Looking for a highly functional tool to teach young chemists functional groups? Engage the class with a series of logic-based games. Users identify 12 different functional groups by name and formula to work their way through challenging...

Connect science, math, and art for a true interdisciplinary lesson! Learners explore simple machines in art. Through analysis with a physics app, they identify positions of kinetic and potential energy and make conclusions about work.

From helping refugees to negotiating peace treaties, the peacekeepers of the world keep busy! Introduce young activists to the many individuals and organizations throughout the world that work daily toward peace. 14th in a series of 15...

Get things cooking with the first lesson in this series on the science of food. Working in small groups, young scientists make and record observations about different mystery foods. These descriptions are then shared with the class and...

I get a charge out of this. In order to learn how a generator works, groups build and test one in this ninth lesson of the series. The generators are tested at low speed and high speed to determine the watt output and whether they have...

Time to switch up the seating arrangement in your class? Need to form random groups for an in-class activity or project? The object of this game involves class members switching seats precisely according to your directions and varying...

The challenge: determine whether a tank will float. A design activity has groups work as engineering teams in order to determine the stability of given tanks and liquid contents. The teams need to determine the equations to...

How do we know if the wind turbine at our school is impacting birds? Here, small groups work together and conduct field work in order to determine the impact of a human-made structure on birds. The groups also determine their searcher...

After reading about how wind turbines work to collect clean energy, groups brainstorm and design their own windmill. Within the provided financial and physical constraints, groups must build a working windmill using only the materials...

Much like the methods of group work, the writers of the Federalist Papers worked together to advocate for their viewpoints against the anti-federalists. The resource enables learners to break into small groups and conduct research before...

Working under specific constraints and with designated criteria, groups work together to create a product using an assembly line process. In addition, they work through the entire engineering design process with an excellent graphic to...

Providing clean water to a town is quite a feat... is your class up for the challenge? After a short reading about water towers, groups work together to design a working water delivery system. The water flow must be adjustable (able to...

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...

Can my windmill pick up a weight? Given the same set of materials, groups design and build the most efficient windmill. On the first day, groups concentrate on getting a windmill to spin, while on the second day, they modify their...

Long before modern labor unions, guilds worked to ensure that workers had a fair wage. But, in medieval Europe, they also cooperated with the government. Using a simulation and primary source analysis, young scholars become hatters in...

In collaborative groups, emerging engineers or environmental scientists plan and construct a water wheel or watermill that rotates for a total of three minutes. Everything you need to carry out this lesson is included: objectives,...

After reading about the history of tape dispensers, learners compare and contrast different dispenser designs. Next, teams work within budgetary and time constraints to design a better dispenser. When finished, each engineer reflects on...

Water is a powerful force; harness it through watermills. The task at hand is to create a simple watermill that functions in flowing water for at least three minutes. Scholars work together in teams to design and construct such a...

Get ready to apply yourself! Lesson four in a series of five college and career readiness lessons introduces the basic parts of a job application. Pupils discover the necessity for good references and create a master job application for...

The final performance task for the unit requires class members to utilize what they have learned to create a personal digital scene. Groups work together to develop a scene and then, using top-down design, break the scene into...

Capture the engagement of young mathematicians with this hands-on sorting activity. Given a bag of objects, students work independently sorting the items based on their physical attributes, counting to determine the size of each group....

Are the earth's oceans really just giant batteries, waiting for their energy to be harnessed? Middle school mechanical engineers will be shocked by the amazing amount of energy that forms around them after diving into part four of a...

Conflict is everywhere—but is it avoidable? The first activity in a series of 15 peacebuilding lessons examines the nature of conflict at home, school, and across the world. Learners develop a definition of conflict through group work...

What are the elements of a good social media post? The 13th activity in the 16-part Social Media Toolbox incorporates all of the typical components found in a Facebook or Twitter post. Scholars work together to create great posts based...