Here is a tasty challenge, especially for middle school engineers: design a container that meets mass and volume criteria, and will safely transport a tortilla or potato chip through the mail without damaging it! Mostly, this is a crisp...

Here's a creative lesson that lets pupils be creative as well! While considering many different factors, learners devise a plan to increase the efficiency of container shipments. The design of the activity encourages creative,...

Students explore package engineering and investigate design.  For this shipping lesson students are given a flower and are to come up with a packaging that will allow the flower to get to its destination as fresh as possible. 

When we think of ocean exploration, many of us have visions of sunken pirate ships full of treasure or mysterious creatures of the deep. What really motivates deep-sea investigation? The first in a series of diverse six-part lessons...

You've located buried treasure, now what? Explore how to use algebraic and geometric methods to determine where to place a recovery ship based on the location of the treasure.

Students research the importance of naval development in history. The unit includes hands-on activities such as the creation of timelines, powerpoints, and use webquests. Students examine famous ships and naval leaders.

Students read two books about fishing and ships. After viewing portraits, they identify and describe the various types of sailing vessels. They discuss how the artist showed water and detailed the areas around the ships. They create...

Cruise ships offer many engaging opportunities for real-world math adventures. These large, floating cities use resources with numbers into the thousands place. Young mathematicians are asked to calculate numerical information...

Students conduct an experiment to simulate an oil spill and identify the characteristics of oil in water. They evaluate the effectiveness of various cleanup methods. They discuss the how to clean up an oil spill, and what causes oil...

Learners define the purpose of several different types of boats. They develop a list of materials one would ideally use in the construction of a particular type of boat. Students work cooperatively in a group to decide what type of boat...

Are our oceans really suffering due to the choices humans make? The sixth and final installment in the volume of activities challenges research groups to tackle one of six major topics that impact ocean health. After getting to the...

In an introductory instructional activity, youngsters take a pre-assessment quiz, get a grasp of a gram of mass, and then estimate the mass of microorganisms that live within a human body. Using Glo Germ™, a material that allows you to...

Learners formulate a testable research question containing a comparison and a quantitative measure. They state the null and alternative hypothesis for a testable research question. In addition, they describe some of the abiotic and...

Is there medicine found in the organisms that live deep below the surface of the ocean? The fifth instructional activity in a six-part series has learners team up to research bacteria and the relationship it has with nearly every living...

Are the earth's oceans really just giant batteries, waiting for their energy to be harnessed? Middle school mechanical engineers will be shocked by the amazing amount of energy that forms around them after diving into part four of a...

How is sea coral like a thermometer? Part three of a six-part series from NOAA describes how oceanographers can use coral growth to estimate water temperature over time. Life science pupils manipulate data to determine the age of corals...

Students explore the size of one ton. They research the capacity of sialing ships and estimate the volume of rectangular prisms. Students perform activities to discover the capacity of a classroom in tons.

Sixth graders experiment to understand the ocean's currents.  In this ocean current lesson, 6th graders complete an experiment with two bottles of water and an index card to discover information about the ocean current. ...

Students perform an experiment to measure the density of tap water vs. salt water.

Can a coral cure cancer? Take seventh and eighth grade science sleuths to the underwater drugstore for an investigation into emerging pharmaceutical research. The fifth installment in a series of six has classmates research the wealth of...

Prove the Law of Conservation of Mass through a lab investigation. A well-designed lesson asks groups to combine materials and monitor indicators for chemical reactions. Measuring the mass of the reactants and products allows individuals...

Chemists consider a situation in which an ethanol producer needs to determine how much to add to t-butanol to prevent freezing during transport. They work in the laboratory to obtain the freezing point depression constant for the...

Scholars explore systems design and its relation to meal picking by using computer simulations to test systems designs. They learn about the Pick-to-Light System and calculate average picking times.

Students investigate the concept of a compass and it has been used in the past and in modern times. They practice using it in the wilderness in order to test its importance in various exploring activities. Each activity is accompanied by...