How does electricity work? Budding scientists explore the concepts of electrical currents and open and closed circuits with class discussion and a hands-on activity using a battery to turn on a light bulb. Learners also make predictions...

Carbon dioxide is a very important gas; it is present in the air, used in cooking, and supports plant and animal life. Scholars investigate the properties of carbon dioxide with three different activities. They experience a color change,...

The Great Wall of China is a wonder of the world. Learners explore the history and construction of the incredible feat using both non-fiction and fictional works. The resource includes multi-day lesson plans that contains ideas for...

Boost observational skills with an inquiry-based activity that takes scholars on a virtual field trip. With help from webcams, learners observe animals in a zoo or aquarium. Observations go into a journal and a discussion is held to...

"Help Wanted: A Supreme Court Justice." What should be included in the ad? Learners ponder the question during a lively activity that asks them to examine the qualifications for various federal offices and then create job postings....

An ecosystem is really just the flow of energy through many different living organisms. A study of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book leads to an environmental science activity in which learners study how various factors can affect...

Have you ever noticed a news story revolves around an essential question? Scholars research methods of reporting historical events. Working in groups, they use an interactive module to gather information on a historical topic, uncovering...

How the Kansas-Nebraska Act created Bleeding Kansas is complicated—until scholars research and examine documents from the time. After completing activities that include mapping, photo, document analysis, and discussion, learners...

Ever wondered how many pieces of paper a binder clip can hold? Viewers of a short video are about to find out! Given measurement data for three different sized binder clips, learners must develop a method for figuring out how many pieces...

Climate change affects even the largest and intimidating of landforms—even Mount Everest! A resource helps teach learners the connection between global climate change and its effects on Earth. Activities include videos, class discussion,...

Americans may think of Mount Everest as a region dedicated to adventurous hikers, but many cultures have flourished there! Learners read informative books, watch videos, participate in classroom discussion, analyze folk tales, and...

How many animals can live in a climate as cold as Mount Everest's? Find out with a science activity all about biodiversity. Activities include research, presentations, group work, coloring maps, and a simulation of a food web.

Imagine being a writer, inventor, businessman, and the founding father of an entire nation! Pupils analyze the life and activities of Benjamin Franklin. Primary documents, videos, and paintings open up the world of Franklin to young...

Don't let your eyes play tricks on you ... use scale to keep your eyes in check! Young scholars observe images without scale and try to identify the structure. Then, they look at the same image with a scale bar and assess whether their...

Chart your way to an understanding of nanoscale. Using a Google map, learners estimate a radius around their location of 1,000 and 1,000,000 meters. Predicting what 1,000,000,000 meters would look like takes them off the charts!...

The incredibly shrinking meter—decimeters to centimeters, to millimeters, and now to nanometers! Learners may have a difficult time visualizing particles on a nanoscale. Help them see a little clearer using a well-designed lesson...

Will your next buoyancy lab rise to the occasion? Make a splash with action figure divers! Teams of young physicists explore the relationship between mass and buoyancy by adding weights or balloons to achieve a diver that neither sinks...

It's okay to play with your food—just this once! Scholars design and create meshes and chutes to sort pasta by size and shape. They test their designs and make improvements as necessary.

Set up a 50x50 square foot area in a space at school and choose three days to go outside and observe the birds seen in a 10 minute span. The activity has learners tapping into their observation skills and creates awareness of the birds...

What's so amazing about birds? Find out just how amazing birds are with a physics of animal behavior unit created by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Have learners explore and tap into their observational skills and notice how birds fly, what...

Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.

Up, up, and away! Take your classes on a physics adventure. Learners explore the concepts important for flight. They experiment with the Bernoulli Principle while learning the forces that act on airplanes in flight.

Make the most of project-based learning with Makerspace. A playbook shows instructors and other interested parties how to set up a Makerspace and Maker community to foster STEM projects. It gives ideas for startup activities and for...

Ever made solar s'mores? Or recreated the solar system using peanuts? Astronomers young and old investigate all things solar using a variety of activities. Explore how the sun works, types of light it emits, and methods of charting the...