Curated OER
History of Toys and Games
Students research history of popular toys to learn when those toys were first introduced. They use measurement skills to create an accurate timeline.
Curated OER
Buying and Selling: Getting Cherries into a Pie
Kids keep score as they take on the roles of buyers and sellers in an agribusiness introduction. They play the game for five rounds, each round is made different by having a new economic element added, a discussion follows. Everything...
Curated OER
Using Fairy Tales to Debate Ethics
Is trickery ever justified? Is it okay to steal from someone who has stolen from you? Puss, from Puss in Boots, and Jack, from Jack and the Beanstalk, might have some ideas about these ethical questions. After listening to a series of...
Curated OER
Pet Pellets
Students create and design advertising for a tempting new pet food! They create an imaginary pet food, analyze and identify types of propaganda and design packaging and advertising for the pet food.
Curated OER
Building for the Big One
Students build and test structures that can best withstand earthquakes. They create their structures from playdough, cornstarch, grape-nuts and popsicle sticks and place their structures on a "shake table."
Curated OER
Motion Commotion!
Students explore the drawings of Rube Goldberg to design and construct a simple machine. They discuss simple machines, and using various materials and toy parts, design and construct a "Rube Goldberg" style machine to ring a bell.
Curated OER
Freestanding Structures: A Tech Museum Floor Activity
Students attempt to design the tallest structure that they can with the given materials which are wooden dowels and rubber bands. They discuss the physics of their structure and how they would improve it the next time they built a...
Curated OER
Energy At Play
If you can find Tinker Toys™, then this may be a fun assignment for your physical science class. Using the construction set and a few other toys, they examine the forces involved when it they are being played with. For each, they...
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Fish Morphology
Life comes in all different shapes and sizes, and fish are no exception. Here, young scientists create fish prints as they learn how specific characteristics allow different species to survive in their particular habitats.
Tech Museum of Innovation
Balloon Astronaut
Design protection from high-speed particles. The STEM lesson plan highlights why astronauts need protection from space debris. Pupils use the design process to design, build, and test a spacesuit that will protect a balloon from a...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Energy at Play
Get the ball rolling and challenge your class to figure out how to make a ball move. The instruction segment is between two STEM activities devoted to doing just that. The first is simple and involves making a ball move from some force...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Tree House Escape
Use simple machines to escape from a tree house. Pupils learn about simple machines and how they are useful in everyday life in a STEM lesson. Groups then design a device to rescue a friend stuck in a tree house.
Curated OER
America's Heartland
Fifth graders investigate imports and exports to discover its importance to America as a world power. In this Imports and exports lesson, 5th graders discuss how climate and natural resources aid a country in becoming a world power....
Curated OER
King Cotton
Fifth graders explore the cotton plant. In this cotton lesson, 5th graders research the process of growing cotton. Students explore the economic and cultural differences in the states that grew cotton for trade and industry.
Curated OER
What's Bugging You?
Students examine the effects of pests on other organisms, crops, and the environment. they construct an insect observation chamber and discover how some insects can be pests in some situations and beneficial in others. They write "pest...
Curated OER
Diaper Inquiry
Fifth graders carefully examine and investigate the products contained in a diaper. They particularly analyze the crystal sodium polyacrylate, a product developed for use in astronaut diapers. They follow the scientific method, forming...
Curated OER
Cyber Currency, Currently
Students explore the value of currency and how to save and earn interest. In a key activity, kids even get to purchase items in their classroom's general store. It's a fun way to learn the importance of being financially literate!
Curated OER
Keystone Science School: Sustainable Automobiles
Students explore how to choose the correct car for them based on their needs.
Curated OER
Artist Mice Art Nice
Students help create "Art picture frames" that display their own artwork throughout the year in this exciting instructional activity for the pre-Kindergarten classroom. The "frames" are then decorated with small mouse cutouts and...
Curated OER
Sports Helmets and Impact Testing of Polymers
Students examine the importance of good quality safety gear. In this investigative instructional activity, students will tests various polymers, collect data, and analyze the data to determine which polymer is best for safety helmets....
Curated OER
Equivalent Decimals
Students develop strategies to find equivalent decimals. In this equivalent decimals lesson, students participate in a variety of decimal games to find equivalent decimals.
Curated OER
Recycling Who cares?
Learners participate in activities to understand the feelings of the community about recycling. In this recycling lesson, students look at opposing views on recycling.