K-8 Curriculum

Everything you need for hands-on STEAM!

Is your afterschool or summer program seeking affordable STEAM lessons? Our HYPOTHEkits make it easy to provide K-8 students with fun and educational hands-on STEAM.

Activity Supplies

All of the supplies your students need to complete the hands-on activities, prepped and ready-to-use, packed for each class in lesson-specific bags.

Facilitator Guides

Clear, step-by-step instructions for your program staff to follow. No prior STEAM experience required!

See a Sample Guide

Student-Facing Slideshows

Engaging multi-media slides that guide the class through each lesson.

See a Sample Slideshow

Virtual trainings and client support

After we ship out your HYPOTHEkits, we’ll set up a virtual training session for your program staff. Our team is always available to address any questions or needs that arise!

“HYPOTHEkids has been an incredible partner in bringing high-quality, engaging STEAM experiences to our students. Their hands-on approach not only builds student interest in STEM but also equips our educators with the tools and confidence to lead meaningful instruction. Their training was thoughtful and interactive, and we are excited to see the continued impact of this partnership across our programs.”

Angelique Sherwood – Multi-Site Supervisor

Pricing

The average cost of our hands-on STEAM is $120 per lesson for a class of up to 30 students. We offer sliding scale pricing to ensure affordability for all programs and accessibility for all students. Reach out below to learn more about custom options for your site!

Units

Each unit contains up to 16 hands-on STEAM lessons. We offer a variety of thematic units for the following grade bands:

Living Nature

Our Universe & Beyond

My Body Alive

Engineer It

Lesson 1: Fun In The Sun

Students learn about the sun's role in weather changes, sun safety, and how sunlight impacts our bodies and objects, while also exploring the impact of UV light, creating a bracelet with solar beads to understand the sun's energy.

Lesson 2: Fall Colors

Students will learn why and how leaves change color during Fall through experimentation. They'll identify and explain the role of different pigments found in leaves.

Lesson 3: Squishy Snowflakes

Students will explore the winter season and specifically learn about the unique aspects of snowflakes. Students will explore the states of matter—solid and liquid—by observing how temperature causes snow and ice to melt. They'll create a snow globe to represent a winter scene to reinforce how materials can change with heat and cold.

Lesson 4: April Showers

Students will understand the basic principles of cloud formation and explore the water cycle, understanding how clouds hold water and what happens when they become too heavy and release rain. They'll create a cloud in a jar to visually and practically explore how clouds form and precipitate.

Lesson 5: How Plants Grow

Students will identify and describe the life cycle of a plant. They'll create a model of a plant life cycle replicating the growth of a tree from a seed.

Lesson 1: Sensory Superstars

Students learn about the five senses—sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch—and how they help us understand and navigate the world around us. They'll create a "Texture Hand" by attaching various materials to a hand-shaped template, allowing them to explore and identify different textures through their sense of touch.

Lesson 2: Thinking Cap

Students learn about the brain's functions, memory, and learning process by exploring growth and development from infancy to childhood and discussing the changes and knowledge gained over time. They'll create a wearable brain hat to visually and kinesthetically learn about the brain's structure and functions.

Lesson 3: Balloon Lungs

Students learn where the lungs are located in the body, what they do, and why they are important. They'll create a simple model of lungs using straws and balloons to explore how lungs fill with air when we breathe in and empty when we breathe out.

Lesson 4: Listen to the Lub-Dub

Students learn where the heart is located, the basic components of the heart, and what it does for the body. They'll construct a simple stethoscope to listen to their heartbeat.

Lesson 5: The Science of Blood

Students learn blood and how they travel through the veins. They'll create a Blood Snow Globe to see what blood is made of.

Lesson 1: Weather Wheel

Students will learn about different weather patterns on Earth and create a “Weather Wheel” to explore how weather changes daily and seasonally.

Lesson 2: The Science of Colors

Students will learn about how rainbows are made and explore how different colors mix together to create new colors using the additive color system. They'll create a kaleidoscope, reinforcing their understanding of how light and color work together.

Lesson 3: Light & Shadows

Students will learn how shadows are formed and how our shadows are created by the sun. They'll observe and describe shadows by making different shapes and sizes.

Lesson 4: Earth Layers

Students will learn the names and characteristics of the Earth's four layers, creating a model to visualize each layer.

Lesson 5: Goodnight Moon

Students will learn about the Moon’s main characteristics (shape, surface, and color) and how it moves around the Earth. They'll create a foil-printed moon craft to represent the Moon’s surface.

Lesson 1: Plant Anatomy

Students will identify and describe different parts of a plant. They'll understand how plant parts contribute to its overall growth and survival, and be able to identify and label the main parts of a plant using provided materials.

Lesson 2: Leaf Vasculature

Students will understand the functions of different leaf parts, compare leaf vasculature to human vascular systems, learn about transpiration, and explore how plants use photosynthesis to convert sunlight into energy. They'll create a rubbing of a leaf, labeling the key parts of the vasculature system.

Lesson 3: Photosynthesis

Students will understand the process of photosynthesis and its importance for plant survival, allowing them to identify the key components and requirements for photosynthesis. They'll create a leaf sculpture to reinforce their understanding of photosynthesis.

Lesson 4: Ecosystems

Students will understand the components of an ecosystem, differentiate between producers and consumers, and identify living and non-living things within an ecosystem. They'll create a mini ecosystem in a cup to illustrate the components.

Lesson 5: Food Chains

Students will understand the concept of food chains, including how energy is transferred between organisms, and can classify animals as herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores based on their dietary habits.They'll create and explain their food chain models on paper plates, using drawings or stickers to represent different organisms and arrows to indicate the energy flow.

Lesson 1: My Body Systems & Organs

Students will learn and understand the functionalities of the major body systems and their key organs by creating a 3D human body model.

Lesson 2: Brainy Bunch

Students will create a brain model using modeling clay to demonstrate their understanding of the brain’s major parts and their functions.

Lesson 3: All About Breathing

Students will learn the structure, function, and key parts of the respiratory system and understand the purpose of breathing by constructing a functional model of the human respiratory system.

Lesson 4: Antibodies Attack

Students will discover how the body naturally combats diseases with antibodies. They'll create and match antigens and antibodies to understand how the immune system targets and neutralizes specific pathogens

Lesson 5: Listen To The Lub-Dub

Students will understand the basic anatomy and function of the heart, how to measure heart rate, and how physical activity affects heart rate. They'll construct a simple stethoscope and measure their heart rates.

Lesson 1: Solar System String

Students will gain an understanding of the solar system's structure, learning about the planets and their order from the sun, as well as the fundamental role of gravity in shaping planetary orbits. They'll construct a scaled solar system model to comprehend the relative distances between the planets and the sun

Lesson 2: Layers of the Sun

Students will learn, build, and model the different layers of the sun by using model magic clay.

Lesson 3: Layers of the Earth

Students will learn the Earth’s various layers and properties. They'll create a test tube model made of colored sand that represents the four different layers of the Earth.

Lesson 4: Phases of the Moon

Students will understand why the moon’s appearance changes from Earth and be able to identify and label the moon's phases. They'll build a mobile model of the moon’s phases

Lesson 5: Constellations and Navigation

Students will learn about constellations and how they helped people to navigate. They'll create their own constellation using glow stars.

Lesson 1: Marble Run

Students use the Engineering Design Process (EDP) to construct a marble run, learning about ramps, gravity, potential energy, momentum and kinetic energy. Using simple materials, students design a series of tunnels or obstacles for the marble to travel through to the end.

Lesson 2: Catapults

Students learn how levers can be used to lift objects and the difference between potential and kinetic energy. They'll create a catapult that can launch a porcupine ball and see who's goes the farthest.

Lesson 3: Ferris Wheel

Students explore the functionality and structure of Ferris wheels, including the principles of centripetal acceleration and angular momentum. They'll apply their understanding of the functionality and structure by building their own Ferris Wheel models.

Lesson 4: Giant Swing

Students understand the concept of centripetal force and how it applies to amusement park rides, particularly giant swing rides. By designing a model giant swing, students will explore the forces involved in circular motion and how these forces contribute to the ride’s operation and the rider’s experience.

Lesson 5: Roller Coaster

Students understand the basic principles of physics and engineering that apply to roller coaster design and explore the relationship between form and function in roller coaster designs. They'll design and build a roller coaster using straws and test their model.