Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a hands-on STEM challenge that connects reading, engineering, and the inspiring story of Sonia Sotomayor! In this elementary STEM activity, students use index cards and books to build a Tower of Knowledge while learning about the first Latina Supreme Court justice in United States history.
Observed from September 15 through October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month is an opportunity to recognize the histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans. This Sonia Sotomayor STEM challenge gives students a meaningful way to connect their learning about an influential leader with creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.
Meet Sonia Sotomayor
Begin by introducing students to Sonia Sotomayor and the role education played in her life. Born in the Bronx, New York, Sotomayor grew up with a mother who emphasized the importance of learning. She went on to attend Princeton University and Yale Law School before becoming the first Latina Supreme Court justice in 2009.
The lesson includes a reading passage and comprehension questions to help students learn about her early life, education, and historic appointment. Use these resources to start a conversation about perseverance, opportunity, and the ways learning can help us pursue our goals.
Connect Reading and STEM with Turning Pages
Connect Hispanic Heritage Month books with hands-on STEM!
Read Turning Pages: My Life Story by Sonia Sotomayor, then challenge students to build a Tower of Knowledge with books and index cards.
This elementary read-aloud STEM activity celebrates the importance of reading and education while helping students practice engineering and problem-solving. Save for your September and October classroom plans!
For a read-aloud connection, pair the activity with Turning Pages: My Life Story by Sonia Sotomayor. The book explores how reading helped Sotomayor learn, find courage, and feel connected to others.
After reading, invite students to think about the books that have helped them learn something new.
Ask:
What can books teach us about people and places?
How can reading help us work toward a goal?
What is something you would like to learn more about?
The read-aloud is optional, so you can also introduce the challenge using the included informational passage.
The Challenge: Build a Tower of Knowledge
Build a Tower of Knowledge for Hispanic Heritage Month!
Inspired by Sonia Sotomayor and her book Turning Pages, this hands-on STEM challenge uses books and colorful index cards to explore balance, stability, and structural design.
Elementary students work together to build, measure, test, and improve their towers. Add this creative engineering activity to your Hispanic Heritage Month lessons or read-aloud STEM plans!
Students work in groups of three or four to build a tower using only index cards and books. Their structure represents the importance of books and learning in Sonia Sotomayor’s life.
For each group, gather:
30 index cards
5–10 books
Rulers
Pencils
STEM journals or the included planning pages
Students must consider how to arrange their materials to build a tower that is tall and stable. How might folding or shaping the index cards change their ability to support a book? What happens when the books are different sizes?
For an additional learning connection, have students write facts about Sonia Sotomayor on their index cards before building.
Plan, Build, Test, and Improve
Looking for Hispanic Heritage Month STEM activities?
This Sonia Sotomayor engineering challenge invites elementary students to plan, build, test, and improve a Tower of Knowledge using books and index cards.
Printable STEM journals guide students through the engineering design process while encouraging teamwork and creative thinking. Pair it with Turning Pages for a Hispanic Heritage Month read-aloud STEM lesson!
Give students time to brainstorm independently before sharing ideas with their group. The lesson suggests 10 minutes for individual planning, 10 minutes for team planning, and 30 minutes for construction, with adjustments based on students’ ages and needs.
Once teams build their towers, they measure the height and record their results. The included recording sheet provides space for three trials, encouraging students to test, reflect, and improve.
Guide their thinking with questions such as:
Which part of your tower needs more support?
How could you change the base?
What happened when you added another book?
Which change helped your design the most?
If a tower falls, students have new information to use in their next design!
Extend the Learning with Vocabulary and Writing
Bring Hispanic Heritage Month into your elementary classroom with this Sonia Sotomayor STEM activity! Connect social studies, literacy, and engineering with Spanish vocabulary cards, government vocabulary, and writing organizers.
Students learn about the first Latina Supreme Court justice before building a Tower of Knowledge using books and index cards. Save this idea for your Hispanic Heritage Month lesson plans!
This Hispanic Heritage Month activity connects several subject areas in one lesson. Students explore English vocabulary such as justice, Constitution, and the Supreme Court, alongside Spanish words including libro and abuelita.
Combine Hispanic Heritage Month activities with meaningful reading and writing practice!
These Sonia Sotomayor printables include comprehension questions, a writing organizer, and response pages to help elementary students share what they learn about the first Latina Supreme Court justice.
Part of a Tower of Knowledge STEM lesson, these activities connect biography study, informative writing, and hands-on engineering.
After the engineering challenge, use the included writing organizers and pages for students to explain what they learned about Sonia Sotomayor. Younger students can draw and write a few facts, while older students can develop an informative paragraph with supporting details.
Bring Hispanic Heritage Month into Your STEM Classroom
The Sonia Sotomayor Tower of Knowledge STEM Challenge combines a biography study with hands-on engineering using simple classroom materials. Students practice teamwork, measurement, and the engineering design process while exploring the importance of reading and education.
Add this activity to your Hispanic Heritage Month lesson plans to help students discover an inspiring story—and build something inspired by their learning!
You can get this lesson plan in Carly and Adam’s store and as FREE Download for STEM Teachers Club members.
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