ACTIVITY BOOK

HENRY M. JACKSON FOUNDATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF MILITARY MEDICINE

WHAT IS ‘STEM’?
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
Learning in STEM is all about asking questions, searching for
answers, and discovering new ways to look at the world! Marine
biologist, architect, astronomer, nuclear engineer and software
developer are all examples of jobs in STEM fields. STEM skills make
creators, thinkers, problem solvers, doers, innovators and inventors.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Secret Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Turn Milk into Plastic!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Naked Egg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Star Projector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

‘Stem’ Word Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

‘Secret Message’ Maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Spot the Difference!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Crazy Math Maze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Finding Words in ‘Technology’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Mr. Robo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Create Your Own Invention!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Albert Einstein Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Science Illustration Color. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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 Science | Technology | Engineering | Mathematics

SECRET MESSAGES MATERIALS

• 4 sheets white printer paper

Experiment
• Cup
• Cotton swab or paintbrush
• Tablespoon
• Lemon juice (fresh squeezed or bottled)
• Hair Dryer
• Other sources of heat (ask a parent for help!)
Credits
Image from ‘BeardedScienceGuy’ on Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poCnU_crpjQ

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Add about 1 tablespoon of 4. Let the lemon juice message table below to see which one
lemon juice or cut and squeeze dry completely to make your works best! Since heat rises,
fresh lemon to the cup. message invisible; you’ll be it’s best to start at the bottom of
able to see the message as your message and work your
2. Soak an end of the cotton long as the paper is wet. way up.
swab or put the paint brush
into the lemon juice. You’ll use 5. Use a source of heat, like a Possible sources of heat: hair
this to write your message. hair dryer, to reveal your secret dryer; light bulb; heating vent;
message. Try a different heat hold it over the toaster while
3. Write a message on each source on each sheet of paper making toast; what else can you
sheet of paper. and record what happens in the think of? Ask an adult for help!

Heat source What happened? Could you read the message clearly?

Hair Dryer

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Experiment

TURN MILK INTO PLASTIC!

INTRODUCTION
Have you ever heard that plastic can be made out of milk? If this sounds like something made-up to you,
you may be surprised to learn that from the early 1900s until about 1945, milk was commonly used to make
many different plastic ornaments, including buttons, decorative buckles, beads and other jewelry, fountain
pens, the backings for hand-held mirrors, and fancy comb and brush sets. Milk plastic (usually called casein
plastic) was even used to make jewelry for Queen Mary of England!

Credits
Teisha Rowland, PhD, Science Buddies | Sandra Slutz, PhD, Science Buddies
www.sciencebuddies.org

MATERIALS
• Milk (1 cup)
• White vinegar (4 teaspoons)
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoons
• Mug or other heat-resistant cup large enough
to hold at least 1 cup of milk
• Paper towels
• Spoon
• Stovetop oven and pan or microwave and
microwaveable container
• Optional: Cookie cutters, glitter, food coloring,
markers

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INSTRUCTIONS
1. Pour 1 cup of milk into a pot of 5. Stir the mixture with a spoon. 9. Knead all the curds together
microwaveable container. into a ball of dough.

Experiment
10. Color the dough as you like.
You can use glitter, food
coloring, markers.

2. Heat the milk in the 6. Stack 4 layers of paper towels

microwave or on the stove on a surface that is safe to get
until it is steaming. damp.

7. Scoop out the curds with a

spoon and place them on the 11. You can use cookie cutters to
paper towels. shape your dough or sculpt it
with your hands.

3. Add 4 teaspoons of white

vinegar to a mug.

8. Fold the paper towels over

the curds and press down to 12. Put all your creations on a
the absorb excess liquid. paper towel and let them dry
overnight.

4. Add the hot milk to the mug

with the vinegar.

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Experiment

NAKED EGG

MATERIALS
• An egg (not hard boiled, just a regular egg) • Flashlight
• Vinegar • Corn syrup (optional)
• A jar or tall glass (large enough to hold the egg)

Credits
www.sciencebuddies.org
Images from Hungry SciANNtist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv-LJZrnkPg/
Sick Science!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyOnGA0cmp0

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Gently place the egg in the 2. Add vinegar to the jar so 3. Look closely at the egg; note
tall glass or jar. that the egg is completely the tiny bubbles forming on
covered. the shell.

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INSTRUCTIONS (continued)
4. Leave the egg in the vinegar 7. After a week, pour out the 8. OPTIONAL: Did you notice
for 24 hours. vinegar and carefully rinse off that your egg grew in size?
the egg with water. What do Put your naked egg into a

Experiment
5. Replace the vinegar; carefully you see? Try shining a glass or jar of corn syrup
pour the old vinegar down the flashlight through the egg. next and watch how its size
drain and cover the egg with Record your observations on changes.
fresh vinegar. the ‘Notes’ page at the back
of this book.
6. Place the glass with the
vinegar and egg in a safe
place for a week (7 days).
Don’t disturb the egg, but pay
close attention to the bubbles
forming on the egg’s surface.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED

The shell is gone! There’s now a delicate membrane surrounding the egg white and yolk, allowing you to
see inside the egg. The vinegar had a chemical reaction with the egg shell that released carbon dioxide—
the little bubbles you saw on the surface of the egg.

The egg looks translucent when you shine a flashlight through it because the hard outer shell is gone,
leaving a thin (semipermeable) membrane.

Did you notice that your egg got a little bigger after soaking in the vinegar? Household vinegar is 96% water.
Some water traveled through the egg’s membrane in an effort to make an even concentration of water on
both sides of the membrane (the flow of water through a semipermeable membrane is called osmosis).
Since corn syrup has a lower concentration of water than the egg does, placing the egg in corn syrup
causes water to move out of the egg through the membrane and into the corn syrup in efforts to equalize
the water concentration.

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Experiment

STAR PROJECTOR

MATERIALS
• Paper cup • Scissors
• Dot sticker (or tape) • Push pin
• Big Dipper printout (cut it out from this page) • Flashlight

Credits
https://mysteryscience.com/sky/mystery-5/stars-daily-patterns/128?r=74040094#slide-id-0

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Cut out your Big Dipper
picture (on this page) by
cutting around the dotted
lines.

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INSTRUCTIONS (continued)
2. Turn your paper cup upside 4. Make sure the room you’re in 6. Have someone turn on the
down; use a piece of tape or is dark—turn off the lights and lights; what happens to your
sticker to attach your big close any curtains or blinds. Big Dipper? If you position

Experiment
dipper picture to the bottom your big dipper right next to
of the cup. another light source (a light,
lamp, or another flashlight),
what happens? Try moving
your big dipper slowly away
from another light source, and
then back towards it. What do
you observe?

5. Point your cup at a plain, flat

surface like a table or a wall.
3. Use a push pin to carefully Shine your flashlight inside
poke a hole in each star of the the cup. Move the flashlight
Big Dipper. Be sure your hole around until you can see the
goes through both the Big entire big dipper on the table
Dipper picture and the bottom or wall.
of the cup.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED

Just like you saw with your model, the stars in our sky are harder to see when there’s another bright light.
The stars in our sky are always there, but the sun is so bright during daytime that the stars seem to disappear
from the sky.

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‘STEM’ WORD SEARCH

Name: _________________________________________________

Science Word Search

SCIENCE

Find the following

H R E P O T L Y X V Y H D T T N P N
words in the puzzle.
J D X V L W C B P Z Y V M E V J T L
F R P D S A R Y A J V A O L V H Y J
LABORATORY
P B E Y C L B A V X J O X E W L N B BEAKER
T S R S I H X O B B S L I S B F A U
CHEMICAL
Puzzles

C G I B E N E D R U K W K C E Y I S
B Y M Z N A K M L A J C V O A L L C EXPERIMENT
A P E G T Q R H I Y T X L P K F Y H
RESEARCH
I G N Y I V W C G C I O B E E V H O
O M T S S H K A H D A S R J R G C N SCIENTIST
P L Z I T T H E O R Y L U Y Z T E W TELESCOPE
W B S Y C K B O P I U C Q L Q R B A
THEORY
Name: _________________________________________________
Find the following words in the puzzle.
Words are hidden and .
Technology Word Search
TECHNOLOGY
BEAKER LABORATORY TELESCOPE
CHEMICAL RESEARCH THEORY
EXPERIMENT SCIENTIST Find the following
O H G N U Z Z Q R J D S F T D H U K
words in the puzzle.
C S Z Y B H G R N Y X T R E V Y M D
S O F T W A R E H H T E Q C X O Y E
CODE
R C M K P N Q U P B Z A C H L L T J PROGRAM
Y O A E E T A V P G O V O N Z Z H I
SOFTWARE
J D G F K Y K Y S E B E M I C S L A
M E D Y U H B U A Z H I P C A P Y S COMPUTER
Y E L E C T R O N I C V U I I B L L
DEVICE
V N F X L B I R A C V A T A V U S U
Created using Word Search Generator on
B PSuper
R Teacher
O G Worksheets
R A M(www.superteacherworksheets.com)
H R G S E N W Z J A TECHNICIAN
U Q S X G Z D S O U D J R H H B V P KEYBOARD
U B Q W L Y X J D E V I C E N X B T
ELECTRONIC

Find the following words in the puzzle.

Words are hidden and .

CODE ELECTRONIC SOFTWARE

8 COMPUTERHenry M Jackson
KEYBOARD
Foundation for the TECHNICIAN
Advancement of Military Medicine
DEVICE PROGRAM
 Science | Technology | Engineering | Mathematics

WORD SEARCH (continued)

Name: _________________________________________________

Engineering Word Search

ENGINEERING

Find the following

C O N S T R U C T I O N T Q A M I J
words in the puzzle.
B W C I V B G P H K U T U G C I P K
D M E C H A N I C H B F P N W Y V Y
BUILD
Q W G H K U C X V U L R X D B M Y H CONSTRUCTION
K V B J J B T B N B U R O G O A V R
MACHINE

Puzzles
M R E U V R G Y A F E F R F G C R T
K O W M I N M E G S P X G N C H S O ROBOT
H B S P J L F G A Q R N Q A M I T O
MECHANIC
D O L O G Q D V B K I V F P G N U L
C T Y L J F H K Y D N S Q R Y E D S TOOLS
P P F X S Z N P M Q T O H N I R N D ENGINE
H O Z I R L G S E N G I N E L S X H
BLUEPRINT
Name: _________________________________________________
Find the following words in the puzzle.
Words are hidden and .
Mathematics Word Search
MATHEMATICS
BLUEPRINT ENGINE ROBOT
BUILD MACHINE TOOLS
CONSTRUCTION MECHANIC Find the following
K W O X D E G D S U B T R A C T P Y
words in the puzzle.
E V I Z P U C B E N O K S B C W H O
X G R A P H G W W Q P K T R G Y G N
MEASURE
L D Q C M R W I P M U J S R G C Z U NUMBER
W N Y A G E V M A Z D A I O Y W Q M
EQUATION
I Q Q H I H A T B D J Q T B R A B B
O O A D I A T S H N D I V I D E O E ADD
U P E K J F J R U Z G C Q H O B K R
SUBTRACT
R X W N L W R D Q R X T K U D N A A
Created using Word Search Generator on
M USuper
L Teacher
T I Worksheets
P L Y (www.superteacherworksheets.com)
F I E U O R V L K Q MULTIPLY
C A H A J S P U Z I X E I Q S T B C DIVIDE
L D R P H C L C F T U Z F Z H Y N N
GRAPH

Find the following words in the puzzle.

Words are hidden and .

ADD GRAPH NUMBER

9
DIVIDE MEASUREWe Advance Military Medicine
SUBTRACT
EQUATION MULTIPLY
 STEM ACTIVITY BOOK | FOR AGES 5-12

‘SECRET MESSAGE’ MAZE

There’s a secret message hidden inside the maze!

START E N G
T S C
L O I
O N N H
Puzzles

A C R R S
I E A
E N Y Q
O
C E I M G
T S
K R Y C I
C E T M
N E N
H U
A I D K
W T Z
H R W
O O S FINISH!

What’s the secret message?

“
.”
- Kurt Vonnegut

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SPOT THE DIFFERENCE!

Find 10 differences.

Puzzles

11
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CRAZY MATH MAZE

Help Hailey find her way

out of this maze by solving
math problems!
Puzzles

START 2 4 = 8 + 3 = 9 0
+

+
+ + + + =
+

13 + 13 = 28 = 6 = 12 = 21
= = = = =
5 = 11 + 36 6 = 1 3 +
+

+ = =
+

7 55 = 45 + 10 = 23 63
+

= = = =
35 17 = 18 = 4 40 = 42
= + =
+

30 = 6 2 = 9 1 = 9 FINISH
+

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FINDING WORDS IN ‘TECHNOLOGY’

Make words using only the letters in the word ‘Technology.’ How many can you make?
(Words need to be at least 3 letters)

TECHNOLOGY

Puzzles
Hot
POINTS
3 letter word - 3 points
4 letter word - 4 points
5 letter word - 5 points

Calculate your
points below:

Total Points:

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MR. ROBO
How many triangles can you find on Mr. Robo?
Answer: _______________
Coloring

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CREATE YOUR OWN INVENTION!

Coloring
What does your invention do?

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Coloring

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Coloring

17
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Notes

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Notes

19
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Notes

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21
Answers
SOLUTION
‘STEM’ Word Search: ‘Secret Message’ Maze:
Science Word Search
Science “Science is Magic that Works.”
. . E . . . . . . . . . . T . . . .
. . X . L . . . . . . . . E . . . .
. R P . S A . . . . . . . L . . . .
Spot the Difference!:
. . E . C . B . . . . . . E . . . .
. . R S I H . O . . . . . S B . . .
. . I . E . E . R . . . . C E . . .
. . M . N A . M . A . . . O A . . .
. . E . T . R . I . T . . P K . . .
. . N . I . . C . C . O . E E . . .
. . T . S . . . H . A . R . R . . .
. . . . T T H E O R Y L . Y . . . .
SOLUTION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Technology Word Search
Word directions and start points are formatted: (Direction, X, Y)
Technology
BEAKER (S,15,5) LABORATORY (SE,5,2) TELESCOPE (S,14,1)
CHEMICAL (SE,5,4) RESEARCH (SE,2,3) THEORY (E,6,11)
.
EXPERIMENT .
. (S,3,1) . . .
. SCIENTIST .
. (S,5,3) . . . . T . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . E . . . .
S O F T W A R E . . . . . C . . . .
. C . K . . . . . . . . C H . . . .
. O . . E . . . . . . . O N . . . . Crazy Math Maze:
. D . . . Y . . . . . . M I . . . .
. E . . . . B . . . . . P C . . . .
. E L E C T R O N I C . U I . . . .
+
+

START 2 4 = 8 + 3 = 9 0
. . . . . . . . A . . . T A . . . .
+

. P R O G R A M . R . . E N . . . .
+ + + + =
. . . . . . . . . . D . R . . . . . 13 + 13 = 28 = 6 = 12 = 21
SOLUTION
Created using Word Search Generator on
+

. . Super .
. Teacher . .
. Worksheets D E V I C E . .
. (www.superteacherworksheets.com) . . = = = = =
+

Engineering Word Search 5 = 11 + 36 6 = 1 3

Word directions and start points are formatted: (Direction, X, Y)
+
+

Engineering + = =
CODE (S,2,4) ELECTRONIC (E,2,8) SOFTWARE (E,1,3)
COMPUTER (S,13,4) KEYBOARD (SE,4,4) TECHNICIAN (S,14,1)
+

7 55 = 45 + 10 = 23 63
DEVICE
C (E,9,12)
O N S T R PROGRAM
U C (E,2,10)
T I O N . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . = = = =
. M E C H A N I C . B . . . . . . . 35 17 = 18 = 4 40 = 42
. . . . . . . . . . L . . . . M . .
+

= + =
. . B . . . . . . . U . . . . A . .
+
+

. R . U . . . . . . E . . . . C . T
30 = 6 2 = 9 1 = 9 FINISH
. O . . I . . . . . P . . . . H . O
. B . . . L . . . . R . . . . I . O
. O . . . . D . . . I . . . . N . L
. T . . . . . . . . N . . . . E . S Triangles on Mr. Robo
. . . . . . . . . . T . . . . . . .
Created using Word Search Generator on
SOLUTION 32
. . Super .
. Teacher . .
. Worksheets E N G I N E . .
. (www.superteacherworksheets.com) . .
Mathematics Word Search
Word directions and start points are formatted: (Direction, X, Y)
Mathematics
BLUEPRINT (S,11,3) ENGINE (E,9,12) ROBOT (S,2,6)
BUILD (SE,3,5) MACHINE (S,16,4) TOOLS (S,18,6)
. .
CONSTRUCTION .
. (E,1,1) . .
. MECHANIC U
. S(E,2,3) B T R A C T . .
. . . . . . . . E . . . . . . . . .
. G R A P H . . . Q . . . . . . . N
. . . . M . . . . . U . . . . . . U
. . . . . E . . A . . A . . . . . M
. . . . . . A . . D . . T . . . . B
. . . . . . . S . . D I V I D E . E
. . . . . . . . U . . . . . O . . R
. . . . . . . . . R . . . . . N . .
M U L T I P L Y . . E . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Created using Word Search Generator on
. . Super .
. Teacher . .
. Worksheets . . . . . . . .
. (www.superteacherworksheets.com) . .
Word directions and start points are formatted: (Direction, X, Y)
ADD (SE,9,5) GRAPH (E,2,3) NUMBER (S,18,3)
DIVIDE (E,11,7) MEASURE (SE,5,4) SUBTRACT (E,9,1)
EQUATION (SE,9,2) MULTIPLY (E,1,10)
Created using Word Search Generator on
Super Teacher Worksheets (www.superteacherworksheets.com)
Science | Technology | Engineering | Mathematics
SCIENCE | TECHNOLOGY | ENGINEERING | MATHEMATICS

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for the Advancement of Military Medicine
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Bethesda, MD 20817
(240) 694-2000

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