Hang a soda can from a string and watch it spin by the force created by water streaming out of slanted holes. This plan provides background information, detailed materials and procedures, discussion questions, a lab worksheet, and...

Are planes the best shipping method? Using maps, pupils determine the fastest mode of transportation between two cities. Given a list of items to ship, groups decide the best shipping method to finish the 18th segment of a 22-part unit.

How efficient is a motor in a LEGO set? Future engineers conduct an activity where a LEGO motor-generator system raises an object to a specified height. They then show what they learned and use their measurements to calculate the energy...

You won't regret being stuck with this activity. By mixing a variety of household items, pupils create their own glue. They test the tensile strength of their glue and compare it to that of other adhesives.

How do you measure surface tension? The fifth installment of a nine-part series is an experiment where young scientists use tubes of different sizes to measure surface tension. They calculate the average and standard deviation of the...

Collect a set of collections. Professional development material provides teachers with information about collections that are in AP Computer Science. Materials include teaching strategies, sample labs, and worksheets. Educators use the...

Give youngsters the components of a solar-powered electric circuit and turn them loose to figure out how to connect them in order for a light to shine or motor to turn. They compare energy output of a solar panel to that of a battery. On...

Eureka! Using the clay boats made in the previous lesson, learners investigate the idea of buoyancy and water displacement to finish the last installment of five in a Floaters and Sinkers unit. Their observations during the activity...

Discover how to program objects to move on a screen. In the second lab of a five-part unit, each learner uses block instructions to program a sprite to follow their mouse (cursor). They investigate how to use these same block...

Third graders explore the structural composition of buildings and houses. In this math instructional activity, 3rd graders explain how architecture is related to mathematics. They create a blueprint of a structure with at least three...

Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.

Extremely large or extremely small numbers are difficult to comprehend. To help understand the massive scale of the solar system, learners complete two activities. First, they create a model to compares the size of the bodies in the...

Using the computer and the Paint program, Students explore the different tools available in the paint program, and then create a picture showing two sets of pictures and an equation.

Second graders choose the appropriate measuring tool by discussing a tool to measure contents in desks. They then use a scale to weigh contents in desks. Next, they study standard units of measurement by writing down the weight in...

Learners explore the concept of air pressure. Using candy or cookie wafers to model how air pressure changes with altitude, they conduct an aluminum can crushing experiment, compare the magnitude to gravitational force per unit area,...

Students work collaboratively to design and construct a roof out of Legos for a house that was built in a previous lesson. The roof must be structurally sound and pass certain criteria determined by the teacher.

Students build a Lego design and then work with a partner to reproduce that design. They guide the building of the reproduction by description only and then check their work.

Fourth graders create cartoon characters which compare and contrast two types of cells: nerve and muscle. Cartoon characters show how these two cells are similar, how they are different, and the relationship between the two cell types.

Young scholars work individually or in small groups to design a series of special effects images. They use image editing software to explore how visual information is interpreted and manipulated digitally. Students create new, blank...

Students are introduced to the function and design of the following Lego pieces: beams, bricks, plates, axles, tires, hubs and bushings. They then work with a partner to build something using only these pieces.

Students are introduced to a variety of design elements that promote structural stability including beams, joints and pins. They demonstrate the use of these elements with Lego constructions and compare the stability of several...

Students identify and examine various Lego building materials. They discover how to measure Lego blocks and cut out and paste pictures of the Legos on the Engineer's Parts List sheet.