Balloon Racer, Bending Water + More

Shared by: Texas Tuition Promise Fund®

Get excited about where a college career could take you with these fun and interactive videos and projects!

Recommended Grades: Varies by activity - see below

 

Grow Your Own Avocado Tree

Recommended Grades: K-3

The Challenge: Grow your own Avocado tree.

Recommended Materials:

  • 1 Avocado 
  • 1 Clear Juice Glass
  • 3 Wooden Skewers (or Toothpicks)
  • Water

STEM Connections: In the Future of Food, more and more of our fruits and vegetables will be grown indoors using hydroponic techniques, where the roots are placed in nutrient-rich water instead of soil. Want to see how it works? Try this simple experiment!

 

Build Your Own Balloon Racer

Recommended Grades: 3-5

The Challenge: Learn about transportation by building a balloon-powered zipline that zooms across your room!

Recommended Materials:

  • 1 Spool of String
  • 1 Roll of Masking Tape
  • 1 Straw
  • 1 Balloon
  • 1 Pair of Scissors

STEM Connections: In the Future of Transportation, congestion and pollution will force us to create new ways to get from point A to point B. You can spark your imagination today by building a balloon-powered zipline that zooms across your room! Want to see how it works? Try this simple experiment!

 

Make Your Own Marshmallow Tower

Recommended Grades: 4-6

The Challenge: Learn about architecture by constructing a mini marshmallow tower.

Recommended Materials:

  • Bag of Mini Marshmallows
  • Box of Toothpicks
  • Your Imagination!

STEM Connections: In the Future of Architecture, buildings will have to be taller to fit all of the people moving from the suburbs to cities. Want to learn how to construct a mini tower on your dinner table? Try this simple experiment!

 

Water Xylophone

Recommended Grades: 3-5

The Challenge: Learn about the way sound waves travel through different mediums with a water xylophone.

Recommended Materials:

  • 4+ Glass Jars or Drinking Glasses (the same size and shape)
  • Wooden Spoon
  • Water
  • Food Coloring

STEM Connections: Do you have a favorite musical instrument and have you ever wondered what makes it sound the way that it does? The science of sound, or acoustics, is a branch of physics that studies the way sound waves travel through different mediums (like gases, liquids and solids). Try this simple experiment!

 

Homemade Cloud Collector

Recommended Grades: K-3

The Challenge: Understand the different parts of the water cycle by making a homemade cloud collector.

Recommended Materials:

  • Large Glass Jar or Tall Drinking Glass
  • Plastic or Paper Bowl
  • Ice
  • Hot Water

STEM Connections: Water is one of the most valuable resources on our planet, which is why it’s so important to understand the different parts of the water cycle. From collection and evaporation to condensation and precipitation, water goes through a lot of changes. Let’s see just how it works! Try this simple experiment!

 

Human Sundial

Recommended Grades: K-3

The Challenge: Learn how to tell time by using the sun and the Earth's rotation with a human sundial. 

Recommended Materials:

  • Sunshine
  • Pavement (Sidewalk or Driveway)
  • Sidewalk Chalk
  • A Partner

STEM Connections: Have you ever wondered how people told time before we invented clocks? We see the sun moving across the sky every single day, but did you know that we’re the ones that are actually moving? That’s right! It all comes down to the earth’s rotation. Try this simple experiment!

 

Spaghetti Bridge

Recommended Grades: 3-5

The Challenge: Learn how engineers help build the world by creating a spaghetti bridge. 

Recommended Materials:

  • Pencil
  • Paper
  • Uncooked Spaghetti Noodles
  • Rubber Bands or Hair Ties
  • Scissors
  • Clear Tape
  • Small Weights (like coins or disc magnets)

STEM Connections: We’ll need engineers to help build the world of tomorrow. From bridges to buildings and from homes to entire cities, engineers understand what it takes to build something that lasts. Can you do the same? Try this simple experiment!

 

Bending Water

Recommended Grades: K-3

The Challenge: Learn about how atoms and molecules make up everything around you by bending water. 

Recommended Materials:

  • Water Faucet
  • Plastic Comb

STEM Connections: Did you know that everything around you is made of tiny bits of matter called atoms? When these atoms bond together, they create molecules. Even the water in your faucet is made of molecules! You may not be able to see them, but we can prove that they are there. Here’s how! Try this simple experiment!

 

Night Sky Projections

Recommended Grades: K-3

The Challenge: Learn about astronomy and the constellations with this fun project.

Recommended Materials:

  • Flashlight(s)
  • Pencil (or Marker)
  • Notecards
  • Pin
  • Clear Tape

STEM Connections: For centuries, sailors and explorers used the stars for navigation. They would identify specific stars and the shapes they made, which are called constellations. Today, astronomers use these same stars to map our place in the galaxy and beyond. Try this simple experiment

 

Get excited about where a college career could take you with these three fun and interactive videos!

 

Future of Food


Future of Transportation



Future of Architecture

 

The Texas Tuition Promise Fund®

The Texas Tuition Promise Fund®, the state’s prepaid college tuition plan, allows families to lock in today’s prices for tomorrow’s undergraduate resident tuition and schoolwide required fees at Texas public colleges and universities, excluding medical and dental institutions. Tuition units purchased in the plan may be used for all or a portion of these costs, and our flexible payment options fit almost any budget.*

Enroll in the plan at any time between Sept. 1 and Feb. 28 (Feb. 29 in leap years). Enrollment for newborns or children younger than 1 year of age extends through July 31.

Use our online Tuition Planning Calculator to explore the flexibility of the plan. You can compare tuition unit types and payment plans to find the best option for you.

The easiest way to open an account is to enroll online at TuitionPromise.org or visit the website to download or order an enrollment kit. You can also call 800-445-GRAD (4723), option #5, for more information.

Matching Scholarships Available to Plan Enrollees

The Texas Match the Promise FoundationSM awards matching scholarships and tuition grants to eligible fifth through ninth-graders who are enrolled in the Texas Tuition Promise Fund. The foundation encourages families to save for college by supplementing their contributions to the plan. Eligible students can apply between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31. More details can be found at MatchThePromise.org.**

* Residency restrictions apply.   

** Residency restrictions, age requirements, eligibility criteria, household income restrictions and contribution requirements apply.

The Texas Tuition Promise Fund® (“Plan”) is administered by the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board (“Board”) and Orion Advisor Solutions, Inc. is the plan manager. The Plan and the Board do not provide legal, financial, or tax advice and participants in the Plan should consult a legal, financial, or tax advisor prior to purchasing a contract.

Participation in the Plan does not guarantee admission to or graduation from any college or university. Only the purchaser may direct redemptions, withdrawals, changes in beneficiary, or other contract changes. Non-residents of Texas should consider whether their home state, or the beneficiary’s home state, offers residents any tax or other state benefits, such as financial aid, scholarship funds, and protection from creditors, that are only available for participants in that state’s plan.

You may lose money by participating in the Plan. No part of a contract is a deposit or obligation of, or is guaranteed or insured by, the Board, the state of Texas, or any agency or agent thereof. The contracts have not been registered with or approved by the SEC or any state. Purchasers should carefully consider the risks, fees, charges, and expenses associated with contracts, including Plan termination and reduced Transfer or Refund Value. Transfer Value applies to redemptions at private colleges and universities, out-of-state colleges and universities, medical and dental schools, career schools, and registered apprenticeship programs and is the lesser of: (1) the costs the units would cover at a Texas public college or university; or (2) the original purchase price of the units plus or minus net investment earnings or losses on that amount. Match the Promise FoundationSM scholarships can only be used at Texas public colleges and universities, and Transfer Value cannot by utilized. The Plan Description and Master Agreement contains this and other information about the Plan and may be obtained by visiting TuitionPromise.org or calling 800-445-GRAD (4723), option 5. Purchasers should read all Plan documents carefully before purchasing a contract.