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CANDY IS JUST DANDY ...for STEM and Engineering!! We just posted our latest blog at Get Caught Engineering. It is FILLED with ideas and lots of free resources for creating STEM lessons with sweets. Willy Wonka would love it...and so will you and your students! http://www.getcaughtengineering.com/learning-sweet-2/ Wendy and Cheryl

Wendy, This looks like a great page to go to to find ways to engage and teach science to my kids! Seeing how it involves candy, that's a huge bonus to keeping them engaged, my only problem would be allergies. What would you do if a student was allergic to a type of candy---modify so they do a different experiment or just scrap the whole experiment altogether?

I agree,awareness of allergies ( food dyes, nuts,peanut butter, and chocolate come to mind) or diabetes is essential. In addition to allergies,I also keep track of dietary restrictions due to religion ( anything containing gelatin is forbidden in several religions...read ingredients carefully). Generally we are using the candy as building materials and not eating it (strict rule- no eating of projects), so unless they also cannot touch the item we are good to go. I always have substitutions available for a snack after we have finished the lesson or I modify the lesson as needed. You brought up a good point. Thank you! Wendy :)

Wendy, Thank you for posting this website. This is a perfect batch of fall STEM activities. I like how some of them do not directly deal with candy and instead are about candy, which is still interesting to kids because...most children enjoy candy! I really liked the idea about building with candy, but I would be worried slightly, as mentioned, about possible allergy issues. Also, the school I am interning at does not allow food to be brought in, so that would eliminate any of the activities that would involve eating the candy. Other than that, they are great ideas that could even be done with an after school science program, or could be sent home to parents for things that students could do to enrich the concepts they learn in school at home.

I agree with everyone about the food allergen. It can be difficult catering with everyones restrictions. I know being health conscious I would not want to provide my students with an abundance of sweets. Other then that I think this is a creative way for students to associate real world items with science. Here is a link for creating a healthy classroom: http://www.healthiersf.org/nutrition/Action6/1-Teach_Students/classroom.php

This resource is definitely one I will use in my classroom! Currently, we use lots of math activities that incorporate candy to build number sense and for graphing. I think using candy is motivating, encouraging, and relates to children's real lives because candy is something they love.

This post is great I found this very useful and cant wait to incorporate it into the classroom I am observing right now this would be a very interesting topic to talk about especially during this time of Halloween.

I have found this resource to be useful and engaging! Like many others have mentioned my only concern would be the allergies students may have to the candies being used. I would just make sure if any of my students have allergies or not, and plan as to how I would modify the experiment.

So now Halloween is over, I am wondering what STEM activities are going to be used in the next few months?? I would love to have a discussion about what CC math and NGSS standards as well as other standards the projects are most likely meeting. Maybe someone has one they would like to look at??? Kathy

Thanks for this resource, it was great! I recently had to do a presentation on STEM and did not know how to make it engaging and interesting to my students. What a fun way to integrate both ideas together. Even though I do agree upon the food allergies and also parent issues with letting their students eat candy at school.

Great way to get students excited.

A lot of great resources for fun ways to include candy!!! Thank you

This is a great resource! I did a STEM presentation with my students earlier this year and this would be an awesome follow up. I do agree that allergies would have to be considered before implementing but most lessons or resources do need to be tweeked to fit individual classrooms. Thanks!

I think this is a great resource. It's very creative and fun for the students. I do think it's hard for most of the ideas because what we can take into classrooms as far as food and treats is extremely limited due to many factors, like mentioned allergies. There are lots of candies that have elements that students could be allergic to. It could always be done but it could be an issue.

Although Halloween is long gone, the website list several great activities that would put that old Halloween candy to good use. STEM may be a difficult area for students to understand, but these activities will really get them interested. They are fun and exciting lesson/ investigations, that students will really enjoy. As stated before, some of the lessons may be limited because of food allergies, but teachers can alter the lessons so that all students get to be apart of it.

Thank you for the post, I really enjoyed it. I like how its able to engage students with something that will definitely grab their attention.