The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are awash in plastic. The four lessons in the “Adrift in a Sea of Plastic” module challenge young environmentalists to design a solution to eliminating these plastic trash islands. After researching causes...

The 17 resources in NASA’s Rockets Educator Guide allow young scientists and engineers to engage in experiments as they examine images of more than 2,00 years of rockets. Scholars then read articles that provide an overview of the next...

Designed for high schoolers, the 11 lessons and activities in the “TeachEngineering: Next-Generation Surgical Tools in the Body” unit module prepare STEM teams to design prototypes of laparoscopic surgical robots. After an introduction...

Engineering design-based activities make learning science fun. Young engineers design dams, lifeguard chairs, musical instruments, candy bags, and much more. They also use measurement skills to solve the mystery of the missing pin. Each...

Young engineers design laparoscopic surgical tools in an 11-lesson unit aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. The first lesson introduces the class to the abdominopelvic cavity. Teams learn what it is like to perform...

Get young scientists energized about all the different energy sources with a five-lesson unit that combines research, direct observations, and hands-on investigation. To begin, scholars investigate a renewable or non-renewable energy...

The Understanding Science and Engineering Through Solar Power unit module teaches scholars how to conduct investigations and the steps for scientific inquiry and experimentation. To begin, young scientists conduct two probes to...

Seven activities make up the TeachEngineering: Earthquakes Living Lab Collection. Activities designed for grades K-8 include “Geology and the 1906 San Francisco Quake,” “Designing for Disaster,” and “The Theory of Plate Tectonics.”...

Class members use the online resources provided through the Earthquakes Living Lab to investigate why large earthquakes occur in Japan. Pairs work together to research tectonic plates and fault lines and determine whether other locations...

Using the Internet, pupils research what causes earthquakes, how scientists measure them, their locations, and their effects.

Pairs research current earthquakes to see if there are any patterns. They determine the mean, median, and mode of the earthquake data, along with the maximum and minimum. Using that information, they make earthquake predictions for a year.

Pairs use an online simulation to determine the epicenter and magnitude of an earthquake. Using actual data about the earthquake's maximum S wave amplitudes, they then determine the magnitude.

The Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Curriculum set contains five chapters, comprised of 16 lessons, activity sheets, videos, and other resources to help explain science concepts to young learners. In Chapter 1 - Matter is Made of Tiny...

Inquiry in Action: Fifth Grade Chapter 5 - Engineering Design is comprised of a single project-based assessment. The assessment helps highlight the importance of prior knowledge as individuals design a floatation device for a cell phone....

NASA and Design Squad Nation aim to inspire a new generation of engineers with five hands-on challenges designed for grades four to eight. Young engineers design a landing device that protects a hard-boiled egg, create robotic arms like...

As part of a STEM renewable energy series, middle schoolers design a standard solar heater. First, they create a simple solar heater to measure the temperature change in a vial of water, then calculate the heat energy transferred to the...

The five lessons in NASA’s On the Moon Educator Guide challenge young engineers to design and build an air-powered rocket, a shock-absorbing system to protect two marshmallow astronauts, and a rubber band-powered rover. In addition, they...

Pupils start a Solar Transportation unit by considering why it is difficult to phase out fossil fuels. Using provided data on the energy densities and efficiencies of different fuels, they calculate the number of miles a vehicle will...

A unit on solar energy begins with pupils researching vocabulary terms related to electric currents. They then use a multimeter to measure the voltage and current for a solar module before calculating power and efficiency. Fun, hands-on...

Chicago’s Museum of Science+Industry presents hands-on science activities designed to keep young brains engaged over the summer. The projects, which use readily available items, include engineering a skyscraper, a gravity sewer, and...

One lesson and five activities provide scholars with the background and skills they need to conduct air quality research projects on topics they choose. Class members are introduced to air quality science, data collection, analysis, and...

A series of lessons and activities show scholars how engineers use graphs to understand large and complex systems. The first lesson provides the beginnings of graph theory by introducing set theory, graphs, and degree distributions of a...

Introduce young engineers to the software development design process used in app building. After watching a video tutorial, groups are challenged to build an accelerometer app for an Android device and design an app utilizing the GPS...

Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was a way to capture the energy given off by a vehicle and transform it into kinetic energy to power the vehicle? That is the challenge young engineers face in an eight resource TeachEngineering: Hybrid...