Curated OER
Biotechnology
The metaphors used here to describe the "cut and paste" procedures for genetic engineering will really help your biologists in their understanding of restriction enzymes and DNA. The uses of genes that are isolated and incorporated into...
TerraCycle
What Can Nature Teach Us about Sustainable Design?
Talk about Velcro®, Gecko Tape, WhalePower turbine blades, and other innovations that mimic nature to inspire your STEM or engineering class. This set of worksheets gets them thinking about imitating nature in terms of sustainable...
Curated OER
The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM) Lesson
Introduce your class to one of the ways that technology is benefiting humanity. The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission involves the data collected by nine satellites from different countries with a united focus on studying world...
University of Wyoming
Free Fall…From SPACE!/Nanotechnology in the Classroom
Provide the details about Felix Baumgartner's sky jump from the far reaches of our atmosphere, 39,045 meters up! Then get your physics free fallers to evaluate the factors that played a role in his acceleration, the time to reach maximum...
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Marshmallow Challenge
Here is a lesson in collaboration cleverly disguised as an engineering design activity. There is no background material for you to teach here, just instructions about materials and rules for participating groups. Use this as an...
Nature
Non-Structural Hazards
Buildings often have decorative components and furnishings that can pose a hazard during an earthquake. Learners examine the classroom for such non-structural features. They consider fictional scenarios and discuss what actions would be...
Discovery of Sound in the Sea
How to Build a Hydrophone
The materials and procedures for building a hydrophone, an underwater sound collecting device, are provided in this resource. Have high school oceanographers construct the underwater microphone to pick up sound waves. Then take them out...
WK Kellogg Biological Station
N2O: It’s No Laughing Matter!
While the layout of the lesson is not very detailed and the link to the PowerPoint is no longer valid, there are some great exercises to examine the role of nitrous oxide in the environment. For middle level learners, the resource listed...
Curated OER
Lesson 2 - Design Process-Measuring Wind Speed
A terrific lesson focused on the design process. It begins with a presentation, "Design: Solve a Problem," which lists the steps of the process and then introduces the specific challenge: to build a device that measures wind speed....
Curated OER
Investigating Mitosis in Allium Root Tip Squash
Preparing the root tip samples is the most challenging part of the mitosis-viewing lab found here, but the directions help ensure you have everything you need. There is no worksheet included; however, there is a sample data table....
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
To Boldly Go, or Not
Here is a different way to combine social studies and science. Have your high schoolers read a passage about the 2004 vision for space exploration and then discuss the practicality, costs, and reasons for returning to the moon. Then, the...
eGFI
Fabricating Glass and Candy
What factors affect the creation of glass? Youngsters work with sugar crystals as a simulation of glass-making. First, they melt some crystals, then they add water and stirring action as a modifier, they melt sugar in water without...
Curated OER
Snack Attack - Food Packaging
Class members examine a variety of snack foods, noting the packaging that they come in. They work in groups to design a heat-proof and waterproof package that will safely transport a s'more snack. They test to see if it prevents the...
Curated OER
Wire Maze
Middle school electrical engineers design a maze out of wire and connect it in a circuit to a noise-making or lighting device. The idea is to string a paperclip along the wire without touching it along the way. The noise-maker or light...
Curated OER
Introduction to Plant Science
Although the formatting is less than perfect and some of the pictures are blurry, the information in this presentation on plants is pertinent. Viewers will be able to compare and contrast plants with animals. They will learn about...
Curated OER
Parts of the Plants that we Eat
First graders study plants and their parts to see what parts are edible. In this plant lesson students are assigned plant parts and they are to put them in the right category.
Curated OER
Biotechnology
A continuous cascade of information comes through this PowerPoint on biotechnology. The topic is defined, a history is presented, and basic genetic engineering techniques are explained. The topic is covered in an objective manner,...
Curated OER
Basic Parts of the Plant
Beginning botanists learn basic plant structure by viewing this presentation. It is somewhat lifeless because there are no photos, so you will want to display actual plants as you work through the slides. The information, however, is...
Curated OER
Splitting the Penstock
Students investigate the best way to calculate the measurements of an area. For this geometry lesson, students relate a large circle to a cylinder and its measurements. They use PVC pipes to gain hands on experience as they calculate the...
Curated OER
Broken Bones
After reading about biomedical engineering and properties of materials, collaborative groups design a cast for setting a broken bone. They test for stability and mass, and then communicate their invention by creating a poster. This...
eGFI
Activity: Paper Cup Challenge
Hold a competition in your science or engineering class to find out which group can design the most effective new style of paper cup from a single sheet of paper. Each group will be challenged by this activity and will have fun at the...
Curated OER
Solve a Transfer Challenge
Imagine that golf balls are radioactive and that they must be moved without touching or dropping them! This is what collaborative groups experience in this challenge. Each group is given a variety of materials with which to construct a...
Curated OER
The Kite
Historical facts and some diagrams about the structure of a kite are given in this PowerPoint. Interesting facts lead to the goal of individuals or groups designing and building their own kite. With this in mind, it might be useful to...
Curated OER
Study of Plants
This plants PowerPoint identifies and lists the main functions of the basic parts of a plant. Each slide displays 2-4 bullet points using concise language for efficient learning. After each plant part is described, the students play a...