Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Design Step 3: Brainstorm Possible Solutions

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Brainstorming is a team creativity activity that helps generate a large number of potential solutions to a problem. In this activity, students participate in a group brainstorming activity to generate possible solutions to their...
Activity
Other

Greg Freeman: Brainstorming Web

For Students 9th - 10th
Greg Freeman gives an example and explanation of the graphic diagram called "brainstorming web." Includes suggestions for effective use, working strategies, and useful links.
Website
Other

Reading Quest: Making Sense of Social Studies

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Teaching students to read well in areas other than language arts requires teaching and reinforcing the kinds of reading strategies taught here. There are 27 strategies, ranging from brainstorming to word mapping. The site includes PDF...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Keepers of the Gate Journal and Brainstorm

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students journal their thoughts and responses to the questions associated with the grand challenge question presented in the associated lesson. For the Generate Ideas" step, they answer the questions: "What are your initial ideas about...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Time for Design

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students are introduced to the engineering design process, focusing on the concept of brainstorming design alternatives. They learn that engineering is about designing creative ways to improve existing artifacts, technologies or...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Future Flights!

For Teachers 5th - 7th
This lesson is an exciting conclusion to the airplanes unit that encourages young scholars to think creatively. After a review of the concepts learned, students will design their own flying machine based on their knowledge of the forces...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Surgical Device Engineering

For Teachers 6th - 9th
This unit focuses on teaching students about the many aspects of biomedical engineering (BME). Students will see that it is a broad field that relies on concepts from each of the other disciplines of engineering. They will also begin to...
Lesson Plan
BioEd Online

Bio Ed Online: Design and Engineering Process

For Teachers K - 1st
In this series of lessons students employ an engineer's approach to solve problems and conduct a variety of hands-on activities. They use this strategy to identify the problem, brainstorm a solution, design a plan, build an object and...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: An Implementation of Steganography

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students apply the design process to the problem of hiding a message in a digital image using steganographic methods, a PictureEdit Java class, and API (provided as an attachment). They identify the problems and limitations associated...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Creative Engineering Design

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students are introduced to the world of creative engineering product design. Through six activities, teams work through the steps of the engineering design process (or loop) by completing an actual design challenge presented in six...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Aging Heart Valves

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this unit, students learn about the form and function of the human heart through lecture, research and dissection. Following the steps of the Legacy Cycle, students brainstorm, research, design and present viable solutions to various...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Teaching the Engineering Design Process

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students follow the steps of the engineering design process (EDP) while learning about assistive devices and biomedical engineering. They first go through a design-build-test activity to learn the steps of the cyclical engineering design...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: All Caught Up: Bycatching and Design

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Bycatch, the unintended capture of animals in commercial fishing gear, is one of the hottest topics in marine conservation today. About 25% of the entire global catch is bycatch. This surprisingly high level of bycatch is responsible for...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: A Simple Solution for the Circus

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students are challenged to design a contraption using simple machines to move a circus elephant into a rail car. After students consider their audience and constraints, they work in groups to brainstorm ideas and select...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Problem Solve Your School

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students apply what they have learned about the engineering design process to a real-life problem that affects them and/or their school. They chose a problem as a group, and then follow the engineering design process to come up with and...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Hot Problem Solving

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Student teams follow the steps of the engineering design process to meet the challenge of getting their entire class from one location on the playground to the sidewalk without touching the ground between. The class develops a well...
Lesson Plan
Council for Economic Education

Econ Ed Link: Inventors and Innovators Improve on the Original

For Teachers 6th - 8th
This lesson plan focuses on discussion of inventions, brainstorming new products or improvements, and identifying the protection, production, and marketing processes.
Article
Other

Wes Tech Vision: Inspiration Software

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This article explains why Inspiration is a must for your classroom. The author states that Inspiration is "Available to help learners of all ages bridge the gap between visual and textual literacy, and aid in concept development in...
Lesson Plan
Council for Economic Education

Econ Ed Link: Lessons: Community Helpers Are at Your Service

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Lesson that introduces students to the people who provide services to the community. Students understand the difference between goods and services, and brainstorm the people who provide services in their community. Includes links to...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Waves: The Three Color Mystery

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students are presented with a challenge question concerning color blindness and asked to use engineering principles to design devices to help people who are color blind. Using the legacy cycle as a model, this unit is comprised of five...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Environment

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Through 10 lessons and more than 20 hands-on activities, students are introduced to the concept of an environment and the many interactions within it. As they learn about natural and human-made environments, as well as renewable and...
Unit Plan
McGraw Hill

Glencoe Literature Library: "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" Study Guide [Pdf]

For Students 5th - 8th
A great reading guide for "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare. Provides plenty of pre-reading material, including an author biography, an introductory article, activities, and vocabulary, as well as brainstorming and...
Unit Plan
McGraw Hill

Glencoe Literature Library: "Julie of the Wolves" Study Guide [Pdf]

For Students 4th - 7th
A great reading guide for "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George. Provides plenty of pre-reading material, including an author biography, an introductory article, activities, and vocabulary, as well as brainstorming and writing...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Citizen Science With Zooniverse

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn that ordinary citizens, including students like themselves, can make meaningful contributions to science through the concept of citizen science. Student groups act as engineering teams to brainstorm projects ideas for...