Step into a scientist's shoes to go online and discover the Florida Springs Expedition, and participate in two activities focusing on how humans impact the environment. The first activity asks scholars to summarize the six...

What kind of organisms are living in the stream? After an explanation on how to use a dichotomous key, groups of three to four use the keys to identify macroinvertebrates from a local freshwater stream. Using the the concept of...

Let your voices be heard! Pupils research local and national environmental concerns using the Internet. Class members determine an issue they deem important and draft a letter to a local politician expressing their...

Class members have an opportunity to experience how to use a public key to encrypt information and a private key to decrypt it. Groups create their own public key and encrypt information then develop private keys to decrypt this...

A digital flip. Introduce your classes to cryptographic protocols using and, or, and not gates. Groups create a complete circuit to convert a binary number into another one. This type of one-way function allows pupils to...

What is this? What is it for? How does it work? Challenge the class to think about to how to design a new chocolate factory for the Oompa-Loompas to make it easy to use. The activity is the first of a three-part series on...

How smart is that piece of paper? The activity introduces the idea of computer programming as a list of instructions written by computer programmers. Two individuals play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe in which one follows the commands...

How do computers store and send images? Here's an activity that explains one way a computer can compress image information. Pupils decode run-length coding to produce a black and white image. Pairs then work together to code and...

Let's listen to some codes. To understand how a modem sends binary numbers over a phone line, class member listen to the codes included in the provided mp3 files, translates the tones to binary numbers and then convert the...

Show your learners that the game of Telephone isn't the only way messages get mixed up. Pairs transform into the sender and receiver of a message sent in packets. At least one pupil is the messenger who either delivers, delays, or...

Color the town red. Demonstrate the concept of graph theory with a task that involves determining the least number of colors needed to color a map so that neighboring countries are not represented by the same color. Pupils...

As an introduction to using a network to determine the fewest number of nodes that meet a given condition, small groups work together to determine the fewest number of ice cream vans, and their locations, to be able to serve the people...

As an introduction to Steiner Trees, class members are challenged to find the shortest paths to connect multiple points. The teacher introduces the problem by showing how to connect three points. Groups then go outside and construct a...

Introduce your class to the concept of finite-state automata with an activity that asks individuals to try to map their way to Treasure Island by taking different routes though an island chain. Each island has two ship sailing...

Computers need precise directions to complete a task. Class members experience what it is like to program a computer with an activity that asks one pupil to describe an image while classmates follow the directions to duplicate the picture.

You've got to pump it up! Using the equations for projectile motion and Bernoulli's Principle, class members calculate the water pressure in a water gun. The pupils collect data on the number of pumps and distance traveled in order...

I bet I can cross the room without having the lights come on. Class members set up an experiment in which they try to determine what materials will mask motion detected by a sensor. Groups predict how materials will interact with...

Designing the right package — it's more than a pretty picture. Challenge small groups to design a food package. They must consider the type of food they are packaging and the package's ability to control the physical and...

As part of a study of voting rights in the US, class members examine Constitutional amendments connected with voting and the role of the Electoral College in the election process.

Dressing for success is not always about looking sharp. Sometimes it is about staying warm and dry. Present your class with an activity that challenges groups of pupils to design a layered material for blizzard conditions. The teams test...

Forget your local meteorologist — build your own barometer and keep track of the weather with an activity that provides directions to build a barometer out of a narrow necked bottle, a glass, and some water. Using their barometer,...

Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.

Design and build a rover ... then eat it? This activity has groups of two design and build Mars rovers. The teams determine what instruments they want to include with their rover and plan a budget. They calculate the cost of the body of...

Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...