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Adrift in a Sea of Plastic
The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are awash in plastic. The four lessons in the “Adrift in a Sea of Plastic” module challenge young environmentalists to design a solution to eliminating these plastic trash islands. After researching causes...
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Rockets Educator Guide
The 17 resources in NASA’s Rockets Educator Guide allow young scientists and engineers to engage in experiments as they examine images of more than 2,00 years of rockets. Scholars then read articles that provide an overview of the next...
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TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body
Designed for high schoolers, the 11 lessons and activities in the “TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body” unit module prepare STEM teams to design prototypes of laparoscopic surgical robots. After an introduction...
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TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body
Young engineers design laparoscopic surgical tools in an 11-lesson unit aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The first lesson introduces the class to the abdominopelvic cavity. Teams learn what it is like to perform...
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Solar Updraft Towers
Get young scientists energized about all the different energy sources with a five-lesson unit that combines research, direct observations, and hands-on investigation. To begin, scholars investigate a renewable or non-renewable energy...
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Understanding Science and Engineering Through Solar Power
The Understanding Science and Engineering Through Solar Power unit module teaches scholars how to conduct investigations and the steps for scientific inquiry and experimentation. To begin, young scientists conduct two probes to...
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TeachEngineering: Earthquakes Living Lab
Seven activities make up the TeachEngineering: Earthquakes Living Lab Collection. Activities designed for grades K-8 include “Geology and the 1906 San Francisco Quake,” “Designing for Disaster,” and “The Theory of Plate Tectonics.”...
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Earthquakes Living Lab: Geology and Earthquakes in Japan
Class members use the online resources provided through the Earthquakes Living Lab to investigate why large earthquakes occur in Japan. Pairs work together to research tectonic plates and fault lines and determine whether other locations...
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Earthquakes Living Lab: FAQs about P Waves, S Waves and More
Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects.
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Earthquakes Living Lab: Locating Earthquakes
Pairs research current earthquakes to see if there are any patterns. They determine the mean, median, and mode of the earthquake data, along with the maximum and minimum. Using that information, they make earthquake predictions for a year.
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Earthquakes Living Lab: Finding Epicenters & Measuring Magnitudes
Pairs use an online simulation to determine the epicenter and magnitude of an earthquake. Using actual data about the earthquake's maximum S wave amplitudes, they then determine the magnitude.
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Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade
The Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Curriculum set contains five chapters, comprised of 16 lessons, activity sheets, videos, and other resources to help explain science concepts to young learners. In Chapter 1 - Matter is Made of Tiny...
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Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Chapter 5 - Engineering Design
Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Chapter 5 - Engineering Design is comprised of a single project-based assessment. The assessment helps highlight the importance of prior knowledge as individuals design a floatation device for a cell phone....
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Experimenting with Solar Heaters
As part of a STEM renewable energy series, middle schoolers design a standard solar heater. First, they create a simple solar heater to measure the temperature change in a vial of water, then calculate the heat energy transferred to the...
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On the Moon Educator Guide
The five lessons in NASA’s On the Moon Educator Guide challenge young engineers to design and build an air-powered rocket, a shock-absorbing system to protect two marshmallow astronauts, and a rubber band-powered rover. In addition, they...
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Solar Transportation
Pupils start a Solar Transportation unit by considering why it is difficult to phase out fossil fuels. Using provided data on the energy densities and efficiencies of different fuels, they calculate the number of miles a vehicle will...
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Off the Grid
A unit on solar energy begins with pupils researching vocabulary terms related to electric currents. They then use a multimeter to measure the voltage and current for a solar module before calculating power and efficiency. Fun, hands-on...
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Summer Brain Games: Explore STEM in the City!
Chicago’s Museum of Science+Industry presents hands-on science activities designed to keep young brains engaged over the summer. The projects, which use readily available items, include engineering a skyscraper, a gravity sewer, and...
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TeachEngineering: Air Quality InQuiry (AQ-IQ)
One lesson and five activities provide scholars with the background and skills they need to conduct air quality research projects on topics they choose. Class members are introduced to air quality science, data collection, analysis, and...
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TeachEngineering: It's a Connected World - The Beauty of Network Science
A series of lessons and activities show scholars how engineers use graphs to understand large and complex systems. The first lesson provides the beginnings of graph theory by introducing set theory, graphs, and degree distributions of a...
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TeachEngineering: Android Acceleration Application
Introduce young engineers to the software development design process used in app building. After watching a video tutorial, groups are challenged to build an accelerometer app for an Android device and design an app utilizing the GPS...
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TeachEngineering: Hybrid Vehicle Design Challenge
Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was a way to capture the energy given off by a vehicle and transform it into kinetic energy to power the vehicle? That is the challenge young engineers face in an eight resource TeachEngineering: Hybrid...
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TeachEngineering: Keepers of the Gate
Red Rover, Red Rover, send young intracellular engineers right over! In this unit of the TeachEngineering series, scholars tackle the challenge of determining why Grandmother’s suggestion of gargling with salt water to relieve a sore...
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TeachEngineering: Forces All Around
Imagine using a hot glue gun or a glue stick to demonstrate tension, compression, and torsion! A six-part series of lessons and hands-on activities teach young engineers about the fundamental facets of engineering design: forces, loads,...