Try your hand at scale models. Scholars create a scale model of an object using a scale factor of their choice. As part of the project, they give presentations on their processes and calculations. This is the last installment of the...

Teams continue with the Asteroid Impact challenge and determine possible locations to construct their underground shelters. Participants cut scale area models of their shelters from paper and place them on the map to find locations...

Is it possible for a rectangle to have the same area and perimeter? If you disregard units, it happens! In a challenging task, groups work to determine the rectangles that meet these criterion. The hope is that learners will naturally...

Sometimes it's okay to eat your science experiment. A hands-on activity has pupils create models for algae to learn about its cellular structure. The best part of the experiment? The resulting juice-filled gels are edible—yum!

A deceptively simple question setup leads to a number of attack methods and a surprisingly sophisticated solution set in this open-ended problem. Young geometers of different strengths can go about defining the solutions graphically,...

This is a good model for learners to visualize triangles of the same base and height. They can can begin to comprehend that these triangles will have the same area no matter how the triangle is drawn. It is part of a series of resources...

Nothing flows like J-E-L-L-O! In the final portion of a four-part series, pupils create scale models of microfluidic devices out of gelatin and bendable straws. They use their devices to test various flow rates in the delivery of...

They say elephants never forget—and your class won't forget an insightful modeling activity either! Junior zoologists take part in a mock elephant census using the sample count and total count methods. The included materials provide...

With almost half of Americans relying on groundwater supplies, it is more important than ever to protect aquifers from possible contaminants. Working in small groups, young environmentalists explore this problem as they create an aquifer...

Does increasing the pressure between two moving plates provide a stabilizing force or create more destruction? The hands-on lesson encourages exploration of strike-split fault models. The sixth lesson in a 20-part series asks...

Build a scale model of a home built out of shipping containers. A hands-on activity has scholars watch a video about a home built from shipping containers and then design their own home. They build scale models of their designed homes...

Potty humor is always a big hit with the school-age crowd, and potty algebra takes this topic to a whole new level. Here the class develops a model that connects the dimensions (radii, paper thickness, and length of paper) of a...

When painting a barn you have to calculate surface area, and that is exactly what this resource is about. Not only will your future home owners calculate the surface area, but also the cost. It is a real-life problem that every that...

A complex question looking for the total cost of a stained glass window by calculating area and circumference of a circle. With detailed components, this activity will challenge your designers to figure out if they have enough money to...

Do polar opposites attract? After an introduction on the polarity of molecules, pupils are asked to design a self-assembling model using materials with different polarity. The challenge should motivate learners to develop a workable...

Scholars crave practical application. Let them use the different models of a quadratic function to plan the size and shape of a school playground. They convert between the different forms and maximize area.

Examine how pollution makes its way into an ocean with help from a model watershed. Scholars use household items to recreate a mini-watershed, equipped with pollutants, that when mixed with rain drain into a model's body of...

Help your class understand the magnitude of the distance between Earth and Mars with an activity that asks small groups to use balloons to create scale models of the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Class members figure out the distances...

There's nothing sticky about the resource, unless you count the gumdrops! Scholars create a model of a lithium atom, complete with protons, neutrons, and electrons. It's just that these models are made with gumdrops and toothpicks.

Explore the respiratory system with a model. First, pupils build a set of lungs to experiment how they inflate and deflate. Then, they delve deeper into the topic with a web quest to discover new information about the nose, trachea, and...

Scholars make a model to discover how the force of trade winds over the Pacific Ocean creates an El Niño. Super scientists observe how the severe weather affects life in water and on land. 

The humble soda can gets the geometric treatment in an activity that links math and science calculations. After a few basic assumptions are made and discussed, surface area calculations combine with density information to develop an...

How many visual models can be used to show multiplication? Three basic kinds of models can be used to represent and explain the equation 4 x (9 + 2).  The commentary section provides description and graphics to explain the set...

Modeling dough and paper cutouts in science class? Learn about how relative age dating concepts, like the Law of Superposition and cross-cutting relationships, can be used to describe the formation of sedimentary layers.