Family Science-Engineering Nights
Family Science-Engineering Nights are a great opportunity to bring the whole school community together to play and learn. Schools can hire outside organizations to bring the activities and train the volunteers that you will need to provide or you can plan the event yourself with the help of the activities below.
CRS members can make a request for scientist volunteers to help with science fair judging or with science activities during a family science event. The more advanced notice you can give us, the better your chances will be to connect you with a STEM professional.
Do-It-Yourself Family Science Night Activities
Our collection of activities have been selected for their ease of preparation and effectiveness during family science nights. Each activity download has a list of contents with a brief description of each of the items, a lesson plan for the science night planner, and table top documents for the night of the event.
| Activity | Grade Level | STEM Field | Activity Requires Adult Assistance | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tops, Dowels, Catapult, Parachutes | 3-6 | Physical Science | Yes | Learn about the physics behind tops, dowel building, catapults, and parachutes and how to launch things |
| RotoCoptor | K-5 | Physical Science | Yes | Build Roto-Copters and have them land within a target |
| ExploraGoo | K-5 | Physical Science | Yes | Learn about the properties of this Goo that makes it not quite a liquid and not quite a solid |
| Balance | 3-6 | Physical Science | Yes | Learn about how to balance things using toothpicks and marshmallows |
| Charge It | K-5 | Physical Science | No | Use balloons to learn about static electricity in three different activities |
| Black Magic Markers | K-5 | Physical Science | Yes | Learn about light absorption with black markers and how the color black contains all the colors of the rainbow. |
| Outrageous Ooze | K-5 | Physical Science | Yes | Another gooey activity for students to create their own ooze using white craft glue. |
| Food Fat | K-5 | Physical Science | No | Test different foods’ fat content by rubbing the foods on pieces of brown paper and comparing fat absorption |
| Best Adapted Beak | K-5 | Life Science | Yes | Learn about adaptive changes that organisms make to survive in their environment |
| Reaction Time | K-5 | Life Science | Maybe | Test students’ reaction times based on where they catch a falling object (a ruler) |
| Domino Games: Five Spots Count | 3-6 | Math | Maybe | Earn the most points before a player puts down all of his/her dominoes. Student-directed, domino game for 2-8 players. An adult may need to read and explain directions/game play. |
| Domino Games: Match Mine | K-2 | Math | Maybe | Be the first person to put down all of his/her domino tiles. Student-directed, domino game for 2-8 players. |
| Domino Games: Mexican Train | 3-6 | Math | Maybe | Be the first player to use all of his/her dominoes. Activity overview and background: Student-directed, domino game for 2-8 players. An adult may need to read and explain directions/game play |
| Bean Salad | 1-5 | Math | No | Learn how to count using different kinds of beans |
| Leaf Chromatography | K-6 | Math | Yes | In this activity students will explore the different kinds of pigments in leaves, how the pigments in various leaves differ, and raise questions about how colors are created. |
| Color Lines | K-3 | Math | No | A word problem activity that requires math to solve puzzles |
| Value of Words | 2-4 | Math | No | Each letter of the alphabet is assigned a currency value and students will use the alphabet chart to determine word values. |
| Human Shapes | K-3 | Math | Maybe | Measure arm length and body length to see if they are perfect squares or perfect rectangles |
| Keep-a-Cube | K-6 | Math | No | Try to keep an ice cube form melting for 30 minutes using a set of materials |
| Mystery Coin Puzzle | 3-6 | Math | No | Try to solve math word problems to figure out the correct number of coins |
| Map Challenges | 1-5 | Math | No | Use logic to find an approach to color the map using as few colors as possible |
| It All Adds Up | K-3 | Math | No | Solve one-digit, addition or multiplication problems |
| Mind Explorer | 3-6 | Math | No | Use addition, subtraction, and multiplication skills, along with mathematical precision, to perform a card trick |
| Rainbow Logic | 1-5 | Math | Yes | Identify the pattern of all the colors on a grid after as few questions as possible |
| Rolling Rectangles | 2-6 | Math | No | Predict the volume of various cylinders |
| Rotations | K-2 | Math | Yes | Recognize shape attributes and patterns by tracing a two-dimensional shape |
| Snail Races | K-6 | Math | No | Use addition to advance game pieces to the finish line and analyze winning patterns with knowledge of probability |
| Target Addition | 1-5 | Math | Maybe | Use addition to precisely reach the “target” number |
| Who Won the Race | 2-6 | Math | No | Use deduction and critical thinking to solve ordinal word problems |
| Aluminum Boat | K-5 | Engineering | Yes | Learn about density with this water activity |
| Extraction Challenge | K-5 | Engineering | Maybe | Construct a contraption to extract a ball from a circle of string. Difficulty can be varied by changing the size of the circle or placing the objects in a box |
| Meet in the Middle | 4-7 | Engineering | No | An engineering activity that requires students to work in pairs and plan together to ensure their entrance of a tunnel matches their partners. |
| The Tingler | 3-6 | Engineering | Yes | Build a whistle out of cardboard and see how changing different factors affects the noise production |
| Stomp Rocket | K-5 | Engineering | Yes | Design and improve rocket bodies and then launch them using a plastic soda bottle and bicycle inner tube. |
Family Science Nights for Hire
These Bay Area Organizations are currently offering Family Science Nights for a fee.