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 instructional activity 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...

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

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...

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...

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...

Public transportation is an important aspect of any growing city. Collaborative groups work to redesign a system for a city in need of restructuring. Young scholars design a route, create a timetable, and incorporate a quality control...

"Clean the data!" "I did not know it was dirty." Introduce your class to the process of cleaning data so that it can analyze it. Groups work through a guide that demonstrates the common ways to filter and sort data. Pairs then...

What's fair is fair! Using the resource, scholars discuss the key differences between fair use and copyright. Next, in small groups, pupils create and present projects that demonstrate fair use of copyrighted material, such as a song,...

Discuss mechanical advantage and how the human body moves/works. Learners focus on bioengineering, working together to build a functioning mechanical arm. Additionally, they analyze an air muscle, discussing its appropriate use in...

We're all in this together! Show young scholars that peace is a process and having the support of like-minded people can make it happen. 13th in a series of 15 peace building activities, groups conduct research on a peace organization,...