NASA
Rover Races
Operating a vehicle remotely can be difficult, especially when the vehicle is on another planet. Young engineers get a feel for some of the real-world challenges as they work to program their rovers (blindfolded group members)...
Education Outside
Papermaking
Imagine recycling food scraps and using them to make paper. The directions are all here in a seven-page packet that details several paper-making strategies.
NASA
Pop! Rockets
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...
Virginia Department of Education
Determining Absolute Age
How can radioactive decay help date old objects? Learners explore half-life and radioactive decay by conducting an experiment using pennies to represent atoms. Young scientists graph data from the experiment to identify radioactive decay...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Acceleration with an Android
Small groups use rubber bands to accelerate an Android device along a track of books. They collect the acceleration data and analyze it in order to determine the device's velocity.
Channel Islands Film
Santa Cruz Island - Writing for Information
After re-viewing a documentary segment on the restoration of Santa Cruz Island,, individuals craft an essay in which they compare the views of the various stake holders featured in the video and identify the point of view they find...
NASA
Connecting Models and Critical Questions
Scholars use data to analyze and determine which sets of information need to be counted. They create a model to explain differences among chemical elements using graphs to prove concept mastery.
Curated OER
The Parachute
Students discuss parachutes and write a procedure to determine the effect of different size parachutes and different masses on the time it takes the masses to fall. They record all their data from their experiment then write three...
Curated OER
Lights, Sounds, Fabrics and Designs: Careers in the World of Design
High schoolers investigate the broad range of jobs that can be found in the world of design. Students explore sound design, language architecture, etc. High schoolers design a resource book and post it on a website for others to share.
Lerner Publishing
Living or Nonliving
It's alive! Or is it? Through a series of shared readings, whole class activities, and independent exercises children explore the difference between living and non-living things, creating a pair of printable books...
Curated OER
Liquid Rainbow
Learners develop their own techniques for drawing a small sample of solutions into a straw. They hypothesize ways to increase the density of water, and discuss how salt-free rainwater tends to float on top of salty seawater.
Curated OER
Multi-dimensional Modeling of Ore Bodies Making Sense of Empirical Data
Math scholars identify four different rock types in that strata and use this identification and data to construct a two dimensional geologic cross-section. They use data tables to construct a three-dimensional geologic cross-section.
Curated OER
Real Food in the Classroom
Use a class garden to teach learners about real food, nutrition, and more.
American Psychological Association
Using Psychological Perspectives to Answer Questions on Behavior
Perspective is everything when it comes to assessing human behavior. Class members examine a series of statements and identify the perspective represented by each to demonstrate their understanding of different psychological perspectives.
Curated OER
"Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"
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...
Curated OER
The Shocking Truth About Fruit
Looking for a great lesson on circuits and conductors of electricity? Take a look at this one! In it, 6th graders create circuits out of pennies, washers, alligator clips, fruit, and LED’s. Learners use voltmeters to analyze the circuits...
Curated OER
Wildflower Beautification Project
Students, in cooperative groups, design and create a wildflower garden for the community. They write letters to property owners requesting use of their land and then write invitations to their parents and to local, state, and federal...
Curated OER
Foreign Economics
Why do so many countries export cars? Economists examine this and other foreign economics principles through this introductory worksheet. A brief text explains international trade, then lists the top 11 leaders in global trade, along...
Curated OER
Exploring Geometric Figures
Tenth graders explore mathematics by participating in hands-on daily activities. Learners identify a list of different shapes and classify them by shape, size, sides and vertices. They utilize tangrams and geometric pieces to gain...
Curated OER
Composition in Journals
Carlos Fuentes’s The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait and Jaspre Bark’s Journal of Inventions: Leondardo da Vince serve as models for an assignment that asks class members to create a personal journal they will use...
Intel
What Does This Graph Tell You?
What can math say about natural phenomena? The fifth STEM lesson in this project-based learning series asks collaborative groups to choose a phenomenon of interest and design an experiment to simulate the phenomenon. After collecting...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 2
Why are Torrey pines only found in La Jolla, California and on Santa Rosa Island? Class members examine images of Torrey pines from these two locations, noting the similarities and differences, and then develop a demonstration model that...
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
Cornell University
Nano What?
The size of a nanoparticle is difficult for pupils to grasp. A hands-on experiment is designed to give your classes perspective. Learners analyze different sports drinks for the content of electrolytes as an introduction to nanoscale....