https://byrdathome.org/ STEM for home, easy, inexpensive and everyday, from the Byrd Academy curriculum, under Free BYRD, CC BY. The whole collection for apps: /items.json. en Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0079 On a sunny day, stand a stick beside a tree or a flagpole, measure both shadows at the same moment, and find out how tall the tree is without climbing it. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Measure a tree with a stick and two shadows” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0079/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0078 Cut a paper fence twenty-four squares long, stand it on grid paper as one rectangle after another, and count the squares inside. Then push one side against a book and see the pen hold twice as many. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Fold one paper fence into the biggest pen” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0078/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0077 Mix yeast, sugar and warm water in a bottle, stretch a balloon over its mouth, and watch living yeast fill it with gas. Then set a bottle of cold water beside it and see which balloon grows. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Feed yeast sugar and watch it blow up a balloon” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0077/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0076 Stack light blocks or small boxes in front of a fan, find the height where the wind tips the tower over, then make a taller one stand with a wider base and a lump of clay on the right side. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build a tower that stands in a fan’s wind” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0076/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0075 Cut a foam pipe insulation tube into a long channel, tape it into a drop and two hills, and find out how tall each hill can be before the marble no longer makes it to the cup. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build a marble coaster from foam pipe insulation” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0075/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0074 After the rain, trace a puddle's edge with sidewalk chalk, come back about every hour to trace it again, and watch evaporation draw rings. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Draw around a puddle and watch the sun shrink it” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0074/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0073 Rest a ruler on a cardboard tube, set blocks on each side, and slide them in and out until the seesaw balances. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Balance a ruler seesaw with toy blocks” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0073/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0072 Fold a square of kitchen foil into a boat, float it in a tub, and add spoons one at a time to see how shape helps a boat carry a load. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Shape a foil boat and load it with spoons until it sinks” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0072/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0071 Cut one round hole in a box lid, then sort a basket of toys and kitchen things into fits and too big, the way machines sort by size. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build a size gate and sort what fits through” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0071/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0070 Color a card with crayon stripes, then head outside to find each color in leaves, flowers, bark and sky, and wonder why so much of the outdoors is green. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Go on a nature color hunt with a crayon card” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0070/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0069 Guess which of two different-shaped containers holds more water, then fill each one with the same small cup, counting every pour. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Find out which container holds more by counting cups of water” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0069/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0068 Scratch and tap softly at one end of a table while someone listens with an ear pressed to the other end, then lift the ear and listen again. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Put an ear to the table and hear sound travel through wood” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0068/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0067 Drop two paint colors on one half of a sheet, fold, press and open: the colors meet and mix, and the print comes out as a mirror picture. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Fold a paint surprise and find the new color in the middle” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0067/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0066 Float a block of colored ice in a clear tub of warm water and watch the cold meltwater fall in slow ribbons, because cold water is heavier than the same amount of warm water. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Freeze colored ice and watch the cold water sink” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0066/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0065 Roll the same toy car down a bare ramp and then a ramp covered with a towel, mark where it stops each time, and meet the force called friction. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Race a toy car down a smooth ramp and a bumpy one” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0065/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0064 Tilt an unbreakable mirror to steer a bright spot of light onto a paper target, and find out that light bounces off a mirror at the same angle it comes in. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Bounce a flashlight beam off a mirror to hit a target” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0064/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0063 Hold everyday things in a flashlight beam and sort them by their shadows: dark, pale or almost none. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Shine a flashlight through things and sort their shadows” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0063/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0062 Layer gravel, sand and cloth in a cut bottle, pour muddy water through, and see how much clearer it comes out, then learn why clear water is still not safe to drink. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build a sand and gravel water filter, never to drink” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0062/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0061 Predict which sum of two dice comes up most, roll a hundred times as a family, and watch the bar graph grow into a peak at seven. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Roll two dice and graph what chance looks like” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0061/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0060 Soak chopped red cabbage to make a purple juice, then add kitchen liquids and watch it turn pink, blue or green to show which are acids and which are bases. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Make a red cabbage color test for acids and bases” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0060/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0059 Stand a metal, a wooden and a plastic spoon in a mug of warm tap water, feel their handles minute by minute, then try ice water, and find out why metal changes first both ways. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Test which spoon carries heat best” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0059/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0058 Turn each letter of your initials into a number, then into five bits that are on or off, and color them on a paper band or string them as beads to wear. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Wear your initials in binary” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0058/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0057 Thread a straw on a string, tape a blown-up balloon to it, let go, and find out what makes the rocket fly farther along the line. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Launch a balloon rocket on a string” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0057/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0056 Draw the Moon's shape and where it sits in the sky on every day you can find it for a month, and discover the pattern that repeats about every twenty-nine and a half days. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Keep a Moon diary for a month” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0056/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0055 Look, without touching, for plants, plant eaters, hunters and decomposers in a yard, a park edge or a planter, then draw arrows from each living thing to whatever eats it. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Hunt for a food web in your own yard” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0055/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0054 Tape a sealed bag with a little colored water to a sunny window, and watch the water rise as vapor, gather into drops up high and run back down, leaving the color behind. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Make a water cycle in a bag on a sunny window” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0054/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0053 Set out matching ice cubes, change one thing for each, such as salt, sugar, a metal pan or a cup of water, and time which one turns to water first. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Race ice cubes to find what melts ice fastest” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0053/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0052 Predict, then test, which things around the house a fridge magnet pulls, and discover that being metal is not enough: only some metals are pulled. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Find out what a fridge magnet picks up” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0052/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0051 Cover three flashlights with red, green and blue see-through plastic, shine them on a white wall in the dark, and find out why light mixes into yellow and white instead of brown. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Mix colored light with flashlights” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0051/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0050 Wrap plastic lids and bottle caps in ridged cardboard so the ridges mesh like teeth, pin them to a box, and count turns to find the trade between speed and strength. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build gears from lids and cardboard” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0050/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0049 Hang a soft weight on a string, time ten swings with a phone stopwatch, and find out which change slows a pendulum down: a longer string, a heavier weight or a bigger pull. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Time a pendulum with a phone stopwatch” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0049/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0048 Rest a ruler on a pencil, stack coins on each side, and find the rule that lets one coin far out balance a whole stack close in. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Balance a ruler seesaw with coins” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0048/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0047 Watch a raw egg sink in plain water, then stir in salt a spoonful at a time until it rises, and find out why salt water holds it up. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Float an egg in salt water” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0047/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0046 Pick a trade in your region, list its real tasks, sort each one as something AI could automate, assist or never replace, with reasons, then brief a family member or neighbor in that trade and take their hardest question. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Break a trade into tasks and brief someone who does it” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0046/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0045 Take one dataset you can find at home or in the news, write its card first, who collected it, why and what is missing, then make one honest chart and state your finding with the limit that costs you something. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Fill out a dataset card before you trust a chart” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0045/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0044 Read volts and amps on charger labels and multiply them into watts, rank what plugs in at home, then tilt a solar calculator through angles and light levels to see that the label is only the ideal. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Read the power labels and test a solar calculator by angle” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0044/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0043 Find something at home that needs a holder or a bracket, draw it with a dimension on every feature, build it in cardboard, run a fit test, and make one reasoned revision. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Design a holder with every dimension, build it in cardboard and fit-test it” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0043/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0042 Gown up in a set order, move the air one way, and keep a sheet of dark paper free of flour for five minutes, then explain one step of chipmaking with no magic words. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Run the cleanroom challenge at the kitchen table” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0042/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0041 Build a clue list for spotting fake images and audio, test it on harmless examples a grown-up picked, find where your eyes fail, and make the family card: do not share, check, report. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Spot the clues in fake media, then learn where they fail” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0041/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0040 Train a family member to sort objects from a balanced set, test them only on objects they never saw, read a confusion table, and earn an improvement with better data. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Run a human classifier lab with a held-out test” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0040/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0039 With a grown-up checking the device first, take apart a dead keyboard, mouse or wind-up toy layer by layer, bag the screws, name three mechanisms and rebuild it, reporting honestly what still works. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Take apart a dead keyboard, name its mechanisms and rebuild it” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0039/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0038 Ask one question about your surroundings, keep a hand-written monitor of temperature, light or soil moisture under a written protocol, then compute percent change and post the trend on the fridge. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Monitor your own patch of the world and report percent change” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0038/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0037 Build a craft-stick bridge on a budget to cross a set gap, add load in small steps while measuring how far it bends, then find where it failed and defend one design choice with your numbers. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Load a craft-stick bridge until it fails and explain why” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0037/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0036 Collect a small real dataset at home, clean it and write down every decision, find its center and spread by hand, and tell a ninety-second story with one honest chart. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Clean a family dataset and tell a one-chart story” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0036/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0035 Plan a blink pattern on pseudocode cards with a delay variable, have a family member run it with a flashlight, change the variable, add a button, and tell one honest bug story. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Be the microcontroller: run a blink program with a flashlight” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0035/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0034 Pick a problem at home or school, write the rules your helper must follow before its job, storyboard it refusing something the right way, and survive the hard question: what could go wrong? Free BYRD, CC BY. “Design an AI helper with the rules page first” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0034/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0033 Cover a picture with paper squares and lift one at a time to see who guesses first, draw on a grid to see how a picture becomes numbers, then play human sorter and try to fool it. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Guess the hidden picture, then draw with pixels” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0033/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0032 Mark a wheel, measure how far one turn carries it, and predict where it stops after several turns; then go on a sensor safari and write an if-then rule for a human robot. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Predict where the wheel stops with rotation math” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0032/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0031 Write the moves for a square on cards, have a family member walk them exactly, then measure one step so your program lands on a target. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Drive a square with a human robot and find the right angle” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0031/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0030 Pick a real question about AI, gather sources, argue the other side's best case before your own, and let the family vote on who did it best. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Hold a steelman debate at the table” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0030/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0029 Before you believe or share a claim, ask who the source is, find it confirmed somewhere else, and read around it. Then play it as a family game. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Run the three-move check” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0029/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0028 Train one person on a fair deck and another on a lopsided one, measure the percent wrong for each group, then fix the deck and measure again. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Find the bias in a lopsided deck” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0028/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0027 Give each person a feature card and a pile of tokens, vote cat or dog by weighted sum, and adjust the weights every time the network is wrong. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Be a human neural network” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0027/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0026 Talk through why each rule exists, write your family's AI rules on a poster, and have everyone sign it, grown-ups included. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Make your family's AI rules together” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0026/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0025 Survey your family, graph the answers, answer questions from your own data, and sort what is fine to share from what to keep private. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Graph your family, then decide what to share” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0025/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0024 Play real or made with a few pictures, find out why looking closely stops working, and practice the habit that lasts: asking for the source. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Check before you share: where did this picture come from?” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0024/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0023 Guess the next word in a sentence, score when your guesses match, and learn why an AI chat tool sounds sure even when it is wrong. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Play the next-word game” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0023/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0022 Tape a grid on the floor, write exact instructions on cards, and watch a grown-up robot follow them to the letter, mistakes and all. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Program a grown-up on a floor grid” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0022/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0021 Walk through a normal day at home and list every place AI hides, from autocorrect to the next video, then decide if each one helps. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Hunt for AI around the house” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0021/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0020 Teach a grown-up a secret sorting rule using only example cards, never saying the rule, and see how lopsided examples teach unfair habits. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Train your grown-up to be the machine” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0020/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0019 Sort cards of everyday technology into AI, not AI and worth arguing about, and give a reason for every card. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Play AI or Not at the table” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0019/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0018 Interview someone at home, list what they need, build a prototype for them, and add up what it costs to make. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Design a product for one person” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0018/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0017 Time a walk past measured marks with a phone stopwatch, graph distance against time, and read your walking speed from the slope of the line. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Clock a walk and find your speed on a graph” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0017/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0016 Find a real problem at home, ask the person who has it what they need, build a first version from scraps, and improve it once. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Invent a fix for a problem that bugs you” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0016/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0015 Plant seeds in cups on a windowsill, keep a growth journal, and invent a wick that waters them for you. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Grow a windowsill cup garden with a wick waterer” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0015/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0014 See sound as vibration, then cut a straw flute shorter and stretch rubber bands over a box to hear how length changes pitch. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Make a straw flute and a rubber-band guitar” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0014/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0013 Turn a plastic bottle into a rain gauge, read it at the same time every day, and use the patterns in your log to forecast tomorrow. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build a rain gauge and keep a weather log” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0013/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0012 Stir salt, sugar and sand into water and find evidence of where they went, then catch the gas from baking soda and vinegar in a balloon. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Find out where the salt went, then catch a gas” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0012/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0011 Lay copper tape on a card, add an LED and a coin cell, and fold the corner to close the loop and make it light. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Light up a paper circuit card” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0011/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0010 Build a cardboard racer, roll it down a ramp, and change one thing at a time, three runs each, to find out what really makes it go farther. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Race ramp racers with a fair test” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0010/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0009 Push on a square and a triangle made of sticks, see which one holds its shape, then build a paper tower that stands on shape, not tape. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Test the strength of triangles” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Tue, 04 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0009/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0007 For St. Patrick's Day, take a trap from problem to prototype with the seven steps of the engineering design process. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Engineer a leprechaun trap” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Wed, 23 Mar 2022 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0007/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0006 Turn a box, foil and clear plastic into an oven the sun heats, made for Pi Day to keep a pie warm. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build a solar oven” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Fri, 11 Mar 2022 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0006/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0005 For International Women's Day, follow inventor Sarah E. Goode and design something that does two jobs: a cardboard case that carries your blocks and shows them off. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Invent a two-in-one block stand” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sat, 05 Mar 2022 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0005/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0004 Two cups and a string carry your voice across the room: see how sound travels as a vibration. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Build a cup phone” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Thu, 24 Feb 2022 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0004/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0003 Keep a cup of blocks off the table with only one sheet of paper, by improving your design one try at a time. Free BYRD, CC BY. “One sheet of paper, many tries” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Wed, 16 Feb 2022 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0003/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0002 Draw a house as flat pieces, cut them from cardboard, and fold and tape them into a model you can hold. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Prototype a house in cardboard” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 23 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0002/en https://byrdathome.org/lessons/bh-0001 Pull the air out of a water bottle through a straw and watch a balloon shrink, then grow. Free BYRD, CC BY. “Make a vacuum” from the Byrd Academy STEM Curriculum by Byrd EDU, byrdathome.org. Sun, 23 Jan 2022 12:00:00 GMT byrdathome.org/lessons/BH-0001/en