Pupils examine a stress-strain diagram that compares the advantages and disadvantages of the two common bridge building materials, concrete and steel. The also consider the factors that influence the materials builders choose for their...

Nothing says organization quite like a table. The third lesson plan in a six-part Mixtures and Solutions unit teaches young scientists about elements and the periodic table. They learn how the periodic table is organized and about the...

Electrical current going round and round,produces a magnetic field. After a demonstration of the magnetic field surrounding an electrical wire, class members use the provided formula associated with Biot-Savart's Law to calculate the...

Did you know that there are over 200 different types of cells in the human body? One type, the stem cell, is the focus of the fifth of six installments in the Cells unit. The lesson asks the class to discuss stem cells and their...

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...

Introduces your class to the types of loads experienced by a bridge. Groups calculate the ultimate load combinations to determine the maximum load requirement. Using this information, builders then determine the amount of material...

Don't know how to make the initial connection on electric circuits? This instructional activity provides the background to present the introductory vocabulary to learning about electric circuits. It is organized in a meaningful...

How do lighting types affect energy efficiency? Explore different types of lighting and the energy they use. Pupils learn about types of lights and calculate the energy used during a typical school year. They discover that being...

Some things are hard to resist. Small collaborative groups build circuits and calculate the voltage using Ohm's Law. Budding engineers explore the connection between the voltage across different resistors and linear...

Following detailed directions, teams collect the voltage and current outputs of a photovoltaic cell by adjusting the resistance. Using the collected data, they determine the highest power output. Implications for weather and a large...

How does the dirt get out of your drinking water? A hands-on activity introduces the use of flocculants to help clear solid particles out of water. The plan walks learners through the process of setting up an experiment that...

I can move about freely, but you cannot. The class models the movement through cell membranes by way of passive and active transport. Members of the class play the roles of various proteins, atoms, compounds, and cell actions and mimic...

How high did the ball go? Engineering teams build a working pneumatic system that launches a ball into the air. The teams vary the amount of pressure and determine the accompanying height of the ball. An extension of building a device to...

Sixth graders strengthen their understanding of what a high quality website is composed of. Learners evaluate three websites for accuracy, credibility, and reliability by completing a chart.

Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...

When going for distance, does it make a difference at what angle you launch the rocket? Teams of three launch foam rockets, varying the launch angle and determining how far they flew. After conducting the series of flights three times,...

Let your voices be heard! Pupils research local and national environmental concerns using the Internet. Class members determine an issue they deem important and draft a letter to a local politician expressing their...

Always check your assumptions when interpreting data and data visualizations. That's the take away from this exercise. Class members examine a failed project that looks at search trends to predict flu outbreaks and consider the...

Here is a instructional activity that offers a great hybrid of forming new skills and using current knowledge to come up with a plan. The class brainstorms information they would need to know or already know about hybrid vehicles....

Focus on the conservation of energy, specifically looking at gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy, with a lecture that involves having friends throw light objects at each other to determine which has more kinetic energy and...

Spring into elastic potential energy with a lesson that provides background information on determining the elastic potential energy of springs and other elastic materials. General energy equations emphasize the conservation of...

Viewers are a PowerPoint are exposed to the idea that pollutants are in more than just the air we breathe. the presentation provides information about the layers of the earth's atmosphere and takes a look at the pollutants in the...

It's not so straightforward — lines can model a variety of applications. Pupils experience linear relationships within the context of science, including Hooke's and Ohm's Laws. Class members got a taste of motion and speed from the...

The plot thickens to get a functional understanding. After a short review of plotting points on the coordinate plane, class members learn the difference between functions and relations in the second lesson plan in a series of nine....