iExploreScience: STEM in Elem
iExploreScience: STEM in Elem is for upper elementary teachers — especially grades 3–5 —who want to make elementary science and math more engaging, without adding more prep or overwhelm to their day. If you’re looking for practical ways to bring STEM and hands-on learning into your classroom while still meeting standards like NGSS, this podcast is for you.
Each week, you’ll get (ideally) short, (always!) actionable episodes (about 15–30 minutes) filled with classroom-tested ideas you can actually use. From simple STEM challenges and low-prep science activities to math routines, lab management, and neurodivergent-friendly strategies, everything is designed to help you keep students thinking, moving, and engaged—especially during the most challenging times of the year.
You’ll also hear honest reflections from real classroom experiences, with a focus on what works (and what doesn’t) in my 5th grade science and math classroom — no perfection required.
I’m Nicole, and I share practical, hands-on science and math ideas designed specifically for upper elementary teachers who want engaging, rigorous lessons without the overwhelm.
iExploreScience: STEM in Elem
06 How To Run a STEM Challenge Without the Chaos
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You know that feeling you get before you start a science lab or STEM challenge — excitement tinged with nervousness and maybe a little dread? You can imagine success -- kids exploring, talking, problem-solving ... and also the looming potential chaos -- supplies spilled, kids arguing, no one actually following the task? As science teachers, we want to get kids moving, discussing, exploring, engaged... but there's also a sense of "out of our control" when we do (although the "control" is always an illusion anyway -- but that's a discussion for another day!) The thing is, the chaos never really comes from the activity itself. It comes from what wasn't established before it started. In this episode, Nicole breaks down the three classroom management foundations you need before any STEM challenge can work, plus the mistake that turns well-intentioned hands-on learning into stress for everyone.
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Running a STEM challenge without chaos isn't about finding the perfect activity — it's about what you build before the activity ever starts. In this episode, Nicole walks through the classroom management infrastructure that makes hands-on science actually work, explains why giving students more freedom than they're ready for isn't trust (it's a setup for failure), and makes the case for why written instructions are always, always an equity issue.
IN THIS EPISODE:
- The three things that need to be established, practiced, and working in your classroom before you run a STEM challenge — and why reviewing them the day-of doesn't count
- Why chaos in a STEM activity is almost never caused by the activity itself
- How to calibrate the right level of student independence for your class right now (not where you wish they were)
- Why written instructions aren't just good practice — they're an equity move for students with ADHD and working memory challenges
- What a clear "finish line" does for both students and teachers in open-ended challenges
- A one-page STEM Challenge Planning Template (free for Substack subscribers) that walks through all of it
LINKS MENTIONED:
📬 Free STEM Challenge Planning Template — one-page reusable planner for any challenge or lab, free for iExploreScience Substack subscribers: https://iexplorescience.substack.com/
📬 Stay Connected
- 📰 Substack: https://iexplorescience.substack.com/
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- 💻 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolevantassel/