If you think you can do better, feel free to give it a try. Pupils learn about the work on Temple Grandin and consider ways to improve animal handling facilities. They work in groups to build models to showcase their ideas.

This isn't the boomerang you're used to. Scholars first see how a commercial boomerang works. They then cut out a four-wing boomerang and test its flight to compare it to that of the commercial boomerang.

When you have an inclusive classroom it is important to help your general education students understand their peers with disabilities. This packet provides information and activities to assist elementary-aged children in building a...

Students participate in an in-depth study of a historic building in their community. They conduct a visual survey of the building, complete a worksheet, take a rubbing of the building, and research the history of the building.

Students explore engineering by building a simple design in class. In this pencil creation lesson plan, students discuss their likes and dislikes with current writing utensils and design a new type of pencil. Students utilize arts and...

Every child's dream: stuffing as much candy into a bag as possible. Doing this, though, requires a nice sturdy bag. Scholars design the sturdiest bag they can and test the limits of those bag using a sweet treat!

“There is nothing that becommeth a maid better than soberness, silence, shamefastness, and chastity, both of body & mind.” This line, from Thomas Bentley ‘s The Monument of Matrons published in 1582, typifies the way women were...

Students use a variety of linked sites to research information about student inventions and contests that are available for them. They research an invention they would like to see become available. They communicate their results to their...

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...

Young scholars discuss how the final design for a product can affect its success. They work together to design and develop a better candy bad. They predict the volume and strength they need for the bag to be successful.

Can you build a better mousetrap? Broken into two sessions, this plan introduces learners to the design process. The first session has pupils look at the world through a design perspective by redesigning everyday objects. In the second...

Students develop awareness of constraints. In the early grades, children may be inclined to go with their first idea with little testing. Therefore, students should be encouraged to reflect on the practicality of their designs. However,...

A cell of another color is still a cell. Pupils color a cell to identify its structures in the fourth segment of a seven-segment series. Groups work together to build a three-dimensional cell membrane segment, which is combined with...

What better way to learn how to use a microscope than building your own? A lab investigation has scholars use lenses from magnifying glasses and sheets of cork to design their own compound microscopes. They calculate focal length...

How far would your pupils go to be able to have access to books? Revisit Heather Henson and David Small's That Book Woman and challenge class members to take on the role of Cal or the Book Woman. By putting themselves in someone else's...

It has been decades since the discovery of DNA. Still, activities such building this DNA model allow blossoming scientists to better understand the components that form this overall structure. During this activity, they will also...

How much does your class know about the relationship between climate change and carbon dioxide? Science scholars explore the nature of greenhouse gases and rising ocean temperature through demonstrations, research, and experiments. The...

Learners take a gallery walk around the room to view images and text of Victorian England culture and then complete a Predictions Walk note-catcher as they circulate and take turns reading quotation strips from Pygmalion. Class...

Welcome to the code side. The interactive lesson introduces coding in a game format with familiar characters. Young computer experts learn to develop code to control the interaction of the characters in the game. The activity ends with...

Learners create good arguments by exploring the basic structure of an arguments. They determine premises and conclusions for analyzing the effectiveness of arguments. In addition, they explore the differences between arguments and...

Let your class become master builders. Scholars use Legos® or K'nex® pieces to create a structure that looks like an actual building in existence. The time limit is 12 minutes, so you better start building!

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Learners find out what it means to them. Scholars write sentences, do a word sort, and list what makes them grateful. Additionally, pupils learn how to be more respectful by completing worksheets that would make...

How can scholars better understand the refugee experience? Pupils read Fox Butterfield's article "Panic Rises in Saigon, but the Exits are Few" and connect it to the novel Inside Out & Back Again. They annotate the text, looking for...

Fourth graders draw a set of blueprints and record measurements on them. They add, subtract and multiply to work within their house-building budget.