Curated OER
Paper Structures
Students demonstrate that material strength varies with shape and arrangement.
Curated OER
Energy Defined
Fourth graders complete activities to study the sources of energy and forms. In this energy lesson, 4th graders discuss the origin of energy and define it. Students participate in several experiments to further study energy including a...
Curated OER
Blast's Cosmic Carnival
Students, after analyzing the history of a concentrator, model how a Genesis spacecraft concentrator works by playing a game. In groups of three or four, after being given materials to work with, are challenged to roll the rubber balls...
Curated OER
Learning About Our Five Senses
Young scholars study the sense of touch and various degrees of heat. They design a model that displays how the human hand reacts to heat using a touch sensor.
Curated OER
Can You Make A Penny Float?
Students explore the concept of density by trying to make a penny and other materials float.
Curated OER
Away You Go
Pupils build Lego cars which have two different types of tire surfaces. They roll them down ramps that have both rough and smooth surfaces to determine how friction affects the car as it rolls.
Curated OER
Parachute - Land and Weather
Learners use different parachute activities to study weather and land patterns and formations. Tornados and hurricanes can be discussed as students make large waves (move from very high to very low) that mimmick these two weather...
Curated OER
Seashore Limitations
Students demonstrate the movements and behaviors of creatures from different parts of the ocean.
Curated OER
Life of Thomas Edison
Students research the life of Thomas Edison. In this Thomas Edison lesson, students explore major life events of Thomas Edison. Students investigate the inventions of Thomas Edison. Students discover how various fields of study...
Curated OER
What's it Like Inside the Sun?
Students perform experiment in which they model convection as it occurs in our Sun. They also explain that convection acts where the effect of gravity and heat are present (low density fluids can rise and cool, and high density fluids...
NASA
Pop! Rockets
Off they go — launching rockets is fun. The lesson plan contains templates to build paper rockets that can be launched from a PVC pipe launcher. Individuals or groups build the rockets and determine the shapes for their fins. Included...
NASA
Launch Altitude Tracker
Using PVC pipe and aquarium tubing, build an altitude tracker. Pupils then use the altitude tracker, along with a tangent table, to calculate the altitude of a launched rocket using the included data collection sheet.
NASA
Rocket Wind Tunnel
Using a teacher-built wind tunnel constructed from a paper concrete tube form, a fan, and a balance, individuals determine the amount of drag their rocket design will experience in flight. Pupils make modifications to increase the...
NASA
Foam Rocket
When going for distance, does it make a difference at what angle you launch the rocket? Teams of three launch foam rockets, varying the launch angle and determining how far they flew. After conducting the series of flights three times,...
Curated OER
Fire Brigade
Pupils examine how a community works together to protect them from fire. They work together to design a functional tool that could be helpful in fighting fires. They share their tool with the class.
Curated OER
Principles of Flight: Flying Paper Airplanes
Students investigate ways to enhance an object's flying ability. In this model construction lesson, students construct two paper airplanes, one of which is twice as big as the first. Students compare and contrast the two...
Curated OER
Air and Water Pressure
Students examine buoyancy and fluid pressure. They conduct a series of fun experiments to discover the effects of pressure and explore how pressure differences can be used to float, lift, transport, or hold a material in place.
Curated OER
How Machines Help Us Stay Healthy
Students visit different departments at a local hospital to see how machines help peoples such as the CAT scan machine. They build a model of such a machine that shows how patients are moved in and out of the machine.
Curated OER
Aqua-Thrusters!
Students construct their own rocket-powered boat called an "aqua-thruster." These aqua-thrusters will be made from a film canister and will use carbon dioxide gas - produced from a chemical reaction between an antacid tablet and water -...
PBS
Invisible Force
Investigate invisible forces. Young engineers design a setup that changes the direction of a steel ball using a magnetic force. The purpose of the setup is to model the gravitational pull of spacecraft by planetary bodies.
Curated OER
Who Said Math Can't Be Fun?
With these innovative ideas, demonstrate to your class that math doesn't always have to be hard work.
Curated OER
Electrical motors
Students investigate and experiement with a 9-volt motor. They will use the connecting wire and battery pack to discover fans.
Curated OER
Sled Kite
Pupils make and fly a sled kite out of plastic garbage bags, dowel rods, and more. In this kite lesson plan, students plan the kite to have symmetry and make adjustments as they test it.
Curated OER
A Tour of the Solar System
Students construct a spacecraft out of Lego blocks and other materials. They work on their models in small groups while building. They become familar with the planets while working cooperatively.