6th–7th Grade: Lesson Plan: STEM & Technology Careers (Month 5) | Everyday Play N Learn Curriculum Series

Core Skills: 4-Step Engineering Problem Solving (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create), Digital Fact-Checking & Internet Safety, Algorithm Precise Instruction & Debugging, Binary Code Translation, Structural Load Testing, & Prototype Pitching

Inspire your middle schoolers to innovate, code, and solve real-world problems with the Month 5: STEM & Technology Careers Lesson Plan by Everyday Play N Learn! This action-packed 21-page monthly curriculum bridges critical digital citizenship and engineering principles with hands-on STEM career discovery.

Tailored specifically for out-of-school time (OST) before-and-after school programming, this unit balances morning conceptual discussions with interactive afternoon STEM labs—from marshmallow-spaghetti towers and truth-detective fact-checking to paper level game design, straw rockets, slime chemical reactions, and a capstone STEM Expo presentation.

What's Inside:

• Week 1 (Life Skills - Problem-Solving & Digital Literacy): Master the 4-step engineering process, test spaghetti/marshmallow towers, spot edited media and fact-check stories, combine old tech to design mix-and-match tools, execute "Human Computer" precision drawing/grid mazes, and practice cyber-kindness and digital citizenship.

• Week 2 (Career Spotlight): Build load-bearing index card platforms (Civil/Mechanical Engineering), test string pendulum variables and mystery liquids (Research Scientist), design graph-paper game levels and hero moves (Video Game Designer), draft problem-solving inventions (Professional Inventor), and host 1-minute product infomercials.

• Week 3 (Different Fields of STEM): Test paper wing lift and coffee filter parachutes (Aerospace), mix stretchy slime reactions and clean pennies (Chemical), decode binary secret messages and design app interfaces (Software), and build paper cylinder tubes and cardboard gears (Mechanical/Civil).

• Week 4 (The Invention & Coding Capstone): Select a Maker or Coder track, draft blueprints, gather recyclables to build physical prototypes or paper-app buttons, debug working models, practice 30-second elevator pitches, and host a final STEM Expo Awards Ceremony.

Product Details:

• Format: Digital Download (Printable PDF)

• Page Count: 21 Action-Packed Daily Lesson Pages

• Structure: Formatted for Before Care (7:00 AM–8:30 AM) and After Care (3:30 PM–6:00 PM) program schedules

• Key Components: Inventor Sketchpads, Binary Code Alphabets, Blueprint & App Design Worksheets, Science Observation Templates, & STEM Expo Pitch Rubrics

• Publisher: Everyday Play N Learn Child Development