Curated OER
MATERIALS, Using What’s Local: Native Materials, Local Sources
Middle schoolers consider the development of different societies. In this environmental building lesson, students consider local resources and how societies choose to use them. Middle schoolers use their findings to design a 'green'...
Curated OER
Serial Forms/Material Difference
Students analyze pop art and discuss artists' choices for materials, line, color, and scale. In this art analysis lesson, students consider artists' choices and compare works. Students make a two or three dimensional work of art using...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Classroom Paper Recycling
After reading about the history and recycling of paper, creative crafters collaborate to think of a new process for making recycled paper. A complete teacher's guide and student worksheets are included. There is no written procedure for...
Curated OER
Biodegradable Plastics
Sixth graders explore the many uses of corn as a renewable source. In this biodegradable resource lesson plan, 6th graders investigate how corn is used in manufacturing and as a fuel. Students construct a piece of homemade plastic using...
Lincoln Public Schools
Cereal Box Project
Challenge your class with this fun and engaging engineering design project. The goal, to create a brand new cereal complete with a list of ingredients, a name and logo, and a box to hold it in. Starting with a survey to determine the...
Teach Engineering
Design Step 5: Construct a Prototype
Enough with the talking, let's build something! In the fifth step in the engineering design process, young engineers build a prototype to test their ideas. The lesson walks them through the process of evaluating it step-by-step....
Curated OER
Materials 2: Recycled Materials
Students are introduced to the idea that some materials can be recycled. They will investigate the types of materials that can be reused, as well as potential uses for each type of recyclable material.
Beyond Benign
Water Bottle Unit
How much plastic do manufacturers use to create water bottles each year? The class explores the number of water bottles used throughout the years to determine how many consumers will use in the future. Class members compare different...
Curated OER
Saving Humpty Dumpty;Recycling, Environmental Science, Math, Ecology, Athletic Shoes
Students describe how shoe design, manufacturing, retailing, consumer use, and disposal impact environments and societies. They discuss ways to reduce, reuse, or recycle resources in the life-cycle for a shoe product.
Curated OER
Modern Day Pyramids
Students investigate the ways in which ancient technologies - six types of simple machines and combinations - are used to construct modern buildings. As they work together to solve a design problem (designing and building a modern...
Curated OER
Cover Up: Tools for Integrating Math and Engineering
Blend art, adolescent snacking habits, and math to create new cereal boxes. Secondary learners review scale drawings. They use this information to construct cereal boxes to scale and will compare their creation to the original product to...
Curated OER
A More Perfect Product
Students participate in a discussion about the basics of house design including the influence of site, materials, function, form and style. They explore these concepts by creating a floor plan and conceptual drawing of a house.
Curated OER
How Shocking
Students describe the characteristics of polymers and rubbers and how they improve human lives. In this shock lesson students build a shock absorbing structure using different polymer materials.
Radford University
Build-a-Toy
Don't toy with using a fun lesson. Scholars design new toys and then create scale drawings. They determine the volume and surface area of the toys, and then research prices of raw materials to estimate the manufacturing costs.
Curated OER
Workshop: Health Challenge
High schoolers conduct Internet research in order to better understand the concepts of sustainable health design. In this design and architecture lesson, students gather data and creat a materials kit that responds to the challenges of...
Curated OER
My Own Backyard
Scholars create a drawing of their own backyards. They will use a visualization technique to sketch their own backyard onto construction paper using oil pastels. Guiding questions are given along with materials for the project....
Curated OER
Designing More Effective Packages
Students make an environmentally sound package. In this packaging lesson students examine various types of modern packaging. The problem of waste is discussed leading into a discussion of waste reduction. The students choose an item that...
Maker Media
Makerspace Playbook
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...
Curated OER
What Came From Where?
Pupils research patterns and networks of economic interdependence. They work cooperatively to create 3-dimensional representations of common objects and charts describing the objects' components and countries of origin. Students identify...
Curated OER
A Model of a Bacterial Plasmid
Young scholars construct a plsmid model with the materials provided and be able to use it to define certain terms and explain other practical applications of genetic engineering. This simulation allows the students to work through the...
Curated OER
Future Engineers: Tools for Success
Seventh graders create and engineer model transportation vehicles using crafting materials. They use technical drawing to develop their ideas and choose the appropriate tools and processes during the manufacturing of their designs. They...
Curated OER
Michigan-Made Products
Students conduct research of three different products that are made in Michigan. They determine how the product is made, manufactured, gathered, or found. They work with a partner to produce a multimedia presentation using their combined...
Curated OER
E-Cycling!
Eighth graders research how and why electronics are recycled. In this earth science lesson, 8th graders determine the types of materials electronic devices are made up of. They produce a creative ad to encourage people to recycle.
Curated OER
Site and Situation: Right Place at the Right Time
Students analyze geographic details. In this research skills lesson, students research maps as well as primary and secondary sources to analyze growth, population, and manufacturing in Altoona, Pennsylvania following World War II....