Illustrative Mathematics
Sarah, the chimpanzee
Is Sarah, the chimpanzee, smart or just a lucky guesser? Here, learners set up a simulation and read a dotplot to find out the likelihood of getting 7 out of 8 questions correct. One suggested modification would be to have your class...
Cornell University
Non-Newtonian Fluids—How Slow Can You Go?
Children enjoy playing with silly putty, but it provides more than just fun. Young scientists make their own silly putty using different recipes. After a bit of fun, they test and graph the viscosity of each.
Intel
Plugging into the Sun
What's cooking? A sizzling STEM unit challenges scholars to build a solar cooker that can successfully cook an egg. The unit opens with a study of Earth's rotation, the sun's energy, and shadows. Pupils use a compass and thermometer to...
California Academy of Science
Optimal and Sustainable: Renewable Energy Revamp
More than 100 cities around the world have shifted from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Scholars investigate a city wanting to make this switch, but needs help determining how to make the shift. Groups consider all options,...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Exploring at the Nanoscale
Nano-nano! Nanotechnology can seem like it's from another planet! After learning about this tiny technology, collaborative groups experiment with how smaller particles affect chemical reactions. They do this by immersing a whole and a...
NOAA
What Little Herc Saw
See the underwater world through a different pair of eyes! Middle school marine biologists identify deep-sea organisms by examining images taken by an ROV from the Okeanos Explorer. After determining what creatures lie beneath the...
Texas State Energy Conservation Office
Investigation: Tour de Texas
Teams of Texas tourists gather into groups to analyze what they can do with $50 worth of an alternative fuel. They write checks, keep a balance sheet, and map out their sight-seeing route taking into consideration the location of...
US Department of Energy
Thermodynamics—Teacher Guide
I'm so cool! No, you're exothermic. This thermodynamics lab unit includes an introduction, teacher demonstrations, six labs that students rotate through each class day, homework assignments, application of knowledge, and...
Curated OER
Using Venn Diagrams
In this Venn Diagrams worksheet, students complete and draw 10 different Venn Diagrams to match each problem as described. First, they determine the number of students who scored above half on math or science. Then, students compare the...
Curated OER
Meteorological Predictions
Students make a link between prediction and hypothesis in math and science. Based on data collected over one week, students evaluate the predictions of local weather forecasters, compare the predicted outcomes to the actual weather...
Curated OER
How Does Your Plant Grow?
Students measure and record their height in centimeters on a graph. By integrating math and science, students collect data and apply graphing skills to the experiences they are having growing plants. Finally, students identify how to...
Curated OER
Keystone Science School: Sustainable Automobiles
Students explore how to choose the correct car for them based on their needs.
Curated OER
Math Medicine
Young scholars solve real-world problems related to medical careers. They use graphical representations as part of the problem-solving process and work with fractions, decimals, exponents, and metric measurement. A demonstration is...
Curated OER
Plants and Animals: Partners in Pollination
Students describe the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate, identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination, and create and draw their own "designer" flowers.
Curated OER
What's in a Willow?
Students study of nutritional value of edible native plants. discriminate between foods that have nutritional value and those that do not. They relate how food can affect how they think, feel, and perform.
Curated OER
Science: Motion Commotion
Young scholars examine Newton's three laws of motion to discover what causes it and how it changes. They conduct motion experiments by building catapults and constructing balloon rockets. Finally, they conduct peer studies correlating...
Curated OER
Four Estimating the Area of Small Objects Problems
In this estimating area worksheet, students work with their families to draw four small objects found around their house and estimate the area of each object.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Scale Models
With instructions to adapt the activities for any grade K-12, any teacher can incorporate the concept of scale into the classroom with a simple, yet effective lesson.
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Is Electronic Communication Helpful or Harmful?
Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...
Teach Engineering
How Big? Necessary Area and Volume for Shelter
Teams must determine the size of cavern needed to house the citizens of Alabraska to protect them from the asteroid impact. Using scaling properties, teams first determining the number of people that could sleep in a classroom and then...
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo History Museum: Curriculum Guide
Learn about the California Gold Rush from an institution that has been in place since the early days of the American West: Wells Fargo History Museum. From domain-specific vocabulary review to group research projects, an expansive packet...
Teach Engineering
A Good Foundation
It takes a strong foundation to build a house and a stronger one for a bridge. This resource presents the effects of geology and soil on bridge foundations. Working in groups, the class investigates the interaction of shallow and deep...
Education Development Center
Logic of Fractions
Before diving into operations with fractions, learners discover the foundation of fractions and how they interact with one another. Exactly as the title says, logic of fractions is the main goal of a resource that shows pupils how...
Teach Engineering
About Accuracy and Approximation
How accurate are robots? Groups draw lines by moving robots backwards and forwards by one rotation of the wheels. Using the appropriate formula, they determine the percent error in the length of the lines in relation to the calculated...