National Wildlife Federation
It's All in the Name: Weather Versus Climate
What goes up when rain comes down? An umbrella! Activity eight in the series of 12 explores weather and climate. In pairs, participants analyze maps, watch a short video, create a weather forecast, and complete a reading to determine the...
California Academy of Science
Nuclear Energy: What's Your Reaction?
OSHA confirms that rules governing worker safety at nuclear power plants ranks higher than worker safety in offices. Scholars must consider safety, cost, alternatives, and other factors before recommending whether a town should build a...
Code.org
The Need for DNS
That's one complicated address book! To understand the need for a system that keeps track of addresses, pupils trying to find the IP address of their classmates. Then individuals change their IP addresses, which leads to research about...
Code.org
Sending Binary Messages
Pairs build a device that will be able to send a binary message. They then update their device to allow it to send four possible messages before upping the ante to eight. The provided self-assessment rubric comes with reflection...
Curated OER
Get the Drift?
The anticipatory set is clever: give groups five minutes to work on the puzzle and then discuss what strategies they used to match the few that connected. This introduces middle schoolers to the concept of continental drift. A portion of...
Kenan Fellows
Sensors, Sensors…..Everywhere! Middle School Meteorologist Create Weather Bots!
My forecast is that you'll want to use the resource. Pupils design and create a weather bot as part of a project-based unit. These bots should be able to measure temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and...
Computer Science Unplugged
Tablets of Stone—Network Communication Protocols
Show your learners that the game of Telephone isn't the only way messages get mixed up. Pairs transform into the sender and receiver of a message sent in packets. At least one pupil is the messenger who either delivers, delays, or fails...
Computer Science Unplugged
The Orange Game–Routing and Deadlock in Networks
How is data able to move in a congested network? Groups simulate moving data around a congested network by passing fruit around a circle, following specific rules, until everyone ends up with their own fruit. Extension activities include...
Code.org
Number Systems
Generating a system of shapes. Groups work together to create a number system using three different shapes as symbols. The groups should come up with the rules that generate all the possible permutations of the three shapes.
Code.org
Algorithms Detour - Shortest Path
Young programmers investigate the Single Source Shortest Path problem by working in paris to devise their own algorithm. They then progress to using Dijkstra's Algorithm to solve the problem.
Code.org
The Need for Addressing
You sunk my battleship via the Internet? Groups of three play a modified game of Battleship using the Internet Simulator. Team members determine how to address messages, so each player knows who the message is for, and refine their text...
Computer Science Unplugged
Ice Roads–Steiner Trees
As an introduction to Steiner Trees, class members are challenged to find the shortest paths to connect multiple points. The teacher introduces the problem by showing how to connect three points. Groups then go outside and construct a...
Code.org
Bytes and File Sizes
A bite of bits. The first lesson in a unit of 15 introduces the class to the byte. Pupils learn about other standard units for measuring file sizes, develop an understanding of relative sizes and the kind of units used to measure...
Code.org
The Need for Algorithms
Pairs work through two scenarios that require them to generate an algorithm. The first activity requires pairs to define a common language to use; the second comes with the language. The pairs then must determine how to code the...
Teach Engineering
Curb the Epidemic!
Class members use an applet on the Internet to simulate the spread of a disease. The simulation allows individuals to determine two nodes to vaccinate to limit the number of nodes infected. By running several simulations, scholars can...
Code.org
Routers and Redundancy
How are messages to the right recipient? Introduce the concept of routing Internet traffic by drawing a comparison to sending a letter. Groups use the Internet Simulator program to send messages to others using the same router and...
Code.org
The Need for Programming Languages
LEGO see if you can recreate my design. Individuals build an arrangement from LEGO blocks and write directions for someone else to follow in order to recreate the arrangement. Pairs then swap directions and try to replicate the original...
Code.org
Using Simple Commands
Turtles might be slow, but class will zoom by when your pupils build a program in which reptiles draw a grid. Using App Lab and JavaScript, class members build a program to find the most efficient way to draw an image of a three-by-three...
Teach Engineering
How Antibiotics Work
Take two pills and call me in the morning. The first lesson in a short unit of four introduces class members to delivery methods of medicines. The instruction introduces the question of which delivery method is best to get you feeling...
Code.org
Encoding and Sending Formatted Text
Introduce your class to encoding text. Pairs work together to create a protocol to send text prior to learning ASCII encoding. Groups then collaborate to send and translate ASCII codes creating a formatted text message.
Code.org
Good and Bad Data Visualizations
Good versus bad data. Pairs rate online collections of data representations from good to bad and then suggest ways to improve the visualizations. The class then creates a list of best practices and common errors in data representations...
Code.org
Creating Functions
Quit repeating yourself ... you can make this simpler! Rather than repeating the same set of code over and over, class members learn to build and call functions in a series of challenges in App Lab. In the end, they combine functions to...
Teach Engineering
Creepy Silly Putty
It might be silly to determine the creep rate of putty but groups will enjoy making different formulations of silly putty and playing with them to understand how the different mixtures behave. The second part of the activity has groups...
Code.org
Sending Numbers
Binary graphing ... bit by bit. Pairs work together to develop a protocol in order to send the points of a graph. One partner sends the points and the other receives them and tries to recreate the graph. The pupils use the rubric to...