Mission 1
STEM Club • Grades 3–5
STEM Club
Lesson Plan
AI + Programming • Trimester Path
👥 Grades 3–5⏱ 45 minutes💻 iPad + keyboard
A playful, low-pressure club built around curiosity, competition, selected Skill Struck lessons, simple programming builds, one guest mission, and one hands-on STEM session.
Trimester roadmap
Learn. Build. Meet someone who uses it for real.
Pick and choose rather than racing through a full course. Most meetings can open with a short Kahoot, then move into one focused Skill Struck or programming activity.
Mission 2
How Does a Machine Learn?
Patterns, examples, predictions and surprisesMission 3
Tell the Computer What to Do
Algorithms, events and simple programmingMission 4
Build Something!
Programming Build #1Special Mission
Meet a STEM Explorer
Guest speaker + real object, story or demonstrationGuest playbook ↓Hands-On Mission
Get Off the Screen
One hands-on lab activity for the trimesterSpecial mission • Guest speaker
Meet Someone Who Builds the Future
The guest week is not a break from the curriculum. It connects what students are learning to a real person, real tools and real problems.
10–15 min
Warm-Up Challenge
Use a short Kahoot or visual guessing game: What does this person actually do? What might this mystery tool be for? What problem do you think they solve?
20–25 min
Show Something Real
Ask the guest to bring or show one real thing: a tool, component, photo, short video, prototype, failure, odd part or piece of equipment. Fewer slides, more stories.
5–10 min
Kids Ask the Questions
Students each choose one question. Encourage questions about surprises, mistakes, how things work, and what the guest wishes someone had taught them at age ten.
Good prompts for the guest
What is the coolest thing you have worked on?What went wrong once?What surprised you when you learned this?What did you build when you were our age?What problem should these kids solve someday?
Detailed lesson example
Mission 1: Teach the Machine
This sample shows how a regular 45-minute club meeting can combine a short competition with one focused Skill Struck exploration.
01
Big Idea
Computers are powerful, but they only do what people teach them to do. Students begin exploring how humans give machines instructions through code, logic and creative problem-solving.
02
Goals
- ✓Understand that computers follow instructions
- ✓Practice sequencing and debugging
- ✓Explore beginner AI and coding ideas in a fun way
- ✓Build confidence and curiosity
03
Materials
- iPads with keyboards
- Skill Struck
- Kahoot
- Projector or big screen
04
Lesson Flow
1
🏆 Warm-Up Kahoot 10–15 min
Fast team competition with fun STEM and AI questions. Predict, debate and celebrate the surprises.
2
💻 Skill Struck Exploration 20–25 min
Students work through one selected AI or coding lesson on their iPads.
3
🧠 Mini Share-Out 5 min
What surprised you? What was tricky? What would you try differently?
05
Teacher Notes
Keep the tone light, encouraging and wonder-filled. This club is about curiosity, not pressure. Students may move at different speeds, and that is okay.
Good question to use often: “What do you think will happen if we change this?”
06
Challenge Extension
Can you make something happen on purpose? Change one instruction, predict what will happen next, then test it.
Wonder Question
If you could teach a machine one amazing thing, what would it be?
Club design
One lesson, not one race.
The goal is not to finish every screen. A good STEM Club session leaves students with one idea they understand, one thing they made or changed, and one new question they want to chase.
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