15+ Powerful STEM Activities for High School Students

You might think that STEM activities for high school students are difficult to come by, but if you’re willing to look a little deeper, there are plenty of fun STEM activities and projects for you to choose from.

Is your teen interested in STEM and looking for ways to explore, experiment, and build at home?

You don’t need an engineering lab of fancy equipment to experiment with engineering and science at home. All you need are some simple materials and a little time to explore!

STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, is an educational path that is, quite literally, producing the future leaders of tomorrow.

Trust me – you definitely want to engage your teens in STEM lesson plans. Or perhaps even a full-on STEM curriculum.

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Free Scientific Method Worksheets

Before you move on, I’ve got some free scientific method worksheets for you to download and enjoy. These printable worksheets are useful for any science experiment, science project, STEM challenge, or STEM projects your students might be engaging in.

Turn every science project and STEAM activity into a thought-provoking STEM challenge. Plus give left brain and right brain kiddos alike a chance to utilize their strengths and improve their weaknesses.Go get your scientific method worksheets now!

Fun and Educational STEM Activities for High School Students

Here are some excellent STEM activities for high school students that you can try today.

And of course they are appropriate for mature middle school students as well, should you so choose.

DIY Electric Pencil Sharpener

Put your engineering skills to the test and create something you’ll really use – an electric pencil sharpener of your own design!

With step-by-step instructions, you can construct the core, power it up, and wire everything together.

Then explore how far technology has come – from exploring the story behind its invention to discovering fascinating features like limit switches which automatically turn on when they sense that a pencil is in place! Unleash all your creative potential with this fun project.

You can get the Electric Pencil Sharpener project kit from KiwiCo by clicking this link.

Want to learn more about KiwiCo? Check out this article.

Homemade Archery Bow

Does your teen love Hunger Games or Lord of the Rings? If so, there is a good chance they’re interested in archery.  

With a half-inch PVC pipe, an inexpensive heat gun, a handsaw, and some polypropylene string, you and your teen have all the craft supplies you need to make a fully-functional bow at home. You will plan out the shape and grip, measure, and cut. In about an hour, your child will have a light-weight, custom-built archery bow.

 

Of course, you’ll also want to have a conversation about archery safety and boundaries for use. But there’s no doubt your young engineer will get a kick out of the project.

You can find full information on how to make a homemade bow out of PVC pipe here. This is a wonderful STEM challenge that teens and educators alike will remember for years.

Multi-Colored Fire

Have your high schoolers ever made multi-colored fire? Teenagers love fire and what better way to allow them to combine adventure with education than by enjoying a multi-colored flames science experiment?

In this dragon-themed STEM activity, high schoolers will get to experiment with various chemical elements as they determine what color of flame each element will create. This science activity opens up a fun discussion on chemical reactions, physical reactions, and of course, fire.

Learn more about this fun dragon fire science experiment now! Trust me – this will be a STEM activity your high schoolers will not soon forget.

Aquaponics Project

If your high school student is interested in biology and the environment, consider helping them build a miniature ecosystem at home.

Aquaponics combines a hydroponic indoor garden with a fish aquarium. This is a wonderful STEM activity for high school students, combining tech, engineering, and earth science which of course makes it one of the best real-world science activities on this list.

 

To begin, you and your student will plan together what fish and plants will thrive in the space available. Next, you assemble the main components: a tank, pump and filter system, grow-bed, and light. Once everything’s built, you can add plants and gilled friends.

An aquaponics project will provide both a construction activity and ongoing care and maintenance opportunities for your STEM-focused youngster.

We have plenty more information and resources on classroom aquaponics as a fun and educational science activity.

Soda Mentos Rocket

No matter the high schooler, they will love the idea of a little at-home combustion.

This activity is a fun, safe way to engage in rocket propulsion. Plus, they’ll learn something in the process. This STEM activity will teach your high school student about chemical reactions and physics. It lets you get outside and work with simple tools and materials.

Besides soda and a roll of Mentos mints, you will need two 2-liter bottles, a small length of PVC pipe, a single adapter, a ball valve, and some epoxy glue. The only tools are a saw and some sandpaper. You can buy everything at Lowes for less than twenty dollars.

 

From there, you and your teen can create your two-chamber rocket setup at home. In the process, your student will learn how acidic and base elements combine to produce carbon dioxide and what happens when that gas builds up.

Be sure to make a video of the explosive results! The full step-by-step guide for this DIY soda bottle rocket STEM project is here. This is a STEM challenge that combines science experiments with engineering challenges. You could even throw in some technology if your teen was ambitious enough.

Edible DNA Model

High schoolers, even those with a strong interest in STEM, sometimes find genetics abstract and difficult to grasp. The terminology and rules governing DNA can seem impenetrable.

One surefire way for you to enliven DNA learning in life science is with a three-dimensional visual aid. Even better, you can construct it from your child’s favorite sweet treats.

As you may or may not remember, there are four nitrogen bases that sequence to form a unique DNA strand: Adenine, Thymine, Guanine, and Cytosine. They arrange according to certain rules.

Use Twizzlers (or Red Vines, if you prefer) as the phosphate backbone of the strand, and either gumdrops or colored marshmallows as the nitrogen bases. You can even have younger siblings sort the colors!

From there, using a DNA strand plan coded to the candy colors, your student forms base pairings on toothpicks. Once all the pairings are set and sequenced, you can spear them in a “ladder” formation with the Twizzlers. With one twist, you’ll have a lovely, tasty double helix DNA strand.

You can find all the DIY edible DNA project details here. Enjoy this life science STEM activity in your homeschool or in a public school setting.

Bath Bombs

Have your teens ever made homemade bath bombs?

This STEM experiment is great for showcasing chemistry at its finest. Work with chemical reactions, learn about citric acid (C₆H₈O₇), baking soda (NaHCO₃), and how they react when they combine (3NaHCO3 + C6H8O7 → C6H5Na3O7 + 3CO2 + 3H2O).

Learn about catalysts and why they are important. You could even take this adventure further and dive into teenaged entrepreneurship!

It’s all very complicated and extremely fascinating.

Plus when you’re done, you’ll have some fun bath bombs to enjoy! Go enjoy your own DIY bath bomb science experiment now!

Crystal Egg Geodes

Growing salt or Borax crystals on pipe cleaners might be too juvenile for high school teens, but have your students ever grown crystals inside of eggshells?

This STEM activity combines the simplicity of crystal growing with the complexity and delicacy of eggs. Eggs are very fragile and your students will have to use extreme patience in order to get every scrap of the membrane off of the eggshells.

 

Once that is done, they will have to pay close attention to the clock so they catch their crystal egg geodes before the crystals cement the eggshells to the bottom of the jar.

This is a project that combines science, engineering, art, and even a little bit of math. Perfect for some high school STEM fun! Take a closer look at crystal egg geodes now!

The Science of Cookies

High school students are plenty old enough to be able to invent their very own chocolate chip recipe. This is a fun STEM activity that will really test their knowledge of chemistry, science, and baking.

But first, they must learn how each ingredient in a cookie recipe reacts with each other and how they affect an overall recipe. Learn the science of cookies with this fun STEM activity for high school students and then challenge your students to write their very own recipe.

Edible Stained Glass

Do your teens have a passion for art? Are you looking for a STEM activity that is appropriate for high schoolers but still easy and tons of fun? What about edible stained glass?

This is one of our favorite STEM project ideas.

When your kids enjoy an edible stained glass STEAM activity, they will get to experiment with chemistry while making (or melting) their hard candy. They will work with geometry while making their stained glass templates and determining how much of each colored candy they will need.

 

Students can take this project further by researching how glass is made or the history of stained glass through time. Use this project in math class, art history class, or just as a fun, hands-on STEAM activity. Your students will love it.

Learn more about edible stained glass now.

Dry Ice Experiments

Let your teens experiment with dry ice! First, have your students build their own smoking dragons. This is a simple way to introduce them to the basics of dry ice.

Then, when they’ve mastered that (which should be simple at this age), let them see if they can make a contraption that blows bubbles out of dry ice. This is a STEM fun activity your high school students are not likely to forget. Go read more about smoking dragons and dry ice experiments now.

Dragon Paper Airplanes

Can your students take a regular paper airplane concept and transform it into a dragon-shaped piece of origami that flies? High school students will enjoy making dragon paper airplanes and learning the history of this Japanese art form.

 

Take the learning even further by having your teens get into some data statistics, graphing, and charting. They can even experiment with making graphs and charts in a computer software such as Excel or something similar and you’ve got a full-on high school-appropriate STEM activity on your hands!

Regrowing Kitchen Scraps

This activity focuses on regrowing food from kitchen scraps. Your teens will be able to learn about sexual vs asexual reproduction in plants. Did you know there are several kinds of asexual reproduction? What method do onions and lettuce plants follow?

Your teens will be able to tell you all about the 4 methods of plant reproduction by the end of this earth science activity. Plus they’ll have some applicable life skills that will keep them in delicious and healthy food for the rest of their lives! It’s a win-win! Go learn more about regrowing food from kitchen scraps now.

Paper Mache Dragons

Have you ever made paper mache with your students? Making paper mache is a great example of a fun STEM project idea for middle schoolers and high schoolers alike.

Kids can learn to think like an engineer while also solving a multitude of problems and getting very messy. This is a multi-day project, making it perfect for older students such as middle schoolers and high schoolers.

Go learn how to make your very own paper mache dragon now!

DIY Composting Bin

Composting is a great way to reduce your waste and help the environment.

Did you know that you can do a composting STEM project with your teenager? It’s easy, and it’s a fun way to learn about science and recycling.

These DIY composting bin instructions will walk you and your students through the science behind a compost bin, how to build a successful composting bin, and how to keep the learning going for many weeks and months to come! This is a STEM project your high school won’t soon forget.

Saltwater Electrical Current

This one requires closer supervision, but it’s an excellent opportunity to learn about electrical currents.

For this activity, you need a light bulb and socket, plus some four pieces of insulated copper wire. You can find these at any hardware store. Most of the other items are probably already in your house: a plastic food storage tub, popsicle sticks, aluminum foil, a 9V battery, and electrical tape.

Attach a wire to each diode on the battery and each screw on the socket. Connect one diode wire to one screw, then tape the other two wires to popsicle sticks wrapped in foil. Touching these foil electrodes will close the circuit and light up the bulb.

 

Then, submerge the electrodes in water in the plastic tub, and add salt. Guess what? The bulb lights up!

This STEM activity will demonstrate to high school students how a closed circuit works and how sodium ions transmit electricity. Pretty cool!

Everything you need for this DIY saltwater electrical current activity is here. This activity brings problem-solving and critical thinking into the mix in addition to other STEM education lessons.

There is no need for your child to leave STEM exploration and experimentation behind when they aren’t at school. With these STEM activities for high school students, you can bring that scientific curiosity home!

More STEM Resources for High School Students

The Ultimate Collection of STEM Activities
Educational Board Games Collection
Homeschool STEM Curriculum
Valentine’s STEM Activities
Pi Day Activities

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