Unit Plan
Teach Engineering

Service-Based Engineering Design Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Do some good for the community while learning about engineering. Groups complete a service-based engineering design project over the course of five weeks. The resource provides guidance on how to conduct the project and help pupils get...
Unit Plan
NASA

NASA Engineering Design Challenges - Spacecraft Structures

For Teachers 6th - 9th
What kind of design challenges are there in building structures to support rocket engines? The unit takes design teams through the process of building the lightest possible thrust support structure that can withstand the necessary forces...
Unit Plan
Purdue University

The Represented World: Recreational STEM

For Teachers 3rd Standards
How are forces and motion important to a swing set? Scholars explore the concepts of force and motion using swing sets. In preparation for their own STEM design project, individuals take surveys and data from peers, complete labs on...
Unit Plan
Illinois Valley Community College

STEM Activities for Middle School Students

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Use STEM activities within the class to provide connections to concepts. The resource includes activities that range from working with buoyancy to building rockets and launching them. Other activities involve the engineering design...
Unit Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Analogous Models

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What goes into a museum display? A secondary-level STEM project prompts groups to design a museum display for the Tech Museum of Innovation. They create an analogous, interactive model illustrating a science concept to complete the...
Unit Plan
Intel

Designer Genes: One Size Fits All?

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
In this STEM group of 10 activities, lesson two focuses on the question, "Just because we can, should we?" when considering genetically engineered food. Classes hear a scenario and, as young scientists and geneticists, must determine if...
Unit Plan
Teach Engineering

Solar Water: Heat it Up!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Young engineers are instructed to design and build their own solar water heaters. Then, they calculate the efficiency and cost and compare them to commercially available models. This is a full unit for pupils to apply their knowledge.
Unit Plan
NASA

Marsbound! Mission to the Red Planet

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
It's time to go to Mars. Using the provided cards and mat, groups design a mission to Mars. The cards contain information about the different components of the launch and warn about a few mishaps that might occur along the way.
Unit Plan
ReadWriteThink

Scaffolding Methods for Research Paper Writing

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Rome wasn't built in a day, but researchers can be with proper scaffolding. This writing unit has scholars write a research paper through scaffolding of various parts of the process. Learners begin with identifying a topic and crafting a...
Unit Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Human Body Exhibit

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Explore human anatomy and physiology using models. Scholars study systems of the human body and design a display for a museum exhibit. To complete the activity, individuals create analogous models of their chosen human body systems.
Unit Plan
University of Southern Indiana

Manifest Density

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
There's a lot content packed into the four lessons of this physical science unit on density. From salad dressing to the water cycle and hot air balloons, these lessons engage students in hands-on activities that explore real-world...
Unit Plan
American Institute of Architects

Architecture: It's Elementary!—Fifth Grade

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Young citizens construct an understanding of urban planning in this cross-curricular unit. Covering every aspect of city development from the political, economic, and social influences to sustainable building practices, this...
Unit Plan
Out-of-School Time Resource Center

Nutrition and Physical Activity

For Teachers 1st - 6th Standards
Emerging nutritionists explore what it means to be healthy. In the beginning of the unit, your class will examine the five food groups and learn how food gets from the farm to our plates. This leads into the investigation of...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Teaching the Engineering Design Process

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students follow the steps of the engineering design process (EDP) while learning about assistive devices and biomedical engineering. They first go through a design-build-test activity to learn the steps of the cyclical engineering design...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Creative Engineering Design

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students are introduced to the world of creative engineering product design. Through six activities, teams work through the steps of the engineering design process (or loop) by completing an actual design challenge presented in six...
Unit Plan
REMC Association of Michigan

Remc Association of Michigan: 21 Things4 Students: 15. Design Thinking

For Students 3rd - 8th
Design Thinking is a process for designing something to solve a problem. It shares a lot of similarities to the Engineering Design Process you might learn in a STEM class and the Scientific Method you learn in science. However, it tends...
Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Nova: The Design Process: From Idea to Solution

For Teachers 9th - 10th
What does innovation look like, and how can one generate innovative ideas in the classroom? This collection is built around "design thinking" and is intended to help educators and learners explore the invention of real, practical...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Intro to Engineering

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to the basic principles behind engineering and the types of engineering while learning about a popular topic - the Olympics. The involvement of engineering in modern sports is amazing and pervasive. Students learn...
Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Hedy Lamarr: Engineering and Invention

For Students 9th - 10th
Discover Hedy Lamarr's contributions as a woman in STEM in this video from the American Masters film, Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Lamarr has received belated acknowledgement for inventing frequency hopping, the basis of secure...
Unit Plan
CK-12 Foundation

Ck 12: Physical Science: Technological Design Process

For Students 7th - 9th
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Technological design and steps of the technological design process.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Biodomes

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore the biosphere's environments and ecosystems, learning along the way about the plants, animals, resources and natural cycles of our planet. Over the course of lessons 2-6, students use their growing understanding of...
Unit Plan
PBS

Pbs Kids: Design Squad: Ets1 1:activities and Videos: Health and Improving Lives

For Students 4th - 7th
This PBS site contains activities that are hands-on challenges, animations, career profiles, and videos that focus on the engineering design process. They use simple materials, allow for multiple solutions, and are ideal for ages 9-12.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Using Stress and Strain to Detect Cancer

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this project, students are challenged to answer the question "Is there a way to detect the presence of tumors that isn't as painful as mammography but more reliable and quantifiable than a breast-self exam or clinical breast-exams?"....
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Simple Machines

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Through a five-lesson series with five hands-on activities, students are introduced to six simple machines - inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, wheel-and-axle - as well as compound machines, which are combinations of two or...