We would be lost without maps! How are they made? Introduce junior topographers to LIDAR technology with a fascinating activity. Set up a mock city, then have learners operate a laser measure to determine the shape of the landscape using...

Elementary schoolers examine the uses of rulers, scales, and measuring cups. They determine the criteria for the use of each tool and visit different areas of school to find items that can be measured with these tools. Everyone takes...

Teams learn about the size of a nanometer by measuring objects and converting those measurements. A worksheet then tests the groups' abilities to use nanometers by having them determine the size of objects that are too small to...

Exactly how small is a nanometer? Scholars investigate the scale of a nanometer by measuring classroom objects and converting these measurements to nanometers.

Solar energy is an amazing alternative ... but, not always particularly portable! Challenge young scientists to a folding solar panel build-off with an easy-to-execute activity. Scholars brainstorm around specific design needs, construct...

You don't need a scale to determine weight. This activity provides a way to use the concepts of air pressure and surface area to determine the weight of a vehicle by calculating the amount of weight each tire supports.

Every child's dream: stuffing as much candy into a bag as possible. Doing this, though, requires a nice sturdy bag. Scholars design the sturdiest bag they can and test the limits of those bag using a sweet treat!

Simulate soil sample assemblages. Individuals create soil layers in a cup. They then use straws to collect core samples from these layers. What information can they glean from the core samples, I wonder?

Are these two light sources the same? Groups use a white card and a little cooking oil to create a photometer that allows for the comparison of two lights. The Inverse Square Law provides a way to calculate the actual difference in...

Using a teacher-built wind tunnel constructed from a paper concrete tube form, a fan, and a balance, individuals determine the amount of drag their rocket design will experience in flight. Pupils make modifications to increase the...

Get things moving with this elementary science unit on simple machines. Through a series of nine lessons including teacher demonstrations, hands-on activities, and science experiments, young scientists learn about forces, motion,...

Does the position of the clips make a difference? The activity provides directions to build and test a paper rocket. Pupils attach paper clips to the rocket in different configurations and measure the distance the rocket flies each time....

Young scholars understand the concept of how to use different measurement tools for specific purposes. Students take pictures of various objects that can be measured using a digital camera and then making a power point presentation.

Students explore engineering by participating in a mechanical class activity. In this simple machines lesson, students identify many simple machines that allow them to perform tasks easily each day. Students collaborate in small groups...

Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...

High school physical scientists collide with motion. They work in pairs to design a paper car that will protect a raw egg during a head-on collision. Measurements of distance traveled, time of run, vehicle specs, and photo gate flags are...

A wind turbine is essentially just a giant pinwheel, right? Individuals first create pinwheels from paper, pins, and pencils. In groups, they model a wind farm along a coast and then test out their designs using an electric fan.

Third graders use rulers to measure their shoe size in inches and centimeters. They then enter the class shoe measurements into an excel data base and graph the results of both to make the comparison.

Meet me in the tunnels. Scholars choose a tunnel entrance and mark it on their side of the cardboard. They describe the location to their partners and see if they can guess each other's locations. Punching a hole through the cardboard...

Don't cast a great hands-on resource aside! Scholars learn about the process of casting by actually trying out an example. Plaster of Paris and cookie cutter molds help them complete the activity.

Read all about it! Challenge your class to build taller and stronger. Newspapers provide the means to build towers in a simple activity. Scholars try to build as tall a tower as possible with just two sheets of newspaper.

It's imperative to be as precise as possible. Future engineers learn about precision by building a cardboard machine. The base, corners, handles, and paddles must all be assembled with precision or the machine won't work.

Weathering is not necessarily a result of the weather. Scholars conduct an experiment to explore the effect of surface area and volume on the weathering process. They create their own sugar cube rocks using the same number of cubes—but...

Eighth graders participate in an experiment that emulates a sonar signal bouncing off the ocean floor. They determine how the ocean floor is measured by the length of time it takes for the sonar signal to return. They work with a wooden...