It's okay to play with your food—just this once! Scholars design and create meshes and chutes to sort pasta by size and shape. They test their designs and make improvements as necessary.

Toys are great for learning about physics. Scholars use Slinky® toys to study Newton's laws of motion and types of energy. After a little play, they then model longitudinal and transverse waves with the Slinky® toys.

Learn about the study of medications, including those found in nature and those made synthetically. The first of four lessons in a series on pharmacology includes lectures, hands-on experiments, research, and more.

Climb up the staircase of engineering knowledge. After watching a video of a carpenter measuring out steps for a set of stairs, pupils learn about the terminology and regulations involving stairs. They see how to use a rule of thumb when...

The Internet is a vast and fascinating place to be, but you have to know how to get there first! Use a helpful guide to become computer savvy in no time. It covers computer basics such as keyboarding and hardware, and goes into e-mail,...

Here's a fun game on a very serious matter. Scholars play a board game to learn about personal energy use and consumption. They see how various choices affect their energy use and costs, and then apply this knowledge to brainstorm ways...

Students participate in activities simulating various disabilities. After discussions, they work in teams to devise or improve on adaptive devices for people with disabilities. They include drawings of the tools they design and explain...

Students investigate how to design and build items with a focus on structural strength as an engineer would. They complete a truss-building project as a final assessment.

Fourth graders participate in activities to examine how simple machines help build things. They identify the six types of simple machines. They discover how simple machines where use historically to build pyramids and how they are still...

Following this procedure, eager engineers construct a working model of a piston system, similar to that in an internal combustion engine. Perfect for STEM or automotive technology classes, the activity comes complete with analysis and...

Students simulate life in space aboard the space shuttle. In this space exploration activity, students work in small groups to model life aboard the space shuttle. Each student is given a job, conducts Internet research on space, and...

Levitation tricks have been documented from the early 1900s, so how do they do it? Scholars learn about the force of magnetism in an attractive resource. They watch videos and design experiments to understand the strength and...

Fifth graders choose a country associated with a family member and research its location, government, language, economy, history, holidays, foods, sports, and famous people. They write to inform using this data and draw a map identifying...

Young scholars examine the roles of architects and engineers. In this engineering lesson, students design a parking garage based on a descriptive scenario.  Young scholars compare how architects and engineers work together on...

Let your class bounce to examine the concept elastic potential energy. Individuals bounce on a pogo stick in order to calculate its elastic potential energy. Groups then compare the elastic potential energy to the gravitational...

Looking for the best inclined plane for the job? Groups calculate the theoretical mechanical advantage for four different inclined planes. They determine the actual mechanical advantage by measuring the amount of force needed for the...

Individuals create a GIS data layer in Google Earth that displays information about where one might find seven different cryptids. The class members research to find data on cryptid sightings they can include in their data...

Have you ever conducted a Web search and received too many hits? Teach your class about Boolean search terms and provide them time to practice conducting efficient online searches. This lesson plan contains several fun activities which...

If the shoe  doesn't fit, design a new one. Discovery Education challenges pupils to put the engineering process in action by designing a shoe. Groups design and build a shoe prototype based upon the client...

Eat up a resource on using food to power electrical devices. Future engineers first experiment with different fruits and vegetables to determine the amount of electrical energy they provide. Based on the data, they design and create an...

Contemplate the causes of corrosion. An interesting lesson plan has learners first conduct an experiment where they place nails in different types of water. Based on the results, they consider how corrosion occurs and how engineers need...

What's the best way to use a simple machine to solve a real-world problem? Scholars construct their own simple and complex machines to explore the concepts of work and force. They discuss examples of simple machines they have found in...

Two lessons encourage class members to go screen-free. The first lesson challenges two teams to create a list of screen-free games. The team with the most ideas wins. Individuals then draw a picture of themselves doing one of the...

Even electronics are going organic. Future engineers learn about organic fibers and their uses in electronics and textiles. Specifically, they study graphene and its properties by creating graphite-based fibers in a laboratory setting...