Developing the Whole Child Through STREAM

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Turn STEM into STREAM

When you merge hands-on projects with interactive, collaborative online content and elementary instructional best practices, you get Pitsco’s STREAM Missions program.

With Missions, reading practice, art, math, and social and emotional learning are woven into core science instruction, turning STEM into STREAM.

What Students Get

Access to the online content, 1:1 printed Mission Journal workbooks, and all hands-on materials to complete projects.

What Educators Get

Online content licensing, professional development, educator resources, and ongoing technical support

What Classrooms Get

Scheduled in-person installation and setup, furniture, and storage

Read the curriculum guide

Browse Our Titles

The Missions program includes 15 titles for each grade. Every title is organized into sequential intervals of instruction consisting of a Briefing, Reading, and Exploration. Vocabulary, Math, Research, Career, Science, and Social Studies Connections are also included with every title.

Being Healthy
In Being Healthy, students learn about different things that affect the body both in positive ways and negative ways.
Objectives:
- Analyze the experiences your body goes through as you wake up.
- Design a device that produces sounds of different volume and pitch.
- Categorize the nutrients that are essential for a healthy body.
- Categorize food into groups and plan meals for a day.
- Evaluate food choices for a healthy diet.
- Perform different cooking measurements and examine nutrition labels.
- Determine how the skin is an important line of defense for the body.
- Play a game that demonstrates the importance of being healthy.
- Compare and contrast the roles of muscles and the skeleton for movement.
- Design a cast for a broken wrist while staying within a budget for materials.
Essential Questions:
- Why is it important to be healthy?
- How does your food and nutrition affect your body?
- What are nutrients and where do you find them?
Career Connections:
- Cryptologist
- Genetic Engineer
- Pet Psychologist
- Taxidermist
Ecology
In Ecology, students learn about interactions, populations, and habitats in ecosystems. They examine food webs, water pollution, animal population, and survival.
Objectives:
- Explore the variety of interactions in ecosystems.
- Make a terrarium showing interactions between living and nonliving things to meet a design challenge.
- Compare the benefits of being part of a population.
- Simulate a mouse colony and compete for resources.
- Investigate how different organisms fit in different habitats.
- Create a temperate forest or rain forest animal to meet a design challenge.
- Relate change people cause to how organisms respond.
- Test the pH and hardness in two types of water.
- Evaluate the importance of decomposers and recycling.
- Construct a food web.
Essential Questions:
- Why are interactions and populations in an ecosystem important?
- How do organisms adapt to different habitats?
- How can water pollution affect an ecosystem?
- Why are decomposers an important part of a food web?
Career Connections:
- Animal Care Assistant
- Animal Welfare Inspector
- Police Dog Handler
- Wildlife Biologist
Electricity
In Electricity, students experiment with electricity in different ways. They build circuits and test objects.
Objectives:
- Link electricity and lightning at the atomic level.
- Design models of two different atoms.
- Consider the characteristics and examples of conductors and insulators.
- Determine which objects are conductors or insulators.
- Study series and parallel circuits.
- Build series and parallel circuits and make circuit drawings.
- Examine electromagnets and the relationships between electricity and magnetism.
- Create electromagnets.
- Make sense of the mystery of static electricity.
- Experiment with static electricity.
Essential Questions:
- What impact does electricity have on our world?
- How does a circuit work?
- How does electricity travel along a circuit?
Career Connections:
- Automotive Engineer
- Electrical Engineer
- IT Support Technician
- Robotics Designer
Environment and Climate,
In Environment and Climate, students learn about weather, climate, Earth’s atmosphere, and air pollution. They explore wind and water power and nonrenewable and renewable resources.
Objectives:
- Differentiate between weather and climate.
- Engineer a house to withstand the climate in an environment.
- Learn about Earth’s different atmosphere layers.
- Make a 2-D model of Earth’s atmosphere layers.
- Examine how air pollution affects Earth.
- Calculate, chart, and graph how air pollution can travel.
- Explore wind and wave power.
- Create and demonstrate pinwheels.
- Investigate renewable and nonrenewable resources.
- Act as a miner looking for nonrenewable resources.
Essential Questions:
- How does climate and weather affect different environments?
- How would Earth be different without the atmosphere?
- What is the best solution to air pollution?
- What benefits could come from using wind power or wave power?
- Which is better: renewable or nonrenewable resources? Why?
Career Connections:
- Astrophysicist
- Data Analyst
- Land Surveyor
- Math Teacher
Forces
In Forces, students experiment with how forces work in different scenarios and predict future motion.
Objectives:
- Compare three different natural forces.
- Build a ball launcher and test strength of forces.
- Examine how mass and density affect the motion of objects.
- Investigate the different properties of various materials.
- Discover how scientists measure weight and force.
- Create a spring scale and measure forces.
- Explore how the energy of moving objects can be changed.
- Test balanced and unbalanced forces on a force sled.
- Investigate using forces and the benefits of simple machines.
- Design and engineer a Newton’s cradle.
Essential Questions:
- How can you tell whether the forces on an object are balanced or unbalanced?
- In what ways do forces occur?
- How are forces used in your daily life?
Career Connections:
- Architect
- Civil Engineer
- Construction Manager
- Set Designer
Fossils and Survival
In Fossils and Survival, students learn about dinosaur fossils, skeletons, and remains. They learn about the roles and job duties of a paleontologist and the Cambrian period.
Objectives:
- Explore the role of a paleontologist.
- Act as a paleontologist looking for dinosaur remains.
- Discover the formation of fossils and their clues to the past.
- View real fossils and make fossil imprints.
- Investigate how paleontologists reconstruct the lives of dinosaurs from their fossils.
- Assemble a dinosaur skeleton.
- Uncover fossils from the Cambrian period and their adaptations.
- Design and create a trilobite or Opabinia fossil model.
- Relate the shape of a dinosaur’s teeth to what it ate.
- Construct a dinosaur with specific qualities to meet a design challenge.
Essential Questions:
- What is the role of a paleontologist?
- How do fossils give us insight into the past?
- What is so unique about the Cambrian period?
- Why are dinosaur teeth and bones so important?
Career Connections:
- Archaeologist
- Conservator
- Museum Curator
- Museum Educator
Life Cycles
In Life Cycles, students demonstrate the life cycles of humans, plants, and animals. They witness the effect of pollution on a food chain.
Objectives:
- Identify similar stages in different life cycles.
- Create a human life cycle comic strip depicting different stages.
- Examine the stages in a plant’s life cycle.
- Make a plant model and label the parts and functions.
- Distinguish between complete and incomplete metamorphosis in insect life cycles.
- Build a complete or incomplete metamorphosis insect life cycle model to meet a design challenge.
- Compare how various offspring change and are cared for.
- Produce a frog life cycle model to meet a design challenge.
- Construct a food chain and explore the influence of pollution.
- Perform a simulation that represents how pollution can affect the number of organisms in a food chain.
Essential Questions:
- What is the importance of a life cycle?
- How do life cycles differ among organisms?
- How can pollution affect a food chain in an ecosystem?
Career Connections:
- Alligator Wrestler
- Beekeeper
- Fish Farmer
- Vermiculturist
Magnetism
In Magnetism, students experiment with magnets in different ways. They design an original magnetic game, create a magnetic painting, and build a crane.
Objectives:
- Investigate how magnetic poles can attract or repel metal.
- Experiment with different magnets and lodestones.
- Discover atoms and how iron can become magnetic.
- Engineer and design an original magnetic game.
- Illustrate Earth as a giant magnet and how a compass can be used.
- Test a compass with a bar and circle magnet.
- Demonstrate the importance of magnetic fields.
- Create a magnet painting.
- Compare permanent and temporary magnets.
- Build a crane with attached magnets to pick up paper clips.
Essential Questions:
- How are compasses affected by magnets?
- How do magnets react with other magnets or metals?
- What is the purpose of magnetic fields?
- What are the similarities and differences of temporary and permanent magnets?
Career Connections:
- Electrician
- Mechanic
- Motorsports Engineer
- Welder
Matter
In Matter, students experiment with the different states of matter. They investigate how matter can change and be used.
Objectives:
- Summarize the three states of matter.
- Explore the different states of matter of water.
- Compare the changing states of matter.
- Create a puzzle picture that demonstrates a physical change.
- Examine measuring solids and the process of evaporation.
- Design insulated containers to protect ice cubes.
- Determine different ways to combine matter.
- Determine what materials conduct and insulate heat.
- Explore the properties of density and conductivity.
- Experiment with the densities of different liquids.
Essential Questions:
- What is the difference between the states of matter?
- How do heating and cooling affect the states of matter?
- How do the states of matter determine the uses of materials for construction?
Career Connections:
- Doctor
- Food Scientist
- Laboratory Technician
- Pharmacist
Motion
In Motion, students experiment with how motion is created with different actions and forces.
Objectives:
- Relate the position of an object to its frame of reference.
- Play a game to learn how to give directions in different ways.
- Discover how to calculate speed.
- Create a motion sequence depicting speed and motion.
- Connect the relationship of mass and motion.
- Investigate how gravity and mass affect the force of impact on falling objects.
- Interpret how motion can be predicted through the study of pendulums.
- Test the effect of mass on pendulums.
- Describe energy transfer through the example of a roller coaster.
- Design a surfboard and test the effect of friction.
Essential Questions:
- In what ways does motion occur?
- How do you use motion in your daily life?
- How are motion and force related? How are they different?
Career Connections:
- Environmental Scientist
- Materials Scientist
- Pilot
- Sports Scientist
Science Skills
In Science Skills, students learn about the scientific method. They explore observations, measurements, science tools, steps of the scientific method, variables, evaluating, concluding, and communicating.
Objectives:
- Differentiate between the various science process skills.
- Practice observing to develop inferences with science mystery bags.
- Discover science tools and their uses.
- Conduct tasks with science tools to observe and measure.
- Journey through the steps of the scientific method.
- Use the scientific method to rescue frozen toy cars.
- Compare variables and constants.
- Experiment with cloud dough and variables.
- Consider the final steps of an experiment.
- Engineer an ear trumpet.
Essential Questions:
- How do observations and measurements help with the scientific method?
- What kind of tools are used with science experiments?
- How important is it to follow the steps of the scientific method?
- What roles do variables and constants play in the scientific method?
- Why are evaluations, conclusions, and communication important to the scientific method?
Career Connections:
- Archivist
- Researcher
- Teacher
- Tour Guide
Seasons and Weather
In Seasons and Weather, students learn about what causes the weather and seasons. They explore weather tools and forecasts.
Objectives:
- Learn about how the Earth’s tilt determines the seasons.
- Graph temperatures and precipitation from different regions in the US.
- Explore different tools scientists use to measure the weather.
- Design an anemometer to measure wind speed and direction.
- Determine how weather reports are written.
- Analyze different weather maps and write forecasts.
- Investigate how forecasters use symbols to report the weather.
- Create a solution to prevent water damage in a flood model.
- Examine how the water cycle affects Earth.
- Create a model of the water cycle.
Essential Questions:
- How are seasons experienced differently around the world?
- What weather is associated with each season?
- What drives weather on Earth?
Career Connections:
- Forensic Scientist
- Meteorologist
- Oceanographer
- Website Developer
Skyscrapers
In Skyscrapers, students build and create different structures. They experiment with different materials and forces.
Objectives:
- Learn about buildings, costs, and efficiency.
- Build a tower with blocks and determine cost and efficiency.
- Investigate shapes in different structures.
- Test the strength of different shapes in structures.
- Explore the form and function of structures.
- Solve a design challenge to create a card tower.
- Discover how architects represent buildings in drawings.
- Recreate a city skyline in a drawing.
- Study how different forces act on structures.
- Conduct an experiment to determine which type of ground material is most resistant to earthquakes.
Essential Questions:
- How do you decide on the shape of a structure you are building?
- What is the best shape to use to make a strong, lightweight structure?
- What materials would you use to withstand strong outside forces?
Career Connections:
- Market Researcher
- Product Designer
- Software Developer
- Structural Engineer
Space
In Space, students learn about the solar system. They make models of the Earth, Sun, Moon, and planets; orbits and rotations; the Moon’s phases; and the solar system.
Objectives:
- Follow the path and effects of sunlight.
- Create a model displaying the rotations and orbits of the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
- Visualize various objects in the solar system and their orbits.
- Build a model showing the planets’ orbits around the Sun.
- Determine the influences on Earth’s rotation.
- Construct a model to represent the eight Moon phases.
- Evaluate the reason for creating models and using scales.
- Make a distance model of the solar system to scale.
- Recognize patterns that the Sun and stars make in the sky.
- Engineer a model spacecraft.
Essential Questions:
- How do the Earth and Moon rotate and orbit around the Sun?
- How do the planets in the solar system orbit the Sun?
- Why are there eight Moon phases?
- Why are solar system models made to scale?
- What tools and instruments would a spacecraft need in order to study the stars?
Career Connections:
- Astronaut
- Bomb Squad Technician
- Smokejumper
- Test Pilot
Traits and Variation
In Traits and Variation, students learn about inherited and learned traits, inheritance, variations, and environmental effects.
Objectives:
- Consider how traits can be passed on through generations.
- Explore how traits can be inherited and passed on.
- Discover variety through variations and mutations.
- Examine your fingerprints to discover how the trait varies.
- Investigate the father of genetics and his most famous experiment.
- Draw the offspring of two parents based on specific genes.
- Distinguish between inherited traits and learned behaviors.
- Practice identifying inherited and learned traits in a game.
- Relate how the environment can influence traits.
- Create an animal with a camouflaged trait to meet a design challenge.
Essential Questions:
- How can traits be passed on through generations?
- How do variations and mutations provide variety?
- What did Gregor Mendel’s experiment help prove?
- What are the differences between learned and inherited traits?
- How can the environment influence traits?
Career Connections:
- Entomologist
- Farmer
- Veterinarian
- Zookeeper

Amazing Body
In Amazing Body, students explore how the body works in different scenarios and how body systems work together.
Objectives:
- Learn about the breathing process and what happens when the “wind gets knocked out of you.”
- Design and create a lung model.
- Explore inheritance and what it means to be color-blind.
- Create glasses that simulate color blindness.
- Investigate the anatomy of a bone and what happens when a bone fractures.
- Create a bone composition model and examine X-rays.
- Distinguish among multiple beneficial structures in the skin.
- Design a first aid kit and choose the items that go in it.
- Reconstruct the process the body goes through in hitting a baseball.
- Play a tabletop baseball game and explore body systems used to swing a baseball bat.
Essential Questions:
- How does my body respond when I get the wind knocked out of me?
- What does color blindness mean?
- How does my body respond when I break a bone?
- How do my different body systems work together?
Career Connections:
- Chemist
- Medical Technologist
- Nutritionist
- Pharmacist
Design and Solutions
In Design and Solutions, students explore and apply the design process to create a card car solution. Students also explore different forms of communication.
Objectives:
- Examine the steps in the design process.
- Start the card car challenge and design signal flags.
- Discover the method of brainstorming.
- Brainstorm solutions to the card car challenge and interpret different forms of communication.
- Explore how planning leads to creating a prototype.
- Plan and create a solution to a design challenge.
- Consider how testing and evaluation can lead to an improved product.
- Test a prototype, record data, and evaluate a design.
- Identify ways to communicate results of the design process.
- Improve and redesign a prototype and test it.
Essential Questions:
- What is the engineering design process?
- How are waves used to transfer energy and information?
- How does modern communication utilize patterns to transfer information?
Career Connections:
- Manufacturing Engineer
- Real Estate Agent
- Urban Planner
- Venture Capitalist
Earth Processes
In Earth Processes, students build and create models of landforms and the rock cycle. They conduct experiments showing mechanical weathering, erosion, watershed runoff, and acid rain.
Objectives:
- Discover events that transform the Earth.
- Build a model of landforms on Earth to meet the challenge.
- Analyze the rock cycle and its effect on the Earth.
- Create several landform models and demonstrate changes that form different rocks.
- Explore glaciers and tectonic plate movement.
- Show how glaciers change the landscape and map their movement.
- Investigate erosion and its effects.
- Conduct an experiment demonstrating mechanical weathering and erosion.
- Determine how pollution affects the Earth.
- Demonstrate watershed runoff and acid rain.
Essential Questions:
- How has Earth changed over time?
- What is the rock cycle?
- How have glaciers modified and formed landscapes?
- What are the causes and effects of mechanical and chemical weathering?
Career Connections:
- Hydrologist
- Land Surveyor
- Park Ranger
- Recycling Entrepreneur
Earth Rocks
In Earth Rocks, students explore the rock cycle, fossils, Earth’s layers, minerals, and fossil fuels.
Objectives:
- Categorize the three main rock types.
- Create a model of each rock found in the rock cycle and compare it to real rocks.
- Interpret the significance of fossils and sedimentation.
- Create a sedimentary rock model and measure materials.
- Compare Earth’s strata.
- Create a model of Earth’s layers and take core samples.
- Discover ways geologists distinguish among different minerals.
- Conduct different tests on the rocks in the rock sets.
- Connect fossil fuels with the way they are formed.
- Create an effective method for cleaning up an oil spill.
Essential Questions:
- How do rocks change over time?
- How do fossils tell us the story of long ago?
- How do tectonic plates and layers of Earth change?
- How can you tell what is in rocks and minerals?
- How are fossil fuels formed?
Career Connections:
- Astronomer
- Horticulturist
- Landscape Architect
- Meteorologist
Energy and Work
In Energy and Work, students explore energy, work, and gravity. They study the different types of energy and the way energy is converted. Students also analyze the formula for calculating work.
Objectives:
- Learn about the scientific meaning of work.
- Create a pom-pom shooter to study force and distance.
- Make connections between energy, work, and gravity.
- Create a mobile and witness how gravity affects balance.
- Study the differences between potential and kinetic energy.
- Engineer a hockey puck to explore energy and friction.
- Learn about the six types of energy and conversions.
- Demonstrate mechanical energy being converted into thermal energy.
- Explore the formula to calculate work.
- Calculate and compare force, work, energy, and power in metric units.
Essential Questions:
- What is work?
- What effect does gravity have?
- What is the difference between potential and kinetic energy?
- What are the different types of energy?
- How can you calculate work?
Career Connections:
- Architect
- Industrial Designer
- Museum Curator
- Photojournalist
Extreme Earth
In Extreme Earth, students discover natural disasters that can happen all over Earth. They explore natural disasters from water, from severe storms, and from mountains.
Objectives:
- Investigate different types of natural disasters.
- Develop a model emergency pack containing items needed to survive a natural disaster.
- Learn about hurricanes and their effects.
- Design a diorama illustrating the different categories of hurricane damage.
- Study how tornadoes work and how they are formed.
- Create a model demonstrating how a tornado works.
- Explore the effect of snow and volcanoes.
- Map the locations of various mountains in the United States.
- Uncover how plate tectonics cause earthquakes.
- Construct a shake table and structure to withstand an earthquake.
Essential Questions:
- What items would you need in order to survive a natural disaster?
- What do different categories of hurricane damage look like?
- What does the center of a tornado look like?
- Where would you find avalanches or volcanoes in the United States?
- How do engineers test their structures against an earthquake?
Career Connections:
- Archaeologist
- Food Scientist
- Oceanographer
- Veterinarian
Light
In Light, students investigate the properties of light, energy, and waves through experiments.
Objectives:
- Investigate waves, matter, and energy transfer.
- Test how energy can be converted into light and sound.
- Identify different electromagnetic waves and how light travels.
- Explore the electromagnetic spectrum and visible light.
- Discover reflection and refraction and how color is seen.
- Experiment with light and explore how light is reflected.
- Uncover the mysteries of illusions and the tricks they play on the brain.
- Create a kaleidoscope that captures light.
- Explore shadows and the effect of distance on light.
- Complete a challenge to design a shadow sculpture.
Essential Questions:
- What are the characteristics of light?
- How does light move through different objects?
- How do your brain and eyes interpret light?
Career Connections:
- Composer
- Disc Jockey
- Lighting Technician
- Music Video Producer
Ocean Life
In Ocean Life, students discover life in the different layers of the ocean and on the ocean floor. They explore many parts of the ocean from waves at the surface to tectonic plate movement below.
Objectives:
- Learn about Earth’s surface and how it is organized.
- Investigate Earth’s four spheres and how they are connected.
- Dive into the life and conditions in the zones of the ocean.
- Create and map out an ocean floor scene.
- Analyze the ocean floor and how the continents move.
- Reveal the mystery of earthquake and volcano locations.
- Discover what can cause ocean waves.
- Explore wave properties and ocean wave effects.
- Examine what adaptations are useful for survival in the ocean.
- Design an ocean organism.
Essential Questions:
- What are ways in which Earth’s four spheres are connected?
- Why is it important for the ocean to have different zones?
- How do we know there are tectonic plates?
- How does ocean water move?
- How do adaptations of ocean organisms help them survive in their habitat?
Career Connections:
- Animal Trainer
- Hydrologist
- Marine Biologist
- Merchant Mariner
Plants
In Plants, students discover the parts of a plant and its life cycle. They learn how plants grow through photosynthesis, adapt to survive, and develop interdependent relationships with animals.
Objectives:
- Explore what a plant needs and how it transports nutrients.
- Create a model and label the parts of a plant’s life cycle.
- Consider the various stages in a plant’s life cycle.
- Design a seed that has two or more dispersing methods.
- Discover how plants make food through photosynthesis.
- Measure and graph plant growth over time and create a photosynthesis model.
- Learn how different traits help plants survive in different environments.
- Create a carnivorous plant and explain how its external parts help it get food and survive in its environment.
- Make connections among plants, animals, and humans and their effect on the environment.
- Observe and demonstrate interdependent relationships.
Essential Questions:
- How do plant structures help plants survive, grow, and reproduce?
- What are the stages of a plant’s life cycle?
- How does a plant meet its needs and acquire nutrients?
- What kinds of traits and adaptations help a plant survive?
- What is the interdependent relationship among plants, animals, humans, and the environment?
Career Connections:
- Agribusiness Consultant
- Arborist
- Botanist
- Farmer
Science Inquiry
In Science Inquiry, students learn about the scientific method. They explore gravity, robotics, hypotheses, variables, observations, and data and perform different experiments.
Objectives:
- Examine how scientific curiosity leads to new discoveries.
- Explore how holding weight affects the height of your jump.
- Explore how needs lead to inventions and new technology.
- Design, create, and test a moving toy.
- Discover the importance of hypotheses and variables.
- Experiment with food coloring and water.
- Investigate how scientists use the scientific method.
- Experiment with different types of liquids, paper clips, and a magnet.
- Compare how scientists make observations and gather data.
- Use observations and data to answer a question.
Essential Questions:
- How can holding weight affect the height of your jump?
- How can technology and robotics improve inventions?
- What role do a hypothesis and variables play in the scientific method?
- What is the purpose of the scientific method?
- What role do observations and data play in the scientific method?
Career Connections:
- Detective
- Diplomat
- Firefighter
- International Relief Worker
Simple Machines
In Simple Machines, students learn about the different types of simple machines. They create a mechanism using the simple machines.
Objectives:
- Explore the different classes of levers.
- Experiment with the fulcrum, load, and effort on different levers.
- Learn about inclined planes and screws.
- Test the impact of slope and mass on the speed of a skier traveling downhill.
- Discover how wheels and axles work.
- Test how wheels and axles work in a gear train and pulley system.
- Study the different types of pulleys.
- Create a castle pulley system.
- Examine wedges and compound machines.
- Build a moving sign-waving compound machine with simple machines.
Essential Questions:
- How do simple machines make our lives easier?
- What forces do simple machines have on other objects?
- How would life be different without simple machines?
Career Connections:
- Archaeologist
- Engineer
- Robotics Technician
- Science Educator
Space Exploration
In Space Exploration, students learn about the different ways humans discover the universe.
Objectives:
- Visualize Earth’s location in the universe.
- Design, build, and test a Mars rover.
- Determine key characteristics of the Sun and other stars.
- Create constellations and analyze how they change through the seasons.
- Journey through the beginnings of the race to space.
- Test how trajectory affects the distance and speed of rocket flight.
- Discover the trek humankind has taken through the history of space exploration.
- Plot crewed and uncrewed landing sites on the Moon.
- Explore the International Space Station and the effects of living in space.
- Create a parachute so your rocket can land safely on a surface and test its success.
Essential Questions:
- Should governments spend money on space exploration?
- What have we learned from space exploration?
- What does the future of space exploration look like?
Career Connections:
- Airport Personnel
- Astronaut
- Military Serviceperson
- Travel Agent
Structure and Function
In Structure and Function, students explore different animal structures and their functions. They classify animals by different characteristics.
Objectives:
- Distinguish different ways scientists classify organisms.
- Build different birds and then design a bird to meet the challenge.
- Connect the fossil records with changes in organisms and continental movement.
- Study fossil patterns to explain how the Earth has changed and what structures helped dinosaurs survive.
- Compare advantages and disadvantages of vertebrates and invertebrates.
- Classify animals as invertebrates and vertebrates while determining animal symmetry.
- Explore desert and nocturnal animal structures.
- Examine how human and animal eyes work using lenses.
- Discover how animals process different stimuli.
- Investigate how animals have special structures to sense their surroundings.
Essential Questions:
- How do animals respond to changes in their environment?
- What structures do different animals have that help them survive?
- How do animals change and adapt?
Career Connections:
- Entomologist
- Pet Groomer
- Veterinarian
- Zoologist
Transportation and Power
In Transportation and Power, students design, build, and test pipelines, boats, airplanes, and cars. They also investigate how energy is transferred when cars collide.
Objectives:
- Identify different forms of transportation and people or goods that can be transported.
- Engineer a pipeline without harming the environment.
- Compare vehicles used in land and water transportation.
- Design a boat that floats and holds as many washers as possible.
- Discover vehicles used in air and space transportation.
- Create a paper airplane that holds cargo and glides.
- Examine motion and safety features to protect passengers.
- Investigate how energy is transferred when cars collide.
- Explore ways scientists and engineers are making transportation more energy efficient.
- Make a wind-powered sail car that travels as far as possible.
Essential Questions:
- What is transportation and what can be transported?
- What types of vehicles enable transportation on land and water?
- What types of vehicles enable transportation in air and space?
- How can safety features protect passengers?
- How can transportation be more energy efficient?
Career Connections:
- Commercial Fisher
- Cruise Director
- Expedition Leader
- International Businessperson
Waves
In Waves, students discover that waves are a part of many natural events. They explore waves from water and sound.
Objectives:
- Learn the basic structure of a wave.
- Create waves and measure amplitude and wavelength.
- Explore similarities and differences between two types of waves.
- Build a wave model to see crests and troughs.
- Discover how sound travels.
- Design a gong that would best enable sound waves to travel.
- Relate the properties of sound to investigate music.
- Make instruments to hear different pitches and frequencies.
- Uncover the consistency and patterns of pendulums.
- Construct pendulums to explore frequencies and amplitudes.
Essential Questions:
- How do you measure amplitude and wavelength in waves?
- Where can you find the crests and troughs on a wave?
- What types of materials would best enable sound waves to travel?
- How can you make different pitches and frequencies?
- How can you discover pendulums’ frequencies and amplitudes?
Career Connections:
- Musician
- Music Therapist
- Music Video Producer
- Sound Engineer

Adaptations and Survival
In Adaptations and Survival, students learn how living things adapt in order to survive. Students study different types of adaptations for different environments.
Objectives:
- Compare behavioral and structural adaptations.
- Experiment with various adaptations of bird beaks.
- Discover how living things use camouflage for survival.
- Investigate the effectiveness of camouflage.
- Learn how animals have adapted to different temperatures.
- Evaluate the efficiency of blubber as insulation.
- Explore the ways different creatures adapt to their homes.
- Design and create a biodome.
- Understand how animals adapt for reproduction and the survival of their offspring.
- Simulate a wolf pack to compete for resources.
Essential Questions:
- How is the shape of a bird’s beak related to the types of food it eats?
- How does the predator or the prey use camouflage or mimicry to survive?
- How do ectothermic and endothermic animals adapt for needs of warmth?
- How does an animal’s body structure relate to its habitat?
- What behavioral and structural adaptations help an organism to reproduce?
Career Connections:
- Animal Care Worker
- Horticultural Worker
- Landscape Architect
- Veterinarian
Body at Work
In Body at Work, students learn about the different body systems and complete activities utilizing these body systems.
Objectives:
- Learn about the organization of the human body and the circulatory system.
- Determine whether your jumping ability is affected by your height.
- Explore the respiratory and digestive systems.
- Determine your breathing rate and lung volume.
- Examine the skeletal and muscular systems.
- Build a model of the human skeleton.
- Investigate the immune and nervous systems.
- Test your reaction times.
- Study the remaining body systems and the skin.
- Design a model of the human hand.
Essential Questions:
- How does the human body work as a system?
- How does your body get what it needs for you to live?
- How does the health of one body system affect the other systems?
Career Connections:
- Nurse
- Personal Trainer
- Physical Therapist
- Professional Athlete
Crime Lab
In Crime Lab, students work together to solve a crime by examining different types of evidence. Students perform different tests and investigations that investigators would do.
Objectives:
- Explore crime scenes and different types of evidence.
- Reconstruct a model of the crime scene.
- Learn about DNA and how it’s used as evidence.
- Perform tests on mystery powders to determine which one matches the evidence.
- Investigate how fingerprints or other marks at a crime scene can identify the culprit.
- Inspect your fingerprints and how they differ from others.
- Study how different blood types and bones act as evidence.
- Create dental impressions and investigate the math behind teeth.
- Examine different types of trace evidence and forgeries.
- Conduct chromatography tests to match inks to evidence.
Essential Questions:
- What role does technology play in solving crimes?
- How do you narrow down the evidence gathered in investigations?
- If evidence is provided implicating a suspect, what role does the lawyer play?
Career Connections:
- Forensic Scientist
- Journalist
- Lawyer
- Police Officer
Ecosystems
In Ecosystems, students learn about ecosystems and their components. Students examine food webs and chains. Students investigate adaptations and resources. Students apply math concepts to energy levels and animal survival.
Objectives:
- Learn about ecosystems and the environment.
- Perform a simulation that represents how animals with certain adaptations survive over generations.
- Examine food chains and food webs and the different types of organisms found in them.
- Create a food web and examine how energy is received at the different trophic levels.
- Investigate how adaptations and resources affect how animals survive.
- Learn about butterflies and their various adaptations. Create butterflies that blend into their surroundings.
- Explore different biomes and the organisms found in those biomes.
- Identify different biomes that animals live in and examine the distribution of biomes across Earth.
- Study different types of succession and how humans impact ecosystems.
- Design and build a model of primary succession.
Essential Questions:
- How could a change in one part of an ecosystem affect the rest of the ecosystem?
- How are matter and energy linked together in the environment and living systems?
- How do people impact the diversity and stability of ecosystems and biomes?
Career Connections:
- Ecologist
- Farm Manager
- Marine Biologist
- Microbiologist
Energy
In Energy, students learn about energy and its different uses. Students study the different types of energy and how energy is transformed. Students analyze the law of conservation of mass and energy. Students experiment with various energy forms and calculate their effects.
Objectives:
- Explore energy uses and how to calculate energy.
- Determine how much energy is used by your body.
- Learn about kinetic and potential energy.
- Test the effects of a rubber band-powered racer.
- Read about the law of conservation of matter and energy.
- Experiment with chemical reactions and energy conversions.
- Examine different types and sources of energy.
- Use a solar-powered car to convert light into electricity.
- Investigate different energy transformations and examples.
- Discover the effects of light on a solar panel.
Essential Questions:
- What is energy and how is it transformed?
- What are different forms of energy?
Career Connections:
- Drilling Engineer
- Electrical Engineer
- Electrician
- Plumber
Engineering Structures
In Engineering Structures, students think like engineers to overcome construction and load-bearing challenges.
Objectives:
- Learn the importance of the properties of materials.
- Create and test 3-D structures for maximum load.
- Understand how different designs resist compression and tension.
- Evaluate the benefits of gussets in creating a frame.
- Explore how the design phase is used to plan smarter.
- Model the benefits of supports in bridge building.
- Compare potential reasons for structural failure and how designers attempt to overcome them.
- Explore strategic placement of support in a building to better withstand an earthquake.
- Examine proper design testing techniques and the benefits of plans and technology.
- Integrate knowledge of structure design and loads to solve a design challenge.
Essential Questions:
- How can shapes affect the strength of a structure?
- How do different bridge supports resist against compression and tension?
- How are the materials architects choose important to the structure?
- What forces can cause a structure to fail?
- How do architects design structures to withstand a variety of loads?
Career Connections:
- Architect
- Builder
- Materials Scientist
- Structural Engineer
Limited Resources
In Limited Resources, students work with different types of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Students examine the impact people have on the environment and how to reduce that impact.
Objectives:
- Learn about fossil fuels and nonrenewable resources.
- Create a plan to manage energy resources.
- Explore different types of renewable energy.
- Engineer a solar car.
- Examine how the choices people make impact the environment.
- Perform a pollution experiment.
- Study about resource consumption and how to reuse, reduce, and recycle.
- Make recycled jewelry.
- Investigate how living and nonliving things help with the cycling of nutrients in the environment.
- Inspect the components of soil.
Essential Questions:
- What is the best source of alternative energy?
- Should Americans reduce their energy usage? If so, how?
- When will the US become energy independent?
Career Connections:
- Geoscientist
- Politician
- Public Relations Officer
- Town Planner
Matter Properties
In Matter Properties, students learn about mass and other properties of matter. Students experiment with physical and chemical changes. Students explore mixtures and solutions and investigate heat movement.
Objectives:
- Learn about mass and matter.
- Investigate the different matter properties of various materials.
- Study different matter properties.
- Calculate the properties of volume and density of different materials.
- Learn about physical and chemical changes.
- Explore examples of physical and chemical changes.
- Explore mixtures and solutions.
- Examine mixtures and determine if they are heterogeneous mixtures or solutions.
- Identify types of heat movement.
- Design an insulated container that resists the heat lost due to conduction and radiation.
Essential Questions:
- What is matter and its properties?
- How does matter interact with itself?
- How do matter and energy interact together?
Career Connections:
- Chemical Engineer
- Cosmetologist
- Pharmacist
- Pharmacologist
Motion and Force
In Motion and Force, students learn about motion and force through different amusement park rides.
Objectives:
- Learn about the laws of force and motion.
- Engineer a marble run coaster.
- Investigate Newton’s first law and the effect of gravity on forces.
- Create a swinging pendulum ride.
- Examine Newton’s second law and the relationship between force, mass, and acceleration.
- Design a balloon vehicle that travels on a zip line.
- Study how Newton’s third law relates to forces.
- Test balanced and unbalanced forces on bumper cars.
- Explore how Newton’s laws are demonstrated in amusement park rides.
- Build a carousel that demonstrates centripetal force.
Essential Questions:
- How do roller coasters use forces and energy?
- How are roller coasters powered without an engine?
- What forces act on a person while he or she is riding an amusement park ride?
- How do you create a thrilling amusement park while still being safe?
Career Connections:
- Logistics Manager
- Railroad Engineer
- Transportation Planner
- United States Marine
Rocketry
In Rocketry, students design, build, and test straw rockets. Students determine the best design for a rocket to land in a specific target. Students explore how different variables affect a rocket’s flight.
Objectives:
- Learn about the design process and its application to rocket design.
- Design and build a straw rocket.
- Explore parts of rocket flight and the variables that affect it.
- Launch your rocket and record the data collected.
- Delve into the history of rockets.
- Redesign your rocket and test it.
- Examine how Newton’s laws apply to rocket flight.
- Test how trajectory affects the range of the rocket.
- Learn about current events and future plans in space travel.
- Plot coordinate points based on a rocket target.
Essential Questions:
- Should governments spend money on space exploration?
- What is the relationship between the availability of resources and the need for space exploration?
- Considering the number of people who have died using rockets for exploration, should rockets be used to carry humans into space?
Career Connections:
- Aerospace Engineer
- Air Force Airman
- Air Traffic Controller
- Airline Cabin Crew
Scientific Discovery
In Scientific Discovery, students learn about the scientific method. Students explore constants, variables, hypotheses, and conclusions. Students perform different experiments.
Objectives:
- Discover the steps of the scientific method.
- Experiment with yeast and sugar.
- Learn about observations and data.
- Perform volume measurements.
- Investigate constants and variables.
- Write and conduct your own experiment.
- Study how scientists work and communicate.
- Engineer a safe bungee cage ride.
- Explore models and classifications used by scientists.
- Create your own rock classification key.
Essential Questions:
- What is science and why is it important?
- When should a scientific theory become a scientific law?
- How can technology be used to further scientific study?
Career Connections:
- Chef
- Elementary School Teacher
- Firefighter
- Game Developer
Solar System
In Solar System, students learn about components of the universe. Students examine our solar system and its planets. Students explore Earth and the Moon in detail and create models that represent concepts studied.
Objectives:
- Explore the eight different planets in our solar system.
- Create planet puzzles capturing information about the planets.
- Examine how distances are represented in our solar system.
- Create a scale model of the planets and their distances from the Sun.
- Discover the movements of Earth and the Moon and how eclipses occur.
- Investigate the phases of the Moon and how they relate to fractions.
- Learn about stars, constellations, and the universe.
- Design a number line to represent the astronomical magnitude scale.
- Study Earth’s rotation and revolution and how both affect the seasons.
- Determine how angles relate to Earth’s revolution around the Sun.
Essential Questions:
- What is Earth’s place in the solar system?
- What are the interactions between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun?
- How has technology affected our understanding of the universe?
Career Connections:
- Airline Pilot
- Astronaut
- Astronomer
- Telecom Engineer
Technology and Design
In Technology and Design, students learn about how people create new things to solve problems. Students design, build, and test several creations.
Objectives:
- Understand the importance of technology and how it evolves.
- Construct a simple robot that creates art.
- Identify the categories of technology.
- Design and build a Fold-N-Roll vehicle.
- Investigate the design process.
- Test and improve your Fold-N-Roll vehicle.
- Explore the input, process, and output of systems.
- Use code to create a structure.
- Recognize the relationship between technology and science.
- Design a sail and evaluate its efficiency.
Essential Questions:
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of technology?
- How are the seven technology categories a part of daily life?
- How is the design process a model for problem-solving?
- How do the parts of a system work together to make that system work?
- How have science and technology affected society?
Career Connections:
- Graphic Designer
- Interior Designer
- Mechanical Engineer
- Product Designer
Under the Microscope
In Under the Microscope, students learn the history and parts of the microscope. Students explore animal and plant cells. Students examine cells under the microscope and learn how to use it properly.
Objectives:
- Explore animal and plant cells and their organelles.
- Build a plant and animal cell as a design challenge.
- Learn about mitosis, DNA, chromosomes, and genes.
- Create a mitosis comic strip depicting the different phases.
- Investigate the classification of different living things.
- Examine different cells and compare their characteristics.
- Study the history of microscopes, the different types of microscopes, and people who used them.
- Draw images at different scales using measurement.
- Explore how a microscope uses light and lenses and its parts.
- Operate a microscope and learn about its parts and proper use.
Essential Questions:
- What characteristics do all living things have in common?
- Why is each part of a cell essential to survival?
- How does the microscope contribute to the study of cells?
Career Connections:
- Biotechnologist
- Dentist
- Medical Doctor
- Paramedic
Weather and Water
In Weather and Water, students learn about Earth’s different systems and resources. Students complete hands-on activities and investigations around weather, air, and water.
Objectives:
- Learn about different Earth systems and how they impact weather and climate.
- Make a scale model of Earth’s atmosphere.
- Explore the water cycle and its impact on Earth.
- Create a cloud model and simulate the water cycle through an experiment.
- Investigate weather patterns and extreme weather events.
- Build weather forecasts on the map using the appropriate weather symbols.
- Examine the different water resources on Earth.
- Model the different types of water resources and their distributions on Earth.
- Study the natural and human impacts on Earth’s air and water resources.
- Design a clean water filter.
Essential Questions:
- What water conservation techniques should be implemented in the United States in order to ensure future availability of water resources?
- What possible effects can increased human population have on water resources worldwide?
- What natural disasters should you be insured against where you live?
- What factors determine Earth’s climate?
Career Connections:
- Camera Operator
- Coast Guardsman
- Meteorologist
- Navy Sailor

Being Healthy

In Being Healthy, students learn about different things that affect the body both in positive ways and negative ways.

Objectives:

Analyze the experiences your body goes through as you wake up.
Design a device that produces sounds of different volume and pitch.
Categorize the nutrients that are essential for a healthy body.
Categorize food into groups and plan meals for a day.
Evaluate food choices for a healthy diet.
Perform different cooking measurements and examine nutrition labels.
Determine how the skin is an important line of defense for the body.
Play a game that demonstrates the importance of being healthy.
Compare and contrast the roles of muscles and the skeleton for movement.
Design a cast for a broken wrist while staying within a budget for materials.

Essential Questions:

Why is it important to be healthy?
How does your food and nutrition affect your body?
What are nutrients and where do you find them?

Career Connections:

Cryptologist
Genetic Engineer
Pet Psychologist
Taxidermist

Standards Alignments

STREAM Missions were built on Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Standards for mathematics and English language arts. View the following best set correlation reports, or custom reports are available upon request.

View Standards Correlation

Grade 3 Best Set Correlation Report

Grade 4 Best Set Correlation Report

Grade 5 Best Set Correlation Report

Supplementary Units

Looking for an economical elementary unit that takes less time to teach and complete? Shop our activity bundles for preK-6. Correlations available upon request.

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"I love that in the workplace you're given certain responsibilities. That's what you do in a job. The fact that they're learning that now at the elementary age is amazing."

-Matthew Way, STREAM lab facilitator, Sweeny Elementary School, Sweeny, TX
(on student roles in STREAM Missions)

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