalk). If your school writes federal grants, framing a STEM project around these skills can help it score.
HBCUs
An April 2025 executive order created a White House Initiative on HBCUs, focused on private-sector partnerships, R&D competitiveness, and workforce preparation in fields like technology and health care (White House).
Cuts and budget fights at the National Science Foundation
In April 2025, NSF canceled more than 1,000 active research grants, and almost half came from its Directorate for STEM Education, which funds K–12 and informal learning research (AIP). The administration's FY2027 budget proposes cutting NSF from about $8.75 billion to roughly $4 billion. Congress rejected similar cuts for FY2026, and FY2027 funding was still unresolved as of May 2026 (Afterschool Alliance).
Free primary sources for your lessons
- Library of Congress for Teachers: photos, documents, and teaching guides.
- DocsTeach: National Archives documents with ready-made activities.
- NASA STEM: lessons and mission resources, including Katherine Johnson and Mae Jemison.
- Smithsonian Learning Lab: museum objects you can build into collections.
Get the free printable lesson pack
Sign up and download a 7-page pack right away: all 15 trading cards to cut out, a make-your-own hero card, and a Claudette Colvin reading with questions and an answer key. Then get a new lesson every Monday in February.
Sources
- Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, Histories of the National Mall. "Benjamin Banneker." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Lemelson-MIT Program. "Lewis Latimer." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- National Park Service. "George Washington Carver." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Scientific American. "Garrett Morgan." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Smithsonian Institution. "Bessie Coleman." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Encyclopedia of Alabama. "Percy Julian." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Science History Institute. "Charles R. Drew." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- NASA. "Katherine Johnson." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Lemelson-MIT Program. "Marie Van Brittan Brown." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- American Physical Society. "Gladys West." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Encyclopedia of Alabama. "Lonnie Johnson." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- National Women's History Museum. "Mae Jemison." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- UNCF. "UNCF STEM Scholars Program." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- National Society of Black Engineers. "Fall 2026 NSBE Scholarships." September 3, 2026.
- Thurgood Marshall College Fund. "2026–2027 TMCF Wells Fargo Access Scholarship." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Toshiba America Foundation. "Toshiba Announces $194,250 in Grants for 43 Innovative STEM Classroom Projects." February 20, 2026.
- Fund for Teachers. "Grants." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- Crawford, Ali. "Promises and Progress: What Became of the AI Education and Workforce Executive Orders?" Georgetown CSET, November 20, 2025.
- The White House. "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Inaugurates the Era of Super Intelligence." September 2026.
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education. "Presidential SI Challenge." Accessed October 19, 2026.
- MeriTalk. "Final Education Dept. Rule Prioritizes AI in Federal Grants." April 14, 2026.
- The White House. "Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Promotes Excellence and Innovation at HBCUs." April 2025.
- Zhang, Clare. "Funding Cuts Hit STEM Career Pipelines." AIP FYI, May 2, 2025.
- Afterschool Alliance. "Congressional budget battles put STEM education and afterschool programs at risk." May 15, 2026.