Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Machinery In Society

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore technology by completing a worksheet in class. In this common machinery lesson, students define the different designs that make simple machines work such as wheels, pulleys and gears. Students utilize verbs to describe...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Who's the Frog Jumping Champion?

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students use a simple machine (a lever) to launch a plastic frog. students determine who is able to make their frog "jump" the farthest and graph the results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Experiments with Levers

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students investigate levers. In this simple machine lesson, students study levers and  the mechanical advantage of using levers. They will collect data and illustrate their systems for eight different tests.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: Pulley'ing Your Own Weight

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students experiment with common objects such as spools, string and soap to determine how pulleys make it easier to move large objects. They look at the difference between fixed and movable pulleys. They examine the many uses engineers...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders discuss how people, society, and technology change over time through a unit of integrated lessons. In these changes in society lessons, 6th graders discuss the answers to many questions about how changes effect the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TRIANGULATEERS IN THE REAL WORLD

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students explore about triangles and the simple machines that are made from those triangles. They are able to identify the kinds of triangles in the machines, tell how the triangular shapes make the machines function, and build a simple...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simply Unique

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students identify, compare and contrast simple machines and their functions. They work together in groups to complete experiments using the simple machines. They write in their journals to reflect on the lesson.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mental Math

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students participate in an online computation game. In this computation lesson, students practice simple computations and use an internet site to review addition and subtraction facts.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

It's So Simple

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students use basic materials to create four simple machines. In this introduction to simple machines lesson, students are given four different scenarios that require a simple machine in order to solve. The students use devices such as a...
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Riding at a Constant Speed, Assessment Variation

For Teachers 5th - 7th Standards
Practice ratios and unit rates with tracking how long Lin took to ride her bike. Provided with different questions, your mathematicians can assemble their answers using a chart or setting up ratios. The activity is included in a set of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Simple Telegraph Machine

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students experiment and discuss circuits and how they work. In this science instructional activity, students construct a telegraph machine using cardboard, wires, battery, electric tape and masking tape. They investigate what happens as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Code Crackers Math Game

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers, through this math game, are provided with opportunities to work with math operations and simple algebraic equations. They create a spreadsheet-based "rule machine."
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Levers: Catapults

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Students construct a catapult that shoots a cotton ball at least two meters using Legos, rubber bands, and plastic spoons. They discuss how the catapult works, and identify any problems they had with their experiment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

TE Activity: Choosing a Pyramid Site

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students determine how engineers decide on choices for final designs and sites for construction. They look at a surveyor's report while they evaluate sites where a pyramid could be build. They consider the distance the pyramid would be...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Optical Illusion Machine

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Students explore optical illusions. Using Legos, they construct and motorize a machine that has an axle that's geared up and geared down, complete a worksheet, and answer discussion questions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Machines, Odd Machine

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students construct a device to 'launch' a marshmallow at the teacher and then discuss various forms of levers. They work in teams to design catapults and identify different kinds of levers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Applied Science-Science and Math Lab

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young scholars explore magnification. In this scientific observation skills lesson, students observe sea life items and draw pictures of what they observe. Young scholars predict which lens will have the strongest magnification when...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Smoses Toy Expo

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
Students research one of the simple machines listed in the lesson plan and review several simple machine websites to complete their research. Students use software and a watch a video to learn more about machines. Students create a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Measuring Work

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students explore what work is, measure work done in moving an object, and tell how energy is related to work in both machines and the human body. In this measuring work lesson plan, students walk up a flight of stairs, measure the height...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Inverse (Indirect) Machines

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students observe relationships between quantities. Students complete activities for three different classes of levers. In groups, students build each type of lever. Students identify levers in their daily surroundings. Students observe...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Designing a Playground!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students design their own playground equipment. In this design lesson, students take pictures of equipment they like and make a class pictograph of their favorite ones. They investigate the design, research equipment around the world,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Anti-Gravity Machine

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Students examine physics by completing a bicycle experiment in class. In this gravity lesson, students measure the characteristics of different bicycles and compare their different race times. Students utilize a shoebox,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Monkeying Around

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders study machines. They watch a video about and identify and chart machines they find at home and at school. They design and build simple and compound machines, create an advertisement for them and attempt to sell them at the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Time Travel, Black Holes, and Relativity

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students read the novel, The Time Machine, and compare H.G. Well's perceptions of the future with those presented in The Third Wave, by Alvin Toffler. They research current scientific and mathematical theories that relate to space and time.