K-12 STEM

INL STEM Learning Resources

Explore hands-on STEM lessons, activities and materials that support learning in classrooms and at home.

Explore INL’s collection of educational materials designed to support teachers, students and families. Our resources include interactive lessons, activities, fact sheets and flipbooks created by INL’s team of professional educators. Each activity is aligned with curriculum standards, uses simple materials found at home and encourages creativity and problem solving.  

Hands-On STEM Lessons

X-Ray Your Hand

Have you ever had an X-ray done on your body? Try making an “X-ray” drawing of your hand with a few materials from home. X-rays are powerful waves of energy and similar to light and are a form of radiation. X-rays are beneficial because they can go through substances that light cannot, so they can show images or pictures of the insides of an object, such as the human body.
Make Your X-Ray!

Popcorn Percent Increase

Ratios, direct variation, percentages, and related rates are important concepts in math and science. One of the attractive features of nuclear energy is the ratio of fuel consumed to energy output. A very small volume of fuel yields a lot of energy compared to other fuels like natural gas or coal. A fun activity to model this involves popping popcorn. A small volume of kernels makes a tasty treat with a much higher volume than the input of kernels. Idaho National Laboratory is the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development.
Pop Into the Activity

Background Radiation

Suppose someone sets up a water sprinkler and maintains a steady flow of water to the sprinkler. Counting the rate at which the sprinkler puts water on the ground by how many drops of water fall on a sheet of notebook paper in a short time will not yield the same result every time or in every location. This is because the water falls on to the ground in discrete units (drops).
Try the Sprinkler Test

Atoms Matter

What’s the smallest thing you can think of? Ants? Dust? A blade of grass? Imagine you were shrunk down to the size of an atom and are standing next to a grain of salt. The grain of salt would be the height of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain on Earth.
Explore the Tiny World

Exploding Craft Sticks

When an atom is split, a huge amount of energy is released. When the energy is released in a slow controlled manner, it can be used to generate electricity. Nuclear fission is the process of splitting of a large atom into two or more smaller atoms. At Idaho National Laboratory, nuclear scientists study, create and use nuclear fission to learn more about how to expand the use of nuclear energy.
Trigger the Chain Reaction

Balloon Fission

When an atom is split, a huge amount of energy is released. When the energy is released in a slow controlled manner, it can be used to generate electricity. Nuclear fission is the process of splitting of a large atom into two or more smaller atoms. Fission is the process by which energy is produced in a nuclear reactor. At Idaho National Laboratory, nuclear scientists study, create and use nuclear fission to learn more about how to expand the use of nuclear energy.
Start the Fission Fun

Kool-Aid Chemical Reactions

How do you know when a chemical reaction has occurred? This experiment will help you learn the indicators of a chemical reaction.
Try the Kool-Aid Test

Roving on the Moon

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 Moon landing on July 20th, 1969 Idaho National Laboratory is looking for your team to use the Engineer Design Process to create a rover. NASA uses robotic arms to accomplish tasks that are potentially too dangerous, too difficult, or simply impossible for astronauts to do. This rover will have a robotic arm that will pick up items on the moon and return them for observation and scientific experiments.
Launch Your Rover Mission

Powering Perseverance

Idaho National Laboratory’s Space Nuclear Power and Isotope Technologies Division assembles and tests Radioisotope Power Systems. What they make is then delivered for use in remote, harsh environments, such as space. INL recently assembled, tested, and delivered to Kennedy Space Center, the Multi Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG). The MMRTG will power NASA’s Mars Perseverance Rover.
Power the Perseverance Rover

Make an Atom

Fundamental to physical science is a basic understanding of the atom. Atoms are comprised of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons and neutrons are at the center of the atom while electrons live in lobe-shaped clouds outside the nucleus. The number of electrons usually matches the number of protons, yielding a net neutral charge for the atom. Sometimes an atom has less neutrons or more neutrons than protons. This is called an isotope. If an atom has different numbers of electrons than protons, then it is an ion. If an atom has different numbers of protons, it is a different element all together. Scientists at Idaho National Laboratory study, create, and use radioactive isotopes like Uranium 234. The 234 means this isotope has an atomic mass of 234 Atomic Mass Units (AMU).
Build an Atom

Half Life of M&Ms

There are several types of fuels that we use every day. The gasoline fuel we use in our cars is one example. The fuel we use for our cars must be pumped out of the ground and refined from crude oil. Then it can be stored in tanks for us to use. Another type of fuel is nuclear fuel. To use this fuel, Uranium 238 is mined and processed to make U-235 pellets. These pellets are stacked into fuel cells and are put into a nuclear reactor’s core. When these uranium atoms absorb a neutron, they split giving off tremendous amounts of energy along with more neutrons. The fuel is generally ‘’used up’’ after 1.5 to 3 years, and it must be stored or reprocessed.
Build an Atom

Launching Fireworks

Learn about the elements used to create the spectacular colors seen in firework celebrations. Color your own firecracker, then use paper and a straw to design a system to launch your firework.
Launch Your Firework!

Rocketing to Mars with STEM

On July 30, 2020, at 4:50 a.m., an Atlas V-541 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The Atlas V is one of the largest rockets available for interplanetary flight and delivering things into space. The rocket departed Earth at a speed of about 24,600 mph (about 39,600 kph). Its launch was the start of the mission to deliver the Mars rover, Perseverance. After six-and-a-half months and about 300 million miles (480 million kilometers), the rover will reach Mars and land on the 28-mile-wide Jezero Crater (Feb. 18, 2021).
Launch to Mars!

Build Your Own Seismograph

Scientists study earthquakes so we can understand them better and hopefully one day predict them so we can save thousands of lives. A seismograph is a tool scientists use to record earthquakes and measure their strength. At Idaho National Laboratory, the Seismic Monitoring Program provides earthquake data and staff expertise in support of requirements set forth by Presidential executive orders. The program supports safety of operations through continuous monitoring of earthquake activity, the development of INL seismic design criteria, assessments of seismic hazards for existing facilities and new facility siting, and early warning of potential future volcanic activity near INL. In this activity, you will build your own seismograph using simple materials.
Build a Seismograph

Can You Shake It?

Earthquake engineering is a branch of engineering that designs and analyzes structures to ensure that they are resistant to earthquakes. The Seismic Research Group at INL performs earthquake engineering research. One area of study involves improving mathematical models that predict earthquake forces. They are also modernizing methods that are used to calculate earthquake risk. Engineers at INL also perform various earthquake related experiments. This activity is broken into two parts: in the first part students will build a structure (shake table) that will test to see if the structure will withstand an earthquake. In the second part, students will design a building that is stable enough to survive an earthquake.
Shake It Up!

Create a Pulley System

Have you ever seen someone get water out of a well? That is called a pulley. The simplest type of pulley machine is called a fixed pulley. Pulleys are simple machines that have been used for thousands of years and help people move things around easily. At Idaho National Laboratory, civil engineers design, plan, and analyze construction projects throughout INL sites and facilities. In this activity, you build a pulley system and test how much weight it can hold.
Try the Pulley Build

Build a Catapult

Have you ever seen an object catapulted? Catapults are machines that can throw objects at high speeds. Catapults were mighty handy for pirates in the golden age of piracy (during the 17th century). And medieval knights used them centuries earlier for taking down massive castle walls. Even Greeks and Romans used catapults about 2,000 years ago!
Build a Catapult

Build a Bridge

Have you ever ridden in a car driving across a suspension bridge? Suspension bridges, with their tall towers, long spans, and gracefully curving cables, are beautiful examples of the work of civil engineers. How do the cables and towers carry the load that is on the bridge, which includes you and the car you are in when you cross the bridge? Can a suspension bridge carry a greater load than a simple beam bridge? You can try to answer these questions in this science activity!
Build a Bridge

Index Card Tower

Engineers at Idaho National Laboratory work every day to change the world’s energy future and secure our nation’s critical infrastructure. Nuclear, electrical, mechanical, chemical and environmental engineering are just a few of the engineering careers found at INL. Even though these jobs have very different focuses, all engineers use the engineering design process.
Build Your Tower!

Build a Wall Marble Run

In this activity, you will use recyclable materials to make your own wall marble run! A marble run is a fun toy and a great way to learn about physics concepts like kinetic and potential energy. Do you think your marble will make it to the end of the track?
Build Your Marble Run!

Binary Code Bracelet

Computer programmers at INL use code to tell computers what to do. Programmers write instructions, or code, which the computer then executes. Computer programmers solve real word problems by creating code that will analyze the problem and provide solutions.
Code Your Bracelet!

Teddy Is Lost

Computer programmers at INL use code to tell computers what to do. Programmers write instructions, or code, which the computer then executes. Computer programmers solve real-world problems by creating code that will analyze the problem and provide solutions.
Code Your Bracelet!

Paper Plane Algorithms

Computer programmers at INL use code to tell computers what to do. Programmers write instructions, or code, which the computer then executes. Computer programmers solve real-world problems by creating code that will analyze the problem and provide solutions.
Fly with Algorithms

Dice Algorithms

Computer programmers at INL use code to tell computers what to do. Programmers write instructions, or code, which the computer then executes. Computer programmers solve real-world problems by creating code that will analyze the problem and provide solutions.
Start the Dice Algorithm

Checkerboard Coding Art

Computer programmers at INL use code to tell computers what to do. Programmers write instructions, or code, which the computer then executes. Computer programmers solve real-world problems by creating code that will analyze the problem and provide solutions. Even though this activity uses graph paper instead of a computer, you are still learning how to think computationally. Computational thinking is the cornerstone for many coding programs. This step-by-step strategy is important for you to learn to become a successful problem solver.
Try Coding on Paper

Coding with Cups

Computer pogrammers at INL use code to tell computers what to do. Programmerswrite instructions, or code, which the computer then executes. Computer programmers solve real word problems by creating code that will analyze the problem and provide solutions. In order to analyze large amounts of data, programmers require very fast computers to run their code. Sawtooth is one supercomputer at INL used to run code and can solve problems in minutes that would take a personal computer years to complete. In this activity, students will write a code and then use plastic cups to demonstrate the code.
Code with Cups!

Wireless Electric Charging

One of the biggest challenges with electric vehicles (EV) is keeping the batteries fully charged. Charging EV batteries takes longer than filing a car with gas, and it can be difficult to find charging stations. One way that INL is working to secure our energy future is researching better ways to charge EVs using wireless charging.
Explore EV Charging

Pixel Painter

Images are everywhere on computers and other digital devices. If you think of all the different devices you use, and what you do with them, it is likely that almost all of these will involve a screen or display of some kind! Everything you see on computer screens, whether it is photographs, videos, websites, even text, is an image that a digital device has been programmed to display. Because computers store data as digits, computer images are ultimately represented inside a computer using just 0’s and 1’s.
Paint with Pixels!

Sphero Indi Robot Car

In this activity, students will use the Sphero Indi Robot Car to learn about basic programming and robotics. They will use color code cards to create paths and control the robot's movements. This hands-on activity promotes problem-solving, critical thinking, and collaboration.
Sphero Indi Robot Car

Password Management

In this lesson, students will learn the basics of password management. They will understand what a password is, why it is necessary, how to create a strong password, how to keep it safe, and whom they can share their password with. The lesson will include discussions, hands-on activities, and practice exercises. Password management is crucial for securing sensitive information and national security information at INL. Strong, unique passwords protect against unauthorized access and cyber threats, ensuring data integrity and compliance with regulations. This supports INL's mission to advance nuclear energy, enhance national security, and promote environmental sustainability.
Learn about Password Management

Pi Day: Area and Circumference of a Circle

March 14 is not just any regular day. March 14, or 3/14, is known to the Math and Science community as Pi day. Named after the Greek letter π, Pi is the ratio of the circumference (distance around a circle) to its diameter (width of a circle). Pi is an irrational number, or never ending number, and the first three digits of Pi are 3.14. This led to March 14, or 3/14, being called Pi day.
Try the Circle Activity

Pi Day: Buffon's Needle

When we think of Pi (π), most of us think of an irrational number that is achieved when you divide the circumference of a circle by its diameter. No matter the size of the circle, your answer will always be 3.14. A circle is always a little more than three times its width around.
Try Buffon’s Challenge

Solar Ovens

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory have developed an inexpensive way to produce plastic sheets containing billions of nanoantennas that collect heat energy generated by the sun and other sources. In this activity, students will create their own solar ovens to bake s’mores in. This is a fun STEM activity for students to use the engineering design process and to give them an idea of what the Department of Energy’s researchers do at INL.
Build a Solar Oven

Geothermal Pinwheel Power

At Idaho National Laboratory, scientists and engineers are working to improve the quality of our water supply. The Water Technology Innovation Program at INL is leading the way in water technology innovation by working to find ways to increase water recycling efforts and develop less water-intensive technologies used in the energy, manufacturing, and agricultural industries. In this activity, students will build their own geothermal power plant. The steam made from this activity will turn a toy pinwheel.
Build a Geothermal Power Plant

Solar Powered Car

Engineers at Idaho National Laboratory work every day to change the world’s energy future and secure our nation’s critical infrastructure. Nuclear, electrical, mechanical, chemical, and environmental engineering are just a few of the engineering careers found at INL. Even though these jobs have very different focuses, engineers all use the engineering design process. It’s never too early to start thinking like an engineer. Building and testing a solar car combines aspects of electrical and mechanical engineering. In this activity, students will use the engineering design process to build a solar powered car that will be able to travel 25 feet on solid ground.
Build a Solar Powered Car

Waterwheel Work

With energy consumption increasing, alternate energy sources are in greater demand. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) is leading research to modernize hydropower to meet current and future electrical grid needs. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is part of this research. In this activity, students will create an experimental waterwheel (precursor to the turbines used today in hydroelectric power plants) from a plastic water bottle. Using the waterwheel created, students will watch both kinetic and potential energy at work and see how weight affects the rotational rate of the waterwheel.
Create a Waterwheel

Balloon Powered Car

At Idaho National Laboratory, recycling is an important aspect of our work. The goal of INL’s recycling program is to lower the amount of raw materials consumed and reduce the amount of materials going to landfills. In this activity, you will use a few pieces of recycled materials, like cardboard and bottle tops, to make a car powered by a balloon. Chances are you have all the materials you need for this recycled craft right at home.
Build a Balloon Powered Car

Plastic Sculptures

In America, 2 1/2 million plastic bottles are used each hour. Since plastic bottles are designed to be disposed after one use, these bottles will eventually end up in the local landfill. Some of these plastic bottles also find their way to our oceans. Plastic bottles are among the most common sources of ocean debris. Plastic bottles in the ocean can be easily mistaken as a source of food, which can be dangerous for local marine life.
Explore the Impact of Single-Use Plastics

Biodiverse Backyard

Have you ever wondered how many different types of animals live around your home, like in your backyard or a local park? Animals come in all shapes and sizes, each a small part of the amazing diversity of life. These differences can help people use systems to classify animals into different groups.
Classify the Creatures Around You

Polar Ice Caps

Have you ever noticed that if you leave an ice cube on the kitchen counter and come back to check on it after a while, you find a puddle? The same thing happens to ice in nature. If the temperature gets warm enough, the ice melts. In this science activity, you will explore what happens to sea levels if the ice at the North Pole melts, or if the ice at the South Pole melts. Does melting ice at either cap contribute to a rise in sea levels?
Explore Ice Melt & Sea Levels

Oil Spill Experiement

Oil is used every day in our lives. We use oil to fuel our cars, trucks, and airplanes. By products from oil refining are used in the production of plastics and chemicals, as well as many lubricants, waxes, tars, and asphalts. Sometimes accidents happen with the transportation of oil. When accidents happen, the oil can leak or spill oil into the ocean. Oil spills are a form of pollution generally found in marine ecosystems.
What Happens When Oil Spills?

Soil Science

Our planet recycles and reuses everything on it that is needed to support life. It is an amazing, giant recycling system called the biogeochemical cycle. You can model this on a small scale by using a plastic bottle and mud to build what is called a Winogradsky column. In this activity, you will build your own Winogradsky columns and investigate how including different nutrients can affect which soil microorganisms flourish and which fail.
Create Your Own Winogradsky Column

Water Filtration

The global availability and quality of water, especially for large economies like America, is a serious issue. A worldwide market for water recycling and reuse is growing rapidly. The Water Technology Innovation Program is a coordinated Idaho National Laboratory effort to create an environment that nurtures innovation in water contamination. INL’s multifaceted capabilities are focused to bring improved, innovative and cost-effective water processing technologies to the energy, manufacturing and agricultural industries.
Make your own water filter

Wind Anemometer

Meteorologists, physicists, and scientists use wind anemometers to measure the speed of wind. Wind speed is important to know for many reasons including for flying planes or even for Idaho National Laboratory’s General Line Ampacity State Solver (GLASS) project, which focuses on the effects the weather and wind speed has on cooling electrical lines.
Invent an anemometer

Earth Day Compost Bottle

Have you ever built a purposeful project only using recycled materials from home? When gathering recycled materials, you may wonder what to build. In celebration of Earth Day, create a compost bottle out of a 2-liter plastic bottle. Composting is a way to reuse organic waste and allows nutrients to develop in soil. Building a compost bottle is a purposeful and reusable project in which you can record your observations weekly and then use the soil for a family garden or to plant flowers.
Create a compost bottle

Earth Day: Feed the Birds

Our planet is an amazing place, but it needs our protection! We all need to do our part to reduce, reuse or recycle the things we use every day. Taking care of the Earth is so important that the whole world has dedicated a day to remind us of our responsibilities. Dating back to 1970, people have set aside April 22 to remind everyone of things they can do to keep our Earth healthy for many generations to come. From turning off water or lights, to planting a tree, or even riding a bike instead of taking the car, we all can be part of a global opportunity for change.
Create a bird feeder

Earth Day: Seed Balls

Have you ever planted a seed and watched it grow? Try creating a seed ball in celebration of Earth Day. Seed balls are beneficial to Earth’s environment because they involve recycling paper and growing more flowers or vegetables for our planet. Plant your seed balls in a garden or a flower pot at home. Then collect data and observations on your seed ball’s growth. You may share your findings with a family member. Enjoy this engaging and Earth-friendly science experiment!
Watch Your Seed Ball Bloom

IDA Explores - A STEM Adventure

Join Ida and her dog Tank as they embark on a STEM adventure, exploring the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) near Idaho Falls. Discover the exciting world of nuclear research and development at America’s premier national laboratory, and learn about the cutting-edge science and innovation happening right here in the Gem State.

Explore with Ida