Students build a tower out of straws. In this engineering lesson, students build a tower of straws that must be at least 58 cm tall. The goal is to be the group whose tower can support the most pennies. This lesson gives students the...

Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...

Who doesn't like building blocks? In the task, pupils use a given diagram of a tower to determine the number of needed blocks. Using this information, pupils then develop a function rule relating the height of the tower to the number of...

Pour a solid foundation of engineering into the minds of future engineers. Scholars take part in three activities to learn about civil engineering. They build a model of a cable-stayed bridge, conduct an experiment to see the effects of...

"By the hair on your chinny-chin-chin, I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in," says the big, bad wolf! Engineering hopefuls are challenged to design and construct a hurricane-proof building from simple office and craft...

Sometimes engineering problems that seem easy prove to be more challenging than imagined. Present your class with the challenge to build a functional display tower to support a statue using only the supplies available in class while...

Large or small, bridges are architectural wonders! Construct a large-scale cable-stayed bridge during a whole class project. Scholars work in groups to erect the towers, build the roadway, and secure the cables of their very own bridges....

Your class will be blown away when they build their own city tower structure! Engineering scholars partner up to plan, build, and test their own paper towers. As they build, they gain valuable design skills, learn about wind tunnel...

Students, who are talented and gifted, create tower structure according to the given specifications that is able to support a tennis ball for 75 seconds but costs the least to build. They each design a tower in their journal but work in...

A fun and challenging activity for nearly any age group, partners must work together to build the tallest structure possible using paper clips, straws, and pipe cleaners. In addition to being tall, the structure must also be able to...

Scholars view the film Reach for the Skies to learn about the Shangai Tower. Following a discussion and observation of premade shapes, pairs design and construct a tower using uncooked pasta, straws, newspaper, tape, and marshmallows....

A little wind shouldn't hurt a building. Given three sheets of paper and six feet of tape, scholars create a structure that can withstand wind and hold up a weight. They conduct tests using a fan and decide on any improvements to make...

Read all about it! Challenge your class to build taller and stronger. Newspapers provide the means to build towers in a simple activity. Scholars try to build as tall a tower as possible with just two sheets of newspaper.

Looking for an engineering project that will tower above the rest? Try a design experiment that has built-in fun! Groups examine a variety of skyscraper designs, then compete to create their own slender towers. The teacher's guide is...

Shore up engineering knowledge with some building activities. Scholars design a foam beam, create a structure from playing cards, and construct a paper tower that won't topple over in the wind. Along the way, they learn about engineering...

How tall can your tower get? Implement shapes, building strategies, teamwork, and prediction in this interactive tower activity. Learners discuss past experiences with stacking materials, recalling ways they kept it from falling over....

Your algebra learners build a quadratic function in this task of counting the blocks used to build objects. The arithmetic sequence that shows up brings up a shortcut to the long addition using the Gauss Method. Eventually, learners...

Providing clean water to a town is quite a feat... is your class up for the challenge? After a short reading about water towers, groups work together to design a working water delivery system. The water flow must be adjustable (able to...

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.

Early learners explore shapes using colored blocks. They first get some hands-on time with the blocks and then look at beginning math concepts regarding spatial relationships. They work with a partner to build a 6-8 block tower...

A well-laid-out lesson plan, this can be used in an engineering, STEM, or physical science course. Laboratory groups design a structure using pasta and marshmallows, measure its height and weight, and then discover the load that it can...

A lesson on architecture will help young artists consider perspective. Your class will use water colors to paint towers and turrets. You can connect this art lesson to famous buildings like the Taj Majal in India, Saint Basil's Cathedral...

Small groups work together to create a tower out of 15 pipe cleaners under a set of imposed limitations. First, restrict team members to use only one arm, and then remove the use of spoken language. There is also a time limit. The...

Nineteen cards offer an assortment of St. Patrick's Day-themed STEM activities. Scholars choose from a variety of cards to take part in activities such as building coin towers, growing green carnations, tying a celtic knot, and more!...