Curated OER
Fun-Factory - NOT!
Middle schoolers design a solution to a problem based on the Industrial Revolution. In this design lesson plan, students come up with architectural designs and present them to teachers in a simulated factory.
Bonneville
Design and Engineer Solutions
What's the best way to collect all that trash? A culminating activity has scholars use the knowledge and skills from the unit to design a solution to the plastic trash island problem. They use 3-D pens or a 3-D printer to build models of...
NPR
Brainstorm and Evaluate Solutions
May the best idea win. In groups, scholars brainstorm solutions to the problem statement developed in the previous lesson. The best idea moves forward to the prototype stage.
NPR
Prototype the Solution
It's always nice to see what the solution looks like. Groups build a prototype of their solution to the plastics problem in the sixth installment of a 10-part unit. The prototypes can be either a visual prototype or a working prototype.
Messenger Education
Design Challenge: How to Keep Items Cool in Boiling Water
Keeping items cool in boiling water... what? This engaging activity challenges high school learners to build a container that keeps butter in a solid state when placing the container in boiling water. Groups use previous knowledge and...
Teach Engineering
Problem Solving
Need a activity? Problem solved. Scholars learn about the problem-solving process in the sixth installment of a 25-part Energy Systems and Solutions unit. The particular process in question is the Technological Method of Problem Solving.
Teach Engineering
Cell Membrane Experimental Design
Grandma said to gargle with salt water for a sore throat. Was she right? In the last part of the seven-part unit, lab groups design an experiment to test a cells reaction to salt solutions. The pupils conduct their experiment to answer...
American Chemical Society
Chemical Reactions and Engineering Design
Construction leads to habitat loss and local wildlife suffers. Scholars must build a reptile egg incubation device that meets many constraints. Various experiments help them discover the chemical reaction needed to reach the proper...
Messenger Education
Design Challenge: How to Keep Gelatin from Melting
The inside of the spacecraft Messenger, which explores Mercury, will experience temperatures from 32 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit. In the final installment of a series of four space-related activities, groups spend time discussing and...
Curated OER
Problem-Solve Your School
Students explore the role of problem-solving engineers. In this engineering lesson, students discuss several real-life problems at their school and choose one to focus on. Students come up with tests to design a solution to the specific...
Discovery Education
Clutter Cutter
Challenge young learners to cut the clutter with this fun engineering project. As employees of a home and office supply company, young engineers are asked to develop devices that organize everyday items. After participating in a...
Teach Engineering
Incoming Asteroid! What's the Problem?
Oh, no! An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth!. Class members must rise to the challenge of designing a shelter that will protect people from the impact and permit them to live in this shelter for one year. In this first lesson...
Chemistry Collective
Virtual Lab: Standardization of NaOH with a KHP solution: Acid Base Titration
This is not your standard standardization lab! Take titration into the high-tech age with a simulated workbench. Learners perform titrations to standardize a sodium hydroxide solution using a KHP solution of unknown concentration....
Teach Engineering
Design and Build a Rube Goldberg
Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...
NPR
Communicate the Solution
Communication is key. Scholars produce videos to highlight their engineering solutions to the plastic problem in the ninth installment of the series of 10. Feedback from other groups lets them improve the videos.
Teach Engineering
Storing Android Accelerometer Data: App Design
There's an app for that! Pupils learn to build an app that will store data on an Android. The lesson plan introduces class members to the tiny database, TinyDB, for Android devices. A video tutorial provides an example that uses the...
California Academy of Science
Fresh Solutions: Design Thinking Challenge
How do people transport fresh water long distances to ensure everyone has access to it? The final lesson in the 10-part Fresh Solutions unit encourages individuals to design their own solution, or solutions, to that very problem. Groups...
California Academy of Science
Sustainable Water Solutions: Weighing the Pros and Cons
Switching indoor water fixtures to low flow reduces water usage by more than 45 percent. This and other solutions to reduce water usage have both pros and cons. Scholars view videos of different solutions, discuss them in small groups,...
Missouri Department of Elementary
“Re-Solutioning”: Practice Brings Out Our Best
Seventh graders create and perform a skit that demonstrates their conflict resolution skills. They begin by examining the process of crafting a performance and review what they have learned about conflict resolution. Next, they...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Problem Solvers: Challenge Activities (Theme 4)
Creative activities help bring literature alive. The first of a set of lessons designed to accompany selections from Theme 4: Problem Solvers uses activities such as skits, responses to music, and social studies projects. These...
West Contra Costa Unified School District
Introduction to Conditional Probability
Here is a turnkey instructional activity that walks young statisticians through the development and uses of conditional probability. From dice games to surveys, Venn diagrams to frequency tables, the class learns how a given can effect...
National Wildlife Federation
Climate Solutions – A Call to Action!
The final lesson in the 21-part series on climate change focuses on energy solutions to the consumption problem. Using data specific to their school, pupils make recommendations, follow up on actions, and carefully track progress....
Code.org
Functions and Top-Down Design
Let me break it down for you! Introduce your class to a way of breaking up a complicated task into its component pieces. Individuals draw a complex figure using JavaScript and then break it down to help determine the functions needed in...
NASA
Building for Hurricanes: Engineering Design Challenge
"By the hair on your chinny-chin-chin, I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in," says the big, bad wolf! Engineering hopefuls are challenged to design and construct a hurricane-proof building from simple office and craft...