PBS
Analyzing Stop and Frisk Through Personal Stories and Infographics
How much can you learn about an important topic from a single image? High schoolers analyze an infographic that represents the number of stops performed during the Stop and Frisk police procedure. After building background information...
Teach Engineering
Portable Wheelchair Ramp Challenge
Ramp up the engineering design process in your classroom with an activity that challenges teams to design, build, and test a small-scale portable wheelchair ramp. The class develops design requirements, and teams test their designs...
Teach Engineering
Thinking Green!
Encourage your class to solve local environmental issues. Groups brainstorm environmental issues that are affecting the community, choose one they want to solve, and design a product or service to solve their chosen issue. They then...
Teach Engineering
Red Cabbage Chemistry
Using the natural pH indicator of red cabbage juice, groups determine the pH of different everyday liquids. As they work, pupils gain an understanding of pH that may help deal with contaminants in the water supply.
Teach Engineering
Density and Miscibility
The liquids did not mix — so what do density columns have to do with it? The seventh part in a series of nine provides the theoretical explanation of why density columns do not mix. The lesson covers the topics related to...
Teach Engineering
Density Column Lab - Part 2
Groups suspend objects within layers of liquids to determine the densities of different liquids and compare them to the densities of objects calculated in Part 1. The groups then carefully test their calculations by layering the...
Teach Engineering
Wetting and Contact Angle
Explore terminology related to water droplets. The sixth installment of a nine-part series teaches young scientists about wetting and contact angles between water droplets and surfaces. It also distinguishes between hydrophobic and...
Teach Engineering
Investigating Contact Angle
Discover the properties of water-loving and water-hating surfaces. In the seventh installment of a nine-part series, scholars explore hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces by conducting an experiment. They observe surface coatings,...
Teach Engineering
Forms of Linear Equations
Linear equations are all about form. The fifth part in a unit of nine works with the different equivalent forms of linear equations. Class members become familiar with each form by identifying key aspects, graphing, and converting...
Teach Engineering
DNA Forensics and Color Pigments
Use food coloring in electrophoresis. The last segment in a four-part series mimics DNA fingerprinting by using chromatography. Teams conduct chromatography on food coloring to find colors that use similar pigmentation in their makeup.
Teach Engineering
Android App Development
Building an accelerometer app for your Android device. Groups develop an app that uses the accelerometer on an Android device. The purpose of the activity is to reinforce the programming design. The post activity assessment challenges...
Teach Engineering
Design Step 1: Identify the Need
What exactly does an engineer do? Learners find out through a lesson that asks them to solve a problem that affects a target population. Aspiring engineers learn the steps of the engineering design process as they apply it...
Civil War Trust
Civil War Newspaper
One photograph can represent so much more than the images on the film. Eighth graders select a photograph from the Civil War era and conduct additional research based on the subject matter from the picture. Once they complete the...
Drexel University
Learning Roomba Module 2: Robot Configurations
How do robots move? A presentation shows viewers the different types of configurations of that help robots move and lists the advantages and disadvantages of each of the configurations.
Drexel University
Learning Roomba Module 3: Controlling Movement
Look at it go. The resource, the third in a series of five using a Roomba, explains the different types of movements a Roomba makes, then challenges pupils to create computer codes that will cause the Roomba to travel specific paths.
Drexel University
Learning Roomba Module 4: Sensors and Actuators
Introduce your classes to sensors and actuators in robots — specifically to the Roomba. Pupils develop programs that make Roomba utilize its different sensors.
Drexel University
Learning Roomba Module 5: Localization
Where is my robot? Pupils create programs that utilize the localization services that a Roomba uses to determine its surroundings.
Tech Museum of Innovation
Balloon Astronaut
Design protection from high-speed particles. The STEM lesson plan highlights why astronauts need protection from space debris. Pupils use the design process to design, build, and test a spacesuit that will protect a balloon from a...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Energy at Play
Get the ball rolling and challenge your class to figure out how to make a ball move. The instruction segment is between two STEM activities devoted to doing just that. The first is simple and involves making a ball move from some...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Tree House Escape
Use simple machines to escape from a tree house. Pupils learn about simple machines and how they are useful in everyday life in a STEM lesson. Groups then design a device to rescue a friend stuck in a tree house.
Curated OER
An Exploration of Cradle-to-Cradle Design Thinking
Introduce cradle-to-cradle design thinking. Scholars first discuss the importance of natural laws and rights. They then use a variety of online and print resources to research eco-efficiency and cradle-to-cradle design.
Teach Engineering
Optimizing Pencils in a Tray
What do you call a story about a broken pencil? Pointless. Scholars may not be telling stories when using the resource, but they are solving optimization problems involving the maximum number of pencils that can fit on a tray. They...
Teach Engineering
Bridging to Polymers: Thermoset Lab
Investigate thermoset polymers through experimentation. In an effort to determine the strongest, most flexible mixture, groups conduct an experiment on different-ratio epoxy-amine polymers to finish the set of two lessons.
DiscoverE
Zip Line Challenge
Harness the awesome power of gravity. Scholars build a zip line to transport a ping-pong ball. The challenge is to get to the finish line in under four seconds. At that speed, individuals better be sure to strap on the harness!