Make solutions to projectile motion problems magically appear using equations. Pupils watch a clip from a Harry Potter movie and find the length of time it takes for a remembrall to fall into Harry's hands. They use a projectile motion...

Consider the relationship between side length and area as an input-output function. Scholars create input-output tables for the area of squares to determine an equation in the first installment of a three-part unit. Ditto for the area of...

Make fast food restaurants even faster. Groups consider trade-offs when maximizing efficiency in fast food restaurants. Restructuring schedules and floor plans, as well reassigning job duties, all fall under this directive.  

Discover how to analyze architecture from a geometric standpoint. The fourth installment of an 11-part unit on architecture first provides a presentation on axis, balance, basic form, formal, pattern, proportion, symmetry, and tripartite...

Even magicians can't make energy disappear. In a discussion-based lesson, young scientists learn about energy forms and conversions. They see how energy is neither created nor destroyed; it just changes forms. This is the 11th...

A passage about the Magna Carta provides readers with an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify the main idea and supporting ideas in an article.

What can bulldozers and screen doors have in common? Use this lesson on fluid power to find out. It begins with some simple teacher demonstrations, includes a couple of videos, and culminates with an inquiry-based activity to investigate...

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...

Clay itself sinks, but clay boats float. Why? Young engineers build clay boats to learn about buoyancy. They test the weight the boats can hold using washers and then tweak their designs to make improvements, following the engineering...

Students recognize that compression and tension forces are important considerations in building structures. They construct their own building structure using marshmellows and spaghetti to see which structure can hold the most weight.

Learners investigate different balls' abilities to bounce. They conduct a Ball Bounce Height Comparison and Ball Bounce Time Comparison, complete a worksheet, graph the results of their experiment, and answer investigating questions.

Students participate in an activity that replicates the creation of sea floor bathymetry by taking a simplified form of soundings in the classroom. They discuss sea floor mapping technologies, sonar, soundings, and remote sensing,...

Learners engage in a lesson which takes something constructed by the class, that would be normally classified as just sound, then work together to make what can be perceived to be music. Students construct a basic stringed instrument...

What will flying look like in the future? The 21st lesson in a 22-part unit on aviation reviews the major aspects of the lesson. Pupils brainstorm ideas of a future flying machine.

Hummingbirds and flowers need each other to survive! Pupils explore the co-adaptation of hummingbirds and the flowering plants. They explain how a flowering plant has adapted to be pollinated by a hummingbird and how the hummingbird has...

Class members use mathematics in order to better understand magnetic forces and their interaction on charged particles. After a demonstration of the interaction between a magnet and an electron beam using a CRT computer monitor,...

Nothing says organization quite like a table. The third lesson 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...

The greenhouse effect and its relationship to global warming is the focus of an activity that asks class member to consider the effects of climate change on weather. Pupils work with their families to determine their carbon...

Students analyze euthanasia as a possible way to die.  For this controversial lesson, students reflect and discuss euthanasia as a possible way to enter death.  Classroom discussion allows students to voice their opinion and...

Class members examine human migration. For this population instructional activity, they read an article entitled, "Freedom of Movement" and respond to discussion questions about the article related to guest worker programs.

It's alive! Or is it? Through a series of shared readings, whole class activities, and independent exercises children explore the difference between living and non-living things, creating a pair of printable books...

It's assessment time! Determine your young mathematicians' understanding of elapsed time with this brief, five-question quiz.

Need worksheets that challenge your middle schoolers to apply their understanding of math? Problem solved! From integers, fractions, and percents, to algebra, geometry, and probability, over 100 pages of word problem worksheets...

Augment your language arts units with a set of vocabulary worksheets. The packet is an excellent support to your vocabulary instruction that covers a variety of skills, including context clues, Greek and Latin roots, reference materials,...