Osteoporosis and family — notice the connection between the two. Pairs develop a brochure to educate the public about osteoporosis in the last portion of the six-part series. The teams draw on the information learned throughout the...

Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...

Class members use an air quality monitor to measure the amount of gas-phase pollutants emitted by different sources. Groups choose three different sources and make predictions about what the monitors will detect. Teams then expose...

Sometimes we all need a helping hand. Scholars get together to lend a hand in creating an assistive device that must be able to grab a hard-to-reach object. Now that's some help we could all use!

A lever comes in handy when scholars build a launcher for a ping-pong ball. They test the launcher and redesign it to send the ball higher or to accommodate a tennis ball. This is the third lesson in a five-part unit.

Every child's dream: stuffing as much candy into a bag as possible. Doing this, though, requires a nice sturdy bag. Scholars design the sturdiest bag they can and test the limits of those bag using a sweet treat!

Heat things up in your physical science class with this interactive lesson series on thermodynamics. Through a series of class demonstrations and experiments, young scientists learn how heat is transferred through conduction,...

Teams design and build a windmill, under budget, that can lift an object. The groups evaluate and reflect on their own design, then on those produced by other teams. The goal is to determine which design is the most...

Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink—until we clean it, of course! Scholars design a filtration device that removes pollutants from water. The goal is to have the water come out as clean as possible from the device. How...

It's time! The fourth lesson in a five-part series has teams of scholars build a circuit for an alarm. A switch lets them turn the alarm on and off and allows them to hide the alarm—just as long as they don't hide it in the classroom!

In the last portion of the six-part unit, teams perform an experiment with gold nanoparticles to determine which sport drink has the most electrolytes. The nanoparticles are used as chemical sensors and fluoresce in different wavelengths...

Solar energy is an amazing alternative ... but, not always particularly portable! Challenge young scientists to a folding solar panel build-off with an easy-to-execute activity. Scholars brainstorm around specific design needs, construct...

Meet me in the tunnels. Scholars choose a tunnel entrance and mark it on their side of the cardboard. They describe the location to their partners and see if they can guess each other's locations. Punching a hole through the cardboard...

There's a lot content packed into the four lessons of this physical science unit on density. From salad dressing to the water cycle and hot air balloons, these lessons engage students in hands-on activities that explore real-world...

Begin a unit on the heart, the parts and the function of the heart, and about heart disease with a resource that includes a lecture, a PowerPoint presentation, and research information.  The lesson is the first of a four-part series...

Assemble a great lesson on assembly lines. In the first installment of a nine-part technology/engineering series, future entrepreneurs learn about the manufacturing process, specifically about the assembly line and cycle time. The lesson...

Launch pupil interest in rockets. Scholars build rockets out of straws and balloons to learn about Newton's Third Law of Motion. Their task is to hit a target five feet away. It's not as easy as it seems!

You've probably heard of solar-powered cars, but what about wind-powered cars? Scholars build cars that can travel at least six feet. They can only use their breath to move the car—so, obviously, a sail might be a good feature for the...

If a ski lift had rockets, imagine how fast it would be! Scholars let their imaginations take flight as they build models for such a ski lift. Rather than using a rocket, though, they'll use a much safer balloon as the power source.

Whatever floats your boat—with some additional weight. The first activity in a five-part series challenges pupils to design a boat to hold pennies. Using the design process, learners design, build, and test their boats, making sure they...

Who said teaching a STEM lesson had to be challenging? Incorporate a career and technology-centered car build into your upcoming force lesson plan, and your class will be moving down the road in no time! Pupils practice...

Discover the power of wind energy. Learners design, build, and test wind blades in a hands-on experiment. They analyze the results to determine if they can make any improvements before gathering as a class to discuss their designs.

Shake up your lessons on earthquakes. A simple seismograph lets scholars record "earthquakes" in the classroom. These earthquakes occur when classmates drop balls from different heights. Young scientists measure these with seismographs...

Paper is a lot stronger than you think. Scholars create newspaper structures that can hold the weight of several books. For the purpose of this activity, the designs must be eight inches tall to be considered complete.