If you could pick characteristics you would want your child to possess, what would they be? To better understand Okonkwo, one of the key characters in Things Fall Apart, class groups engage in an activity that asks them to consider this...

Is your building a smart building? Pupils learn what makes a building smart and about the internet of things. After viewing several videos on the topic, they conduct an activity collecting data from sensors and brainstorm ways to improve...

Scholars participate in two design challenges concerning flight in the second instructional activity of the series. They design balloon crafts that have neutral buoyancy and forward motion.

Be careful on curvy roads. An interesting STEM activity challenges scholars to design a safe road system. The goal is to help ensure that cars coming down a hill will be able to make a right turn without sliding off the road. Pupils test...

Harness the power of rubber bands of all things. A hands-on activity has scholars design and build paddle boats. They learn how the elastic potential energy of rubber bands can be converted to the kinetic energy associated with motion.

Before making important decisions, gathering as much information as possible is best. That's the take-away from the second lesson in the Decision-Making module of the Overcoming Obstacles course. Middle schoolers engage in a series of...

Students examine how Shell uses engineering.  In this engineering principles lesson students visit a web-pages, answer questions, and examine the ways that engineers go about exploring different ideas. 

Students examine bone fractures and the role that engineers play in repairing them.  In this biomedical engineering lesson students describe the factors that engineers consider when designing devices. 

Pupils study animal classification and their interactions.  In this animals and engineering lesson students study animal communities and how engineers use this knowledge to create new technologies. 

Students identify the features of a prosthetic limb and explain how engineers are involved in the prosthetic design.  In this bone engineering instructional activity students describe the design criteria that goes into choosing the...

After reading about biomedical engineering and properties of materials, collaborative groups design a cast for setting a broken bone. They test for stability and mass, and then communicate their invention by creating a poster. This...

Here is a lesson in collaboration cleverly disguised as an engineering design activity. There is no background material for you to teach here,  just instructions about materials and rules for participating groups. Use this as...

In this Internet usage worksheet, students navigate to specific websites, all of which are search engines. Students are instructed to search on the word "Oregon" and answer 7 questions about their results.

In this Internet usage worksheet, students navigate to a specific search engine website and enter the word "Oregon Trail". Students then answer 7 questions based on their results.

Google it! Like Kleenix, Google has genericized. But when beginning a project, young researchers need to go beyond search engines and become aware of the different types of research resources available. Introduce the options with a...

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...

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...

How do you get started designing a product to meet your engineering design goals? Here, learners gain understanding of an important aspect of the engineering design process: background research. Through brainstorming and worksheets,...

Change one variable and try again. Teams build basic balsa gliders and collect data on their flight distances and times. Through collaboration, the team decides on two modifications to make to the basic design and collect data for the...

Class members create their own social networks by collecting signatures before graphing the interactions with their fellow classmates. The degree distribution of the simulated social network is determined by calculating the degree of...

A messy fountain is potentially an energy experiment in disguise. Groups investigate the variables in creating a fountain from soda and Mentos. The last activity in a six-part series on energy has the class observe the fountain in terms...

Pairs use an online simulation to determine the epicenter and magnitude of an earthquake. Using real data about the earthquake's maximum S wave amplitudes, they then determine the magnitude. The resource provides a great career...

Groups use alcohol and chromatography paper to separate the color components of black ink. The purpose of the activity is to allow the class to become aware that mixtures exist in hidden places. 

Our young scientists have now specifically identified a problem, and this step helps them think of possible solutions. An outline, including guidelines, for brainstorming helps scholars stay on the right path. The resource includes...