Compound machines, nothing more than a combination of simple machines working together, are the focus of an activity that asks class members to use the provided information to take a look at the way innovators combine simple machines to...

Young engineers consider how to apply accelerometers and sensors to help prevent falls in elderly people. They consider forces of motion and gravity as part of the engineering design process.

Are you effectively integrating technology into your classroom activities? Based on the SAMR model, here is a rubric that will help you consider important standards by which you can measure your instructional practice, such...

Discover a world too small to see. In the lesson plan, young scientists learn about nanotechnology and brainstorm ideas for new applications of it. They perform an activity to determine how surface area changes when objects are made...

Space, the Final Frontier. The nine NASA-created challenges in this unit are designed to teach class members the engineering design process. Each challenge comes with teacher and student pages that can be used individually or as a...

Take two pills and call me in the morning. The first lesson in a short unit of four introduces class members to delivery methods of medicines. The instruction introduces the question of which delivery method is best to get you feeling...

This detailed presentation starts with a review of using key components to graph a line. It then quickly moves into new territory of taking these important parts and teasing them out of a word problem. Special care is...

How can you tell what someone is feeling when they aren't saying a word? Explore non-verbal communication with an activity based on Cynthia Breazeal's work with expressive robots. One learner puts a bag over his or her face and uses body...

Community service is a win-win! Scholars discover how to gain valuable career skills through helping others using a instructional activity about volunteer work. Second in a six-part career and college readiness series, the activities...

What would you think of an app that provides a creative introduction to an important 21st century skill, challenges learners at many levels, and is an addictively, fun game? Did we also mention it was free? We think you will find all...

Students explore and discuss genetics stories and answer questions about genetic outcomes of offspring. In this genetics lesson, students read genetics stories on a web site. Students use a chart to answer questions regarding the...

Introduced your class to the topic of free enterprise and its relationship to personal freedom. As a class, they brainstorm the ways in which what they do affects the free enterprise system and how technology can make the transition...

Fifth graders review information on Lewis and Clark by using a variety of resources. With partners, they travel between stations researching different information based on the expedition. They check each others work and share it with the...

Pupils receive an index card, and they write down jobs and hobbies that interest them. Then, they get together in groups and are assigned the task of researching the jobs and hobbies that are of the most interest to the entire group....

Examine numbers in scientific notation as a comparison of size. The 14th lesson in the series asks learners to rewrite numbers as the same power of 10 in scientific notation to make comparisons. Pupils also learn how to use a calculator...

Keep within a water budget. Learners find out that less than 2.5% of Earth's water is available to drink—and that there is a fixed amount of water. Scholars read an interesting article comparing the available water to a game of Monopoly...

Applying photography basics they learn for this project, first graders take pictures of an adult at work focusing on the tools used, the work site, and job responsibilities. After making a career book that includes photos and...

Diffusion rates change with differences in temperature. See it happen through a simulation that allows scholars to explore the rates of diffusion at five different temperatures. It also allows young scientists to trace the movement of a...

Almost every phone has GPS installed, but a large number of teens don't know how the technology works. An initial activity illustrates how GPS determines a location on Earth. Scholars then apply trilateration procedures to a...

Take a swing at the task. Using their knowledge of polygons and solids, scholars design one hole of a miniature golf course. They calculate areas and perimeters, determine the cost of building the holes, make scale drawings, and create...

Investigate the water cycle and how water moves from the land to the air and back to the land. Create a terrarium and observe the water cycle at work. Define weather terms including evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.

Explore the connection between fractions and rational expressions. Young scholars manipulate fractions with unlike denominators to find a total. Challenge questions allow them to check their work to ensure they are correct.

How do genetics gurus know so much about gene expression? See traits materialize before your very eyes using a presentation with embedded simulations. Science scholars develop an understanding of the techniques used to follow the work of...

This machines PowerPoint reviews effort and force in relation to work and informs students about different types of machines and the different ways forces are applied and how they work to increase efficiency.