STEM Starters - Thermite Reaction - Easy PreK-8

Harness the power of Steve Spangler's popular Thermite Reaction S!CK Science video with this high-interest, no-prep STEM Starters lesson. Give your students the opportunity to observe, reflect, and extend their learning with our differentiated lessons.

What’s included in each STEM Starter?

• Five separate lessons spanning grade levels Early Education, K-1, 2-3, 4-5, and 6-8.
• A SICK! Science video from Steve Spangler
• Teacher directions, including TEKS and NGSS alignment information
• Background science information for in-depth explanations
• Answer keys for all lessons
• Dependent and Modified versions for your students who need differentiation

How can I use these?

Our STEM Starters lessons were designed to be flexible. Here are some great ways to use them:

• A one-day sub plan
• An activity for “Fun Friday”
• A week-long bell-ringer activity that uses a different section of the lesson each day
• A no-prep way to get in your weekly science in your elementary classroom

What supplies do I need?

These no-prep lessons don’t require any special supplies! All that’s needed is a student copy of the worksheet, a way to play the video, and, occasionally, classroom supplies like scissors and glue.

Why should I use these?

STEM Starters lessons help you maximize your students’ science time with a quick, easy-to-implement activity. Connect to critical thinking skills and processing standards while keeping your students excited about science.

What will students learn?

The Thermite Reaction STEM Starters lesson brings real science into every classroom!

Early Ed students will LOOK and THINK about the video with a coloring page for early finishers.

Grades K - 1 students have an “I can look” and an “I can think” exercise about energy and an activity for early finishers.

Grades 2 - 3 students will think like scientists as they describe objects’ physical properties and read a passage, then expand their learning by answering questions describing what happened in the video and completing sentences about how they would conduct the same trick.

Grades 4 - 5 students will observe, study, reflect, and apply like scientists as they answer questions about what caused the phenomenon in the video, read a passage, match vocabulary, and make an illustration showing how energy is being converted from one object to another.

Grades 6 - 8 students will observe, study, reflect, and create like scientists as they respond to the video, read a passage, examine different types of energy, and create a device that utilizes energy transformation.