Students investigate the concept of a polymer using an experimental design of protecting an egg in a bookbag. They test the properties of polymers and form an educated solution to the proposed problem. Then they describe the steps used...

Students test different designs of helicopters to determine what of the four designs will fall the slowest.  In this helicopter lesson plan students complete an activity and fill out their worksheet. 

Students participate in this continuation of the Design Your Space lesson. Using their completed classroom floor plans, students discuss the pros and cons of each floor plan and select the plan which has the best use of space and...

High schoolers design a magazine cover. They are told the size of the page 8.5" by 11." Students are told that the magazine does not have to be real, and it can be about any topic that they want. They make the magazine cover look...

Students explore the characteristics of sets and Venn Diagrams. Given data, students practice determining the placement of elements in a Venn Diagram. Students discuss the correspondence between data sets and their graphical...

Young scholars review number sets and complete a Venn Diagram for number sets. In this number sets lesson, students review integers, whole numbers, and elements. Young scholars use computers to create a Venn Diagram for number sets....

Students study about theatrical design by developing environments for improvised and scripted scenes. They develop focused ideas for an environment using visual elements.

Acquaint your class with line, color, shape, and texture through a study of artwork and an art activity. The resource includes images and information to share with your class before sending individuals off to sketch and paint...

This engineering activity gets youngsters working together to design and construct a bridge. Each bridge is tested in front of the class to discover how much weight it can hold before showing any change in form. The lesson plan does not...

Students design their own emblem. In this introduction instructional activity, students get to know one another by designing an emblem that combines symbols that represent themselves. They express themselves to their classmates. 

Your young architects use the Internet to research tall structures or sky scrapers to help in the design of their scale drawings. This is lesson one of three in which learners design, build, and test model skyscrapers for seismic safety....

Given a very realistic challenge, your young geometers design residential fish tanks in rectangular and triangular prism shapes. They compute the volume of water each will hold. They also determine the size of plastic covers for each...

You'll be surprized at how much engineering, design, and creativity can go into a toothpick and a marshmallow. Learners make toothpick sculptures where they construct three-dimentional models by sticking marshmallows and toothpicks...

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...

How do young people know the potential they possess? Middle schoolers explore their personal potential through two different activities and a class discussion. They examine where their aptitudes lie, and how they can use their gifts to...

Learning about literature can be so much fun; it can also be made more accessible through projects and dramatic play. As they explore theme, character, and setting, the class gets creative and makes a dramatic recreation of a classic...

Using this lesson on blogs, you can lead your class through the process of setting up a blog, writing a blog entry, editing their work, and more. There is a link to the blog site used, and attachments of blog entries.

This is an exceptional series that you can use in an environmental or engineering unit. There are four lessons: "Sustainable Transportation," "Designing for Safety," "Changing the Landscape," and "Engaging in Policy." Each lesson...

“All the world’s a stage…” What do Leonardo DiCaprio, Heath Ledger, and Kenneth Branagh have in common? They have all starred in modern adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. After viewing a series clips from modern Shakespeare videos,...

Ready, aim, fire! Launch to a new level of understanding as scholars build and test their own catapults. Learners explore lever design and how adjusting the fulcrum changes the outcome. 

Designing a travel brochure is a classic project that will help your class members develop a variety of skills, such as researching informational texts, designing creative visual products, and communicating what you have learned.

There's more to a quilt than just a pretty pattern—there's geometry! Explore angle classification using an artistic approach to show your class that quilt designs are really just intricate geometric patterns. Here, scholars create a...

Would astronauts be able to grow their food on the Moon? Teams research plant growth in order to design and build a growth chamber that will function on the lunar surface. They narrow down plant choices based upon their...

Young entomologists construct three types of insect traps—pitfall, pollinator, and panel—before setting their traps out and observing what they caught. They then observe what types of insects the different traps attract.