Curated OER
Make It All Better!
Students design an innovation that could help their community. In this technology lesson, students identify problems that could be solved by innovation. They present their ideas in class.
Curated OER
Steam Engines
Learners investigate the invention of the steam engine. In this technology lesson, students investigate the advancement of technology over time. They relate science and technology together.
Curated OER
Inventors of New England
Students examine recent inventions and discuss the steps the inventor had to go through to develop this product. They share their ideas with the class.
Teach Engineering
Not So Simple
Compound machines, nothing more than a combination of simple machines working together, are the focus of an activity that asks class members to use the provided information to take a look at the way innovators combine simple machines to...
Curated OER
Too Bright At Night?
Students explain what causes light pollution and how it can be curtailed. They consider the negative consequences of nighttime lighting, enabled by the invention of electric lights at the close of the 19th Century.
Curated OER
Should Humans Be Cloned?
Students explore links on the Internet to collect facts about cloning then prepare an essay on their findings. In this research writing lesson students examine how to include their opinions on what they have found in their research.
Curated OER
Who is Rube Goldberg?
Fifth graders practice technology skills while searching online for information about inventor, Rube Goldberg. They discuss Rube Goldberg's use of simple machines, and write journal entries about their findings.
Teach Engineering
Design a Flying Machine
Wrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...
Curated OER
Inventors of New England
Students examine the ways that technology effects our daily lives. Students also identify the processes involved in designing new technology.
PBS
Blow the Roof Off!
Blow the minds of young scientists with this collection of inquiry-based investigations. Based on a series of eight videos, these "hands-on, minds-on" science lessons engage young learners in exploring a wide range of topics from making...
American Institute of Physics
The Black Scientific Renaissance of the 1970s-90s: African American Scientists at Bell Laboratories
A two-part instructional activity asks young scientists to research the contributions of African American scientists at Bell Laboratories. After presenting their findings, class members watch two demonstrations that introduce them to...
Captain Planet Foundation
George Washington Carver and the Sweet Potato
Learn about George Washington Carver's important contributions to agriculture by studying the sweet potato. First graders read about the inventor's observations and prepare sweet potato slips for the class garden. Additionally, they...
Curated OER
Technology: Past, Present, and Future
Students examine inventions of the past and present and explore how inventions inspire and lead to the development of other inventions.
Curated OER
Technology of the Ancient World Lesson Plans
Technology of the ancient world lesson plans can open students' eyes to the influence of early innovations.
Anthropological Association
Race: Teacher Guide: Race
How has the concept of race changed over time? Explore the genetic, cultural, and social aspects of race through a series of impactful activities. Scholars discover how race is influenced by inherited traits, examine census records to...
Curated OER
Interactions of Science and Technologies
Students explore how science and technology interact. They discuss important inventions, discoveries and technologies. They research a specific technological advance, or invention, and prepare a presentation that includes the economics,...
Curated OER
Leonardo Lives
Students investigate the concepts of force and motion. They describe how motion is created by force. Also students define a simple machine and the factors of application to creating force or motion. They analyze the plans of Leonardo De...
Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Science Pen Pals
Learners explore the scientific career of Benjamin Franklin. In this science lesson, students discuss Franklin's correspondence with other scientists and write letters describing Benjamin Franklin's experiments.
Curated OER
National Museum of the Pacific War
Students examine the role of science and technology in World War II. They discover how some inventions have changed to meet society's need after the war was over. They visit the museum to complete the instructional activity.
Curated OER
Ship of Gold
Students research the events that were taking place in the U.S. during the time period when the SS Central America sank, and explore the adventurous, innovative, and individualistic traits that often define the American spirit.
Curated OER
Vertical Thinking
Students explore the inventions and innovations of skyscraper engineering as a part of architecture analysis. In this architecture analysis lesson, students research the inventions, innovations, architects, and engineers of skyscrapers....
Curated OER
Apply Technological Design and Scientific Habits of Mind
Students are introduced to the principles involved with technological design. In groups, they use the Internet to research an important historical innovation and how it changed the world. They discover the barriers that were involved in...
Curated OER
The Little Transistor That Could
Students research the history of the transistor to explore the nature of technology. They complete a worksheet that coincides with given websites. Then they write a one-page essay about their findings.
Curated OER
Internet Inventors Scavenger Hunt
In this inventors scavenger hunt worksheet, students research 10 different significant inventors known to history. First, they read each question to determine which inventor to search for using the Internet. Then, students write a...