Integrated STEM Mini-Units

Wildlife Conservation: How, Why, and What Can We Do? 

• Author: Connor Adamek (2024)

• Target Age Level: Middle to High School

• Description: Students act as ecologists to explore animal adaptations and evaluate the effectiveness of conservation practices.

Understanding Soil Science and Its Impact on Daily Life 

• Author: Mariah K. Stollar Awan  (2023)

• Target Age Level: High School

• Description: This series covers soil properties, pH testing, and fertilizer calculations to highlight the connection between soil health and the global food supply.

Water Quality

• Author: Isabelle Paulsen (2024)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Students investigate water quality indicators and macroinvertebrate diversity to understand the health of local aquatic ecosystems.

Water

• Author: Elizabeth Simmermeyer (2021)

• Target Age Level: Upper Elementary 

• Description: This unit explores the water cycle, pollution, and filtration through hands-on modeling and collaborative problem-solving.

Water: The Ultimate Life Resource

• Author: Brenda C Matos (2025)

• Target Age Level: Gifted Middle School (7-8)

• Description: In this inquiry-based lesson, students explore the critical role of water in the global food system by investigating its properties, distribution, and the impact of agricultural practices on water quality.

Appealing Apple Preservation and Packaging

• Authors: Jenny Blackburn & Sarah Thies (2022)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Students take on the role of food scientists and packaging engineers to experiment with browning prevention and design sustainable packaging.

NutriSTEM: Nourishing Minds, Cultivating Communities

• Author: Alejandra Prado-Jaramillo (2024)

• Target Age Level: High School

• Description: High school students explore the connections between nutrients, food systems, and food insecurity to make informed dietary choices.

Meet Your Meats

• Authors: Miranda McGuire & Yufei Guo (2021)

• Target Age Level: Middle to High School

• Description: This unit uses a multidisciplinary approach to teach participants about meat quality, USDA grading, and the chemistry of cooking.

Got Safe Milk? How Temperature Affects Food Safety and Quality

• Author: Oseremi Olivia Jagbojo (2023)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Students investigate the relationship between temperature and bacterial growth to determine appropriate storage conditions for dairy products.

Lactose in Milk: Understanding its Chemistry, Health Effects, and Industry Solutions

• Author: Pat Polonsky (2020)

• Target Age Level: High School

• Description: This unit integrates chemistry and food technology to explore milk composition and the engineering behind dairy processing.

Coffee: From Seed to Cup

• Author: Olivier Ntaganzwa (2023)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Middle schoolers investigate the biology, economics, and chemistry of coffee as it moves through the global value chain. 

Plant Physiology – The Plumbing of Plants

• Author: Ian Rimer (2024)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Students investigate how plants transport water from soil to leaf and apply these concepts to design agricultural irrigation strategies.

Homegrown Gardening through the Lens of Soil Science

• Authors: Stephen McBride & Brooke Stafford (2020)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Using the context of urban gardening, students explore soil particle size, pH levels, and nutrient management.

Ecosystem: Plants, Animals, & Energy

• Author: Elizabeth Ragland (2022)

• Target Age Level: Elementary to Middle 

• Description: This unit tracks the flow of energy through food webs and explores how agricultural practices influence ecosystem balance.

From Scraps to Sprouts: Composting for a Sustainable Future

• Author: Kaley Mumma (2025)

• Target Age Level: Elementary to Middle

• Description: This mini-unit guides students through an investigation of the biological process of decomposition and the nutrient cycle by identifying suitable organic materials and creating their own healthy soil ecosystems.

  • Google Drive with all resources

Exploring the Wonders of Aquarium Fishes

• Author: Jemuel S. Doctolero (2024)

• Target Age Level: 2nd Grade

• Description: Second-grade students learn about responsibility and aquatic biology by exploring the care requirements of various aquarium fish.

The Entomologist’s Insect Life Cycle: From Hungry Caterpillars to Insect Pest Management

• Author: Madison Gits (2021)

• Target Age Level: Middle School 

• Description: Students investigate insect metamorphosis and use real-world data to develop integrated pest management strategies. 

Hen Housing Dilemma: Investigating Impacts of Exercise on Bone Health

• Author: Brittney Emmert (2025)

• Target Age Level: High school (11-12 grade)

• Description: In this mini-unit, high school students act as animal scientists to investigate how caged versus cage-free housing systems impact the bone mineral density and breaking strength of laying hens.

• PowerPoint: Hen Housing Dilemma Introduction PowerPoint 

Climate Change and Agriculture

• Authors: Elizabeth E. Ogar & Fawziah Alghamdi (2024)

• Target Age Level: High School

• Description: This series examines how shifting weather patterns affect food security and challenges students to engineer resilient agricultural solutions.

Global Food Security and GMO Usage

• Author: Austin Jenkins (2022)

• Target Age Level: High School

• Description: Students analyze factors contributing to food insecurity and evaluate the role of genetically modified organisms in the food system.

Carbon Emissions in Agriculture: Whose Farm Manages Carbon Better?

• Author: Rudan Wang (2025)

• Target Age Level: High School (grade 11)

• Description: In this inquiry-based mini-unit, high school students use mathematical modeling and carbon calculators to analyze the carbon cycle and compare the environmental impact of different agricultural management practices.

Biomimicry in Action

• Author: Laura Workman (2023)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Participants explore how nature solves complex problems to design their own bio-inspired prototypes for everyday challenges.

Taking Steps to Solve the Water Crisis

• Author: Elizabeth Thiel (2022)

• Target Age Level: Middle School

• Description: Using literature as a guide, students engage in an engineering challenge to construct solar cookers for water purification.

Wood: The Ultimate Building Material

• Author: Dan Bollock (2020)

• Target Age Level: High School

• Description: Students apply principles of density and specific gravity to design, build, and strength-test model chairs made from various wood species.

DigitalAg: Farming Superheroes: How Tech Saves the Day

• Author: Kwabena Bayity  (2025)

• Target Age Level: Middle to High School (Grade 8-9)

• Description: This mini-unit challenges high school students to investigate the biological and chemical factors of soil health by analyzing soil samples and applying the engineering design process to develop sustainable soil remediation plans.