Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Heart of the Matter
Hands-on experience with valves and water flow supports young researchers' understanding of valve operation. Attached resources for learners are text-dense; I'd break up the text into smaller pieces for groups to read and present...
Curated OER
The Attribute Train
Students participate in a hands-on activity working with attribute blocks. After reading a story about attributes as a class, they each are given two attribute blocks. The first student lays one attribute block on the floor with the next...
Curated OER
An Archaeological Adventure
Students simulate an archeological dig in the classroom to explore a culture through its artifacts.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Max's Math Adventures: Max's Fantastical Zoo
Use this rhyming description of Max's Fantastical Zoo to make some amazing animals from geometric shapes. There is a teacher's guide for easy lesson planning.
Shodor Education Foundation
Shodor: North Carolina: Student Science Enrichment Program
The provides creative science enrichment activities for students in the 6th through 12th grades. It also provides lesson plans and resources for teachers and a special section on "Wildlife of the Alligator River" that features stories,...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Signal Horn
Build a signal horn to make low-frequency sounds that can be heard from far away in this STEM lesson. Use this interactive site to document your design process. Included on the site is a video explaining a possible solution to the problem.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Wave Machine
Take the design challenge to make a wave machine with simple materials on this site. Site contains a design challenge and an interactive journal to document the challenge. Find a video with an example of one way to make the wave machine.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges
Curiosity Machine provides a free, high-interest STEM lessons for students. In this lesson, students will construct a stegosaurus tail that is capable of breaking through a piece of paper. Site includes process and tips to solve design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenge: Build a Blooming Flower
Can you create a blooming flower that would attract pollinators? This Curiosity Machine project challenges students to make this flower using common household items. Site includes a place for students to document their process as well as...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Dinosaur Shadow Box
Create a series of shadow boxes to form a complete silhouette of a dinosaur with this challenge. To complete this challenge, students will use everyday materials and this site to document their process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Bubble Switch
Curiosity Machine provides a free, high-interest STEM lessons for students. This challenge asks students to create a bubble maze where bubbles move through several on and off switches. This site includes a place for students to document...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Self Propelling Boat
Use this site to plan, document, and build a self-propelling boat that can travel a set distance. Students will use common materials to build this boat.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design a Mechanical Pegboard
Are you ready to challenge yourself to make a peg board that lets you test multiple linkage systems and movements? This site contains not only the challenge but a platform to document your process as you solve the problem.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Wind Powered Water Pump
With this design challenge, students can build a wind-powered turbine that can pump water up from the ground. This site contains tips to complete the design challenge as well as a place for students to document their engineering design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Buoyant Catamaran
Could you use plastic bottles, popsicle sticks, and tape to Engineer a catamaran that can hold 15 ounces of cargo without sinking? Use this site for lesson plans, tips, and a place to document your process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Air Powered Spinning Machine
Engineer an air-powered spinning machine with this site. Site includes a teachers lesson plan, tips, and a place to document the process of creating this machine.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Root System
Inspire students to make a root system to help a plant stay put with simple materials like pipe cleaners, string, and marbles. This STEM challenge allows students to not only solve a problem but get tips and document their process all on...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Pneumatic Creature
Create a creature that uses air to create motion with this challenge. Site includes tips, lesson plans, and a place for students to document their design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Rube Goldberg Machine
Build a machine that accomplishes a task in an inefficient way with this Rube Goldberg challenge. Find some tips and a place to document your engineering process on this site.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Pine Cone
Using cardboard, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and strings create a pine cone that opens and closes. This site contains lesson plans, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design a Microexpression Zoetrope
Build a zoetrope machine where you can animate a facial expression and the machine plays the animation back with this site. Site contains lesson plans, tips, and a place to document your design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Control a Microraptor's Flight
Using common household materials students are challenged to make a flying raptor and control its flight with attached strings. Site includes lesson plans, tips, and a place for students to document their process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Mechanical Leg
This website challenges students to make a ball and socket joint that mimics the movement of a human hip or shoulder. Using only a tennis ball, rubber bands, cardboard, and tape, students will construct this mechanical device. The site...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Balloon Helicopter
Can you build a balloon helicopter that can fly at least 3 feet from the ground? This site gives a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.