Drugs can both help and harm depending on how they are used. Fifth graders complete a worksheet that provides background information on prescription drugs. They read the text and then describe why medication manufacturers label pill...

Opening up a package of fruit snacks is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. When all the mango flavored ones are missing, learners calculate the probability that one bag versus the whole box is missing the...

Turn aluminum cans into pickles! An engaging experiment has learners chemically change aluminum into a substance with many purposes including the manufacture of pickles. After performing the chemical conversion, the experimenters verify...

Microchips are a man-made wonder. Investigate the manufacturing wonder with a hands-on inquiry-based lesson plan. Scholars simulate the process of pattern transfer using photoresist. Their conclusion identifies how their process...

Middle schoolers are presented with the following problem: A cracker manufacturer has been losing money and has to find a way to save her factory. They are given the task to design a new shape for the cracker manufacturer so that as...

Learners identify attributes of natural and manufactured wood products. In this forest products instructional activity, students perform independent research to find an article about forest use or forest products. They spread out samples...

Students plan and design their project idea and demonstrate what their product looks like. They make a set of instructions describing a process that could be used to manufacture this product in an industrial setting. Students are given...

An engineering design lesson plan contains connected activities as a capstone engineering project. The activities revolve around the principle of improving an existing object and designing the manufacturing process in order to do so. The...

Do you want to live forever? After reading Kurt Vonnegut’s short story, “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,” class groups adopt the roles of an ethics committee, product manufacturers, concerned scientists, and potential users of an...

Here's a resource that brings home the idea that we are all part of a global community, that our actions have far reaching consequences. Class members examine the labels in their clothes, create a list of the manufacturers, the countries...

Junior chemists manufacture biodiesel in the lab. In this exercise, they check the purity of the biodiesel using thin layer chromatography. They also calculate its density and heat of combustion. They are sure to rise to the...

A hands-on lesson using the TI-CBR Motion Detector to provide information to graph and analyze. The class uses this information to calculate the slope of motion graphs and differentiate scalar and vector quantities. There is a real-world...

Sixth graders explore the many uses of corn as a renewable source. In this biodegradable resource lesson, 6th graders investigate how corn is used in manufacturing and as a fuel. Students construct a piece of homemade plastic using...

Challenge your class with this fun and engaging engineering design project. The goal, to create a brand new cereal complete with a list of ingredients, a name and logo, and a box to hold it in. Starting with a survey to determine the...

Manufacturers' claims may or may not be accurate, so proceed with caution. Here pupils use statistics to investigate the M&M's company's claim about the percentage of each color of candy in their packaging. Through the activity,...

Class members blend their knowledge of functions and problem-solving skills to provide business advice to the Turbo Blender manufacturers. Through a project-based approach, learners examine marginal cost data to produce a function....

Solve a complex business puzzle by building a linear programming model. An engaging project-based learning problem has classes examining transportation costs and manufacturing limitations from several plants. Ultimately, they use their...

Why are car manufactures required to install seat belts and airbags; do they really make that big of a difference? Scholars use a simulator to determine the amount of force dissipated by a seat belt and airbag in a head-on crash. This is...

Our body manufactures antibodies that are the exact shape for the antigens it encounters. The simulation shows a 3-D model of an antibody and antigen pairing. It allows young scientists to explore the complementary shapes.

How much plastic do manufacturers use to create water bottles each year? The class explores the number of water bottles used throughout the years to determine how many consumers will use in the future. Class members compare different...

All 50 US states require vaccinations for children entering public schools. Pupils set out to determine whether these requirements are fair with a thought-provoking resource. They read an interesting history of vaccines, watch pro and...

The Last Train Home, a 2009 documentary about China's migrant factory workers, provides viewers with an opportunity to explore how China's emergence as a global manufacturing force is challenging Chinese traditional values like...

Don't toy with using a fun lesson. Scholars design new toys and then create scale drawings. They determine the volume and surface area of the toys, and then research prices of raw materials to estimate the manufacturing costs.

There is a strong need for workers skilled in trades (agriculture, construction, transportation, the service industry, manufacturing, industry). Middle schoolers listen to an interview with a tradesperson and then go online to...