Science, engineering, and United States history? Pupils research collections of artifacts from the Smithsonian to learn about historical scientific innovations. At the end of the lesson, they write an essay to discuss technology's...

Students identify relationships between scientific concepts and their historical roots. They discuss and debate issues of ethics in science, specifically on the concept of genetic engineering and describe the processes of cloning and...

Let's talk about earthquakes .... Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects. The resource is not only informative, but it also builds crucial...

If it's on the Internet, it must be true—right? How can someone tell if a website contains less-than-truthful information? Savvy surfers evaluate sources in the fifth of a six-part college and career readiness instructional activity...

Be over the moon about finding a resource on lunar power stations. An interesting unit composed of 10 lessons has pupils first learn about the energy and power needs of a futuristic lunar colony. They design and build a lunar power...

Class groups investigate the economic and political implications of a country's policies on genetically modified foods, craft a position paper detailing that policy, and share their findings with the class. Armed with this...

It's often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Young engineers learn about biomimicry, which uses nature to generate engineering ideas, in the fifth lesson of nine in a Life Science unit. Working in groups, they select...

Learners explore West Virginia history with regard to Mountain and Appalachian Culture. They compare and contrast life now with life 100-150 years ago. They write and illustrate a short story about the life of children 100-150 years ago....

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

Sometimes it seems as if earthquakes hit the same places over and over again. Class members study Japan in order to determine why earthquakes keep happening there. Pairs work together to research and try to determine whether there...

Teams analyze the data they collected during the past six lessons and finalize where they will build a survival cavern. They then present their decisions to the rest of the class and justify their locations. 

Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....

Students complete online research to study geography's impact on weather. In this geography and weather lesson, students research weather in their city for ten days using an online website. Students bookmark the site, enter data into a...

Scholars classify the sciences. Using applied science, they compare and contrast subfields of sciences. They compare qualitative versus quatitative. They discuss types of sciences and the meanings of the word roots of the names. 

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...

Is a STEM career the right choice for me? Lesson four in a six-part career and college readiness series introduces seventh graders to the world of STEM occupations. Individuals use their Holland code results to select, research, and...

Discover a world too small to see. In the instructional activity, young scientists learn about nanotechnology and brainstorm ideas for new applications of it. They perform an activity to determine how surface area changes when objects...

We've talked a lot about energy, but where does energy come from? Pupils brainstorm different energy sources through a class discussion to kick off the 14th installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit. They then research...

A bite of bits. The first instructional activity 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...

Students are introduced to aviation history and aerospace engineering achievements. They assemble a class aviation history timeline from individual student research on people and events.

Investigate desert biomes by creating food chains and food webs. Groups first research feeding habits of organisms in the Sonoran Desert. This information helps pupils draw food chains and webs to determine relationship between organisms.

You've heard of farm to table ... but what about farm in classroom? Junior agriculturalists embark upon a two-week journey into the science of growing things. Based upon the classic terrarium in a two-liter experiment, the lesson goes...

Bone up on bone density. The second installment of the seven-part series has pupils read articles on two different websites to learn about bone density and its measurement, as well as X-rays and other imaging tools. A quiz assesses their...

What does your class know about GMOs? Are they savvy to selective breeding? Challenge young minds to engineer the greatest crop of all time using a hands-on genetics unit. Learners discover the good and bad details of selective breeding,...