Class members work in pairs to build a catapult to launch a grape a given distance. The catapult project, a compound machine, reinforces pupils' understanding of simple machines.

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!

Explore Apple's spaceship office building. Built in the shape of a circle, the office building offers a unique floor plan challenge. Young scholars use the dimensions of the building to estimate the square footage for each employee. 

Life as we know it would not be possible without electric transformers, so there are fewer more pertinent topics for your eager young engineers. An astounding amount of background information is provided to help you develop a lecture on...

How do rockets fly? Teams design, build, and launch a rocket made from a two-liter bottle to explore forces on a rocket such as Newton's Laws of Motion.  During the design phase, young engineers draw a diagram of their rocket and...

Davina Pardo's documentary Minka asks viewers to consider that value of preserving traditional dwellings and traditional building techniques by examining how American journalist John Roderick and Japanese architect Yoshihiro Takishita...

How do you create a residual plot? Work as a class and in small groups through the activity in order to learn how to build a residual plot. The activity builds upon previous learning on calculating residuals and serves as a...

Working in small groups and in pairs, classmates build an understanding of what types of relationships can be used to model individual scatter plots. The nonlinear scatter plots in this lesson on relationships between two numerical...

If we stack up all the cross sections of a figure, does it create the figure? Pupils make the connection between the complete set of cross sections and the solid. They then view videos in order to see how 3D printers use Cavalerie's...

Take a peep into optics. Pupils watch a video about a large Polaroid camera before building pinhole viewers. The scholars then create different types of viewers and compare them to determine which provides the best image.

When your parents say that your room's a pig sty, tell them about biomimicry. The sixth installment of a nine-part Life Science unit has scholars research the shelters used by animals in the natural world, like turtle shells. Using the...

When van Leeuwenhoek saw cells and single-celled organisms for the first time, he knew these small things were a big deal! Share his discoveries with young learners through a narrated video, model-building activity, and scale study....

When school and community leaders are at odds, what's a young person to do? Grouped pupils examine the details of a difficult situation during the 10th in a series of 12 leadership activities. Presented with a decline in community...

What is the biggest issue facing young people today? Class members consider the question—along with other provocative pieces from the New York Times—and then try to write their own arguments and back them up with evidence. Once complete,...

Anyone who has seen Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade will recognize the entrance to the Nabataean city of Petra. Young archaeologists don't need horses or camels to travel through the Sig and tour this fascinating city, however. With...

Dream big and build tall. Scholars build the tallest tower possible out of plastic or paper cups. They apply the engineering design process to refine their designs and see if they can make their towers even taller.

Make a Winogradsky Column to discover how microbes live within the digestive tract. First, participants take a tour of the stomach. Then, gather supplies and start building using a variety of materials. Over eight to 10 weeks,...

Scholars read a brief overview of what a terrarium is and how it creates the greenhouse effect, then click on a link to discover the materials and 10 steps they need to build their own.

With the use of a model rocket kit, aspiring aerospace engineers work cooperatively to construct and launch a rocket. A preparatory reading assignment is included, covering Newton's laws of motion and information about the first...

The basics of number theory and set notation are explained in a highly approachable way in a self-contained lesson and worksheet. Introducing the vocabulary and concepts from ground zero and building to more complex ideas of subsets...

Study heart health and math in one activity. After measuring their resting heart rates by finding the pulse in their wrists, learners build a stethoscope to listen to their heart rate, and note the differences between the two methods.

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...

Small groups use the engineering design process to build and test a vehicle capable of carrying 250 grams a distance of five meters. The design must allow for the storage of potential energy and turn it into motion,...

Using clocks as dining tables? Scholars estimate the number of people that can sit around the face of the clock on the Royal Liver Building in Liverpool. They use estimation to justify their responses.