Lesson Plan
eGFI

Marshmallow Design Challenge

For Teachers K - 12th
How tall is your marshmallow structure? With limited supplies (including uncooked spaghetti noodles, masking tape, and one marshmallow), teams endeavor to support the marshmallow atop the tallest spaghetti structure they can build....
Lesson Plan
LABScI

Catapult: Flight of the Marshmallows

For Students 6th - 12th
Watch your marshmallows fly. The engaging STEM activity has groups create a catapult to launch marshmallows. After testing their prototypes, they consider improvements and redesign their catapults.
Lesson Plan
2
2
PBS

Team Work and Planning

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Welcome to the Great Marshmallow Challenge. To conclude a unit study designed to help scholars develop teamwork and collaboration skills, groups are charged with developing a free-standing structure using only one marshmallow,...
Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Reach for the Skies

For Teachers K
Scholars view the film Reach for the Skies to learn about the Shangai Tower. Following a discussion and observation of premade shapes, pairs design and construct a tower using uncooked pasta, straws, newspaper, tape, and marshmallows....
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Trebuchet Toss

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young engineers work in teams to design and build their own trebuchets according to certain criteria; they must be able to launch a mini marshmallow accurately into a pie tin. Background reading material, a planning sheet for trebuchet...
Lesson Plan
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors

Marshmallow Challenge

For Teachers K - 12th
Here is a lesson in collaboration cleverly disguised as an engineering design activity. There is no background material for you to teach here,  just instructions about materials and rules for participating groups. Use this as...
Lesson Plan
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors

Marshmallow Catapaults

For Teachers 4th - 10th
After a brief lecture on levers, torque, projectiles, and the five-step engineering design cycle, young physical science learners or engineers build catapults out of craft sticks. This is an open-ended exploration of what works and what...
Lesson Plan
Texas Education Agency (TEA)

It Takes Teamwork!

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Using the collaborative resource, learners view a PowerPoint about teamwork, taking notes and discussing what makes an effective leader. They then engage in a fun activity to see which group can build the tallest structure using...
Activity
NASA

Touchdown

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Just how do astronauts stay safe during moon landings? Here's an activity that allows investigators to use the engineering process to explore how shock absorbers protect astronauts during landing. Applying knowledge of gravity, force,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

St. Patrick’s Day

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Combine math, creative writing, and leprechauns in a fun St. Patrick's Day activity! Using a bag of gold coins and marshmallows, kids write a math story about a leprechaun that includes a multi-step equation to solve.
Activity
North Carolina State University

Shapes

For Teachers K - 2nd
Expose youngsters to 3-D objects in a hands-on learning activity involving marshmallows and toothpicks. Engage your young mathematicians by introducing them to 3-D shapes by means of a story book. Explore 3-D shapes by manipulating...
Lesson Plan
Polar Trec

Bioaccumulation of Toxins

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
In 2015, Peter Cook found that sea lions with high levels of exposure to toxins suffered permanent brain damage if they survived at all. Scholars learn about the accumulation of toxins at various levels of the food chain. Using...
Activity
DiscoverE

Touch Down

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Protect the marshmallows! Groups create contraptions that will keep marshmallows in a cup, even after dropping them from a certain height. This is a fun way to model the shock-absorbing capabilities of spacecraft.
Activity
Teach Engineering

Load It Up!

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
See how a marshmallow can hold up a bridge load. Teams take a closer look at the design of bridge piers. They determine the types of loads that might affect a bridge, and, using that information, they calculate the needed cross-sectional...
Activity
DiscoverE

Design a Catapult

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Just this once, it's okay to throw things in class. Out of craft sticks and rubber bands, pupils build catapults to launch an object of choice. This can be a ping-pong ball, a marshmallow, or any other small item. As long as it hits the...
Activity
DiscoverE

Build an Earthquake-Resistant Structure

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Future engineers design and build structures out of toothpicks and marshmallows. They then make sure the structures can withstand an earthquake simulator!
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Activity: Leaning Tower of Pasta

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A well-laid-out lesson plan, this can be used in an engineering, STEM, or physical science course. Laboratory groups design a structure using pasta and marshmallows, measure its height and weight, and then discover the load that it can...
Lesson Plan
NPR

Introduction to the Engineering Design Process

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Step by step is always best. In groups, future engineers create the tallest possible tower with marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Along the way, they learn about the engineering design process. 
Lesson Plan
1
1
Bonneville

Engineering 101

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Make a structure too sturdy to fail. Scholars first watch a video and consider the reasons for the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse. They take part in two engineering challenges, one using newspapers and the other using spaghetti sticks...
Lesson Plan
Science 4 Inquiry

Genetics, Genetics, and More Genetics: Exploring Independent Assortment and Non-Mendelian Genetics

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Two individuals share 99.9 percent of their genetic codes, yet diversity is observed everywhere. Young scientists learn about diversity through hands-on activities and an experiment. They apply the concepts of independent assortment and...
Unit Plan
Rural Science Education Program

Cells, Genetics, and Biotechnology

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
For scholars tired of reading the textbook, this unit includes nine hands-on lessons. Through group work, lab activities, experiments, and even one inquiry-based lesson, scholars apply knowledge about cells, genetics, and...
Lesson Plan
Science Matters

Thermal Energy Flow in Materials

For Teachers 6th Standards
The sun sends the earth 35,000 times the amount of energy required by all of us on the entire planet, every day. The fourth instructional activity in the 10-part series looks at how light energy from the sun transfers into thermal...
Activity
It's About Time

Properties of Matter

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Never trust an atom; they make up everything! Young chemists make modeling dough and add another ingredient to change the properties. Scholars then compare the properties of emulsion to composite materials. A reading passage and analysis...
Lesson Plan
University of Georgia

Stoichiometry of S'mores

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How fun would it be to teach the concept of stoichiometry while allowing your chemistry class to assemble a classic campfire treat? This fun and engaging activity allows pupils to explore the principles of the chemical theory while...

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