STEAM-Based Movies to Enjoy
Thank you to Chris Woods @dailySTEM
Big Hero 6
PG, 2014, 102 min
Ideas for Projects: Robotics, bot fighting, lasers, lab safety, inventions, health care technology, engineering, science competitions, neurotransmitters, teamwork, tracking systems, 3d printing, sensors
Top Scenes: 7:27–10:40 “Welcome to the nerd lab…”
Big Question: If you had a “nerd lab” what would be in it? What would you create in it?
Further Study: Health care and medicine have some of the most advanced technology. Learn about the different hi-tech medical devices and procedures.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
PG, 2009, 90 min
Ideas for Projects: Inventions, famous inventors, creativity, science lab design, nutrition, blueprints, electricity, weather, extreme weather, natural disasters
Top Scenes: 0:45–3:15 “It’s not easy being different…”
Big Question: If you had the ability to control the weather of the world, what weather would you choose & why?
Further Study: Look at the effects that weather has on the industry, transportation, and culture of a community.
Finding Dory
PG, 2016, 97 min
Ideas for Projects: Memory, migration, pollution, short-term memory loss, the undertow, East Australian Current, bioluminescence, “Rescue, Rehabilitation, & Release,” nearsightedness, echolocation, camouflage, animal & plant diversity, imprinting, quarantine
Top Scenes: 55:50-58:11 Echolocation
Big Question: If you could design an aquarium for aquatic life, what would it look like? What plants & creatures would it include?
Further Study: Visit an aquarium and learn about working as a marine biologist.
The Iron Giant
PG, 1999, 86 min
Ideas for Projects: Sputnik, electricity, metal recycling, welding, robotics, junkyard art, effects of caffeine
Top Scenes: 45:48-46:53 How to use your Robot
Big Question: What would you do if you had a giant robot? How would you use it?
Further Study: Robots are being adapted for all types of everyday tasks. Research the latest innovations and advancements in robotics.
Wall-E
G, 2008, 98 min
Ideas for Projects: Repurposing junk, cubic volume, garbage & pollution, solar power, robotics, Rubik’s Cube, artificial intelligence, fitness, health impacts of space travel, growing seeds
Top Scenes: 51:20–52:00 & 1:01:20–1:02:00 Analyzing dirt & “Define earth…”
Big Question: How would you design a ship for long-term space travel? What problems could happen?
Further Study: Use the website PixarInABox.com to learn how animated movies like Wall-E are created.
Apollo 13
PG, 1995, 140 min
Ideas for Projects: NASA, Apollo missions, the “Space Race,” astronaut training, gravity, superstition,
health, communication from space, problem solving, amps & volts, heat shields, entry angle, parachutes
Top Scenes: 1:19:36-1:21:00 & 1:27:07-1:32:53 The carbon dioxide problem, 2:02:40-2:11:24 “Our
Finest Hour”
Big Question: What is the best way to handle problems? Can every problem be predicted & prevented?
Further Study: Read the book “Lost Moon” by Jim Lovell & research more “successful failures” in history
Astronaut Farmer
PG, 2006, 104 min
Ideas for Projects: Rocketry, scrapyards, space colonization, engineering, welding, weightlessness, fuel,
teamwork, repurposing, rocket launches
Top Scenes: 19:21-21:08 The Farmer Space Program, 1:22:57-1:29:00 A successful launch
Big Question: Is it possible to build a working spacecraft at home? What skills would be necessary?
Further Study: Investigate the history of rocketry (especially from 1940-1969)
Hidden Figures
PG, 2016, 127 min
Ideas for Projects: Car starters, NASA, Sputnik, IBM, history of computers, engineering, wind tunnels,
Mercury Seven, Fortran, Langley
Top Scenes: 58:33–59:59 Stepping up in the face of challenges, 1:16:30–1:19:00 The importance of
questions
Big Question: What kinds of things can hold you back from success? What are the “moonshots” of this
generation?
Further Study: Read the book Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly & study the history of NASA
The Martian
PG-13, 2015, 144 min
Ideas for Projects: Geology, navigation, extreme weather, angles, emergency preparedness, first aid,
survival, biomonitors, problem solving, Sols, botany, gardening, fertilizer, water production, satellites,
communication, hexadecimal, Pathfinder, temperature & pressure, Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
astrodynamics, orbit, nutrition, chemistry, acceleration & deceleration
Top Scenes: 20:37-24:16 “Mars will come to fear my botany powers”, 59:39-1:01:20 “I am the greatest
botanist on this planet”, 1:32:04-1:37:23 The resupply, 1:38:04-1:39:01 “Mark Watney, space pirate”
Big Question: What would be necessary to live on Mars? What obstacles are there to survival?
Further Study: Read the book The Martian by Andy Weir & learn about current and future Mars
exploration beginning with NASA’s Mars website https://mars.nasa.gov
October Sky
PG, 1999, 108 min
Ideas for Projects: Coal mining, Sputnik, Wernher von Braun, model rockets, welding, science fairs,
recycling, lathes, rocket fuel, ignition system, goals & inspiration, altitude & trajectory, trigonometry
Top Scenes: 1:09:10-1:20:28 Finding the missing rocket, 1:35:08-1:39:20 Teamwork & one last rocket
Big Question: How does a rocket actually fly? Why rockets shaped like rockets?
Further Study: Read the book Rocket Boys by Homer H. Hickam Jr. & find a local science fair to enter.
The Games Maker
PG, 1995, 140 min
Ideas for Projects: Games, hot air balloons, puzzles, architecture, drawing, luck, probability, labyrinths,
dreams, engineering, planned obsolescence
Top Scenes: Introduction scene of the “history of games” & Ivan creating his games
Big Question: What makes a great game? What is the best ratio of luck to skill for a game?
Further Study: Many games are thousands of years old. Research the history of games.
Paper Planes
Not Rated, 2014, 96 min
Ideas for Projects: Paper making machinery, eagles, flight, sailing, innovation, model rockets, airplanes,
biomimicry, competitions, origami, papermaking, acupuncture, drones, lasers
Top Scenes: 5:07-8:06 The paper plane challenge, 17:06-21:11 Investigating flight
Big Question: Which can fly better: planes or birds?
Further Study: Study the history of flight & find a paper airplane competition (or start your own).
Queen of Katwe
PG, 2016, 124 min
Ideas for Projects: Chess, entrepreneurship, clean water, shelter, soccer, nutrition, hygiene, literacy,
strategy, curiosity
Top Scenes: 15:27-16:15 “In chess, the small one can become the big one,” 18:00-19:34 Finding your
“safe square”
Big Question: What kinds of ideas could help kids like Phiona rise out of difficult conditions or improve
conditions in places like Katwe?
Further Study: Read the book Queen of Katwe & find a chess group in your area (or start your own).
Spare Parts
PG-13 2015, 114 min
Ideas for Projects: Underwater robotics, auto repair, engineering, drones, proof of concept, coding &
programming, electricity, plumbing
Top Scenes: 23:28-25:05 The new mechanic & the prototype, 36:17-39:00 Buying the robot supplies
Big Question: Is engineering more theory & knowledge or building & application?
Further Study: Read the Wired Magazine article “La Vida Robot” by Joshua Davis & investigate robotics
competitions.
Swiss Family Robinson
G, 1960, 126 min
Ideas for Projects: Simple machines, pulleys, navigation tools, knot tying, raft building, wildlife, animal
husbandry, emergency shelters, edible wild plants, telescopes, tree houses, traps
Top Scenes: 34:00–38:00 Unveiling the tree house
Big Question: What if you had to colonize an uninhabited land? What would be your plan?
Further Study: Read the original classic book Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss.
The Goonies
PG, 1985, 114 min
Ideas for Projects: Contraptions, asthma, Rube Goldberg machines, zip lines, archaeology, piracy,
plasma balls, maps, bicycles, booby traps, plumbing, counterfeiting, waterfalls, ships, balances
Top Scenes: 7:36–9:02 Opening the door machine, 1:09:47–1:11:42 The key & the trap & falling
Big Question: Can you build a Rube Goldberg machine? Is it possible to make a Rube Goldberg
machine that makes a task easier instead of more difficult?
Further Study: Learn about Rube Goldberg and how he invented his machines
Chicken Run
G 2000, 95 min
Ideas for Projects: Claymation, stop motion, chickens, blueprints, disguises, tunnels, profit & loss, egg
production, catapults, flight, machinery & automation, thrust & propulsion, engineering, gears, ramps
Top Scenes: 16:26-18:05 Fences in your mind, 50:02-54:13 Pie machine, 1:03:01-1:06:10 & 1:06:56-
1:13:55 Building, flying, & escaping
Big Question: Is it possible to build a flying machine using recycled parts? How would it work?
Further Study: Learn more about clay animation and try making your own short film using stop motion
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
G, 1968, 145 min
Ideas for Projects: Automobiles, inventions, windmills, rockets, gears & machinery, vacuum cleaner,
candy making, flutes, repurposing, sandcastles, zeppelins, flying machines, toy making, imagination
Top Scenes: 47:52-52:40 Making the car, 2:04:45-2:10:01 The dancing ‘toys’
Big Question: Using your imagination is important for invention. What inventions can you imagine?
Further Study: Study the history of the first automobiles. What worked and what didn’t?
Meet the Robinsons
G, 2007, 95 min
Ideas for Projects: Inventing, adoption, sleep, journaling, brain science, memories, science fairs, failure,
flying vehicles, time travel, robots, teamwork
Top Scenes: 4:10-4:31 The need for everything, 1:16:13-1:17:49 What is your future, 1:26:44-1:27:51
Keep moving forward
Big Question: What is the purpose of inventing? Why do people invent?
Further Study: Study the history of inventions. Were there times or conditions that led to more inventing?
Space Camp
PG, 1986, 107 min
Ideas for Projects: John Glenn, jets, biplanes, JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), simulators, robotics,
EVA, Space Shuttle, effort & caring, thermal curtain failure, oxygen, Daedelus, Morse Code,
Coordinates, White Sands, re-entry angle
Top Scenes: 19:20-21:37 Max fixes Jinx, 21:38-24:48 roles in space, 1:30:08-1:33:16 NASA hears them
Big Question: What would you do if you accidentally launched into space with 5 people you just met?
Further Study: Try to find a space camp or museum near you, or create your own experience at your
school or in your community to introduce others to space careers. Learn more at spacecamp.com