Imagine a cross-curricular project that not only rewards learners for examining the textbooks used in their other classes but builds literacy skills as well! Groups compare the formats and writing style in their various textbooks. Teams...

"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...

Who knew that paper is an amazing building material? Scholars learn about the properties of planar materials, such as paper, as well as their structural capabilities in the sixth lesson a series of 11 on architecture. Working in groups,...

Learning to support your opinions, debate, build arguments, and effectively respect another's point of view are vital skills. Learners work through a series of topics to practice discussion engagement and verbal communication.

Is your building a smart building? Pupils learn what makes a building smart and about the internet of things. After viewing several videos on the topic, they conduct an activity collecting data from sensors and brainstorm ways to improve...

Using ichat or Edmodo 4th -6th graders participate in an inter-school literature circle. Students from two different schools pair up online through ichat and use a blog to conduct a book circle. This lesson is wonderful; it fully...

A fabulous language arts lesson has readers focus on the vocabulary in the key words, expand and build new vocabulary, and practice three grammar concepts. They recognize key words as they relate to communicating at work. Pupils build...

Students complete conflict resolution skills training as a part of creating a caring school community. In this conflict resolution lesson, students work with a group of peer student leaders to resolve conflicts. Students visit freshman...

Illustrate the importance of specific details and clear directions. Sitting back-to-back, partners take turns building a Lego structure and giving directions to their partners to create an identical structure. The subsequent discussion...

Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...

Young scholars, in groups, develop a new sports team, design a multi-use stadium for the team, and promote a special event at the stadium.

After reading about radio transmission, application, and the difference between AM and FM, small teams of engineers use a kit to construct an FM radio and then send and receive broadcasts. This is an ideal activity for middle school STEM...

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...

Scholars learn effective communication and problem-solving skills with a fun team-building exercise. Next, they work together to build a structure using candy and uncooked spaghetti. Finally, they discuss what they learned about how a...

Design your dream classroom. The lesson plan contains an exercise to have teams create a scale drawing of their dream classroom. Pairs take the measurements of their classroom and furniture and create a scale factor for them. To finish...

Let your creativity run wild. Scholars build a sculpture out of basic materials. These sculptures must be able to move in the wind (from an electric fan). However, they must also withstand the wind enough to not fall over—it's quite the...

Launch a discussion of the creative process with a short video that features the daily ritual of Slobodan Dan Paich, a San Francisco artist. Slobodan models his approach to tea painting and shares his reflections on the...

Researchers use scientific data to understand what is inside each of the planets. The first in a series of six, this lesson builds off of that concept by having pupils use a data table to create their own scale models of the interiors of...

If you have solar car kits for your junior high schoolers, they can experiment with photovoltaic cell angle, light intensity, and aerodynamic design to discover what makes their car move more quickly. This is a classic activity to use...

Build a solid understanding of trigonometric transformations through exploration. Learners work in teams to analyze the effects of different algebraic components on the graph of a sine function. 

Collect clues and unwrap a mystery in an intriguing study about air pollution and urban forests. Teams share information to explore abiotic interactions and forest health. Scholars create a concept map using newly acquired knowledge and...

Building on prior knowledge of the pervious activity in the series, pupils explain the previous activity to each other. Then they write a simple guide for a young child to read on the same topic. 

Give the class a leg up in their understanding of engineering. A STEM activity has learners design a prosthetic leg that can kick a ball. They build a prototype of the prosthetic, keeping track of the design costs associated with their...

Students practice their spelling words. In this spelling skills lesson, students play a game that requires them to race to the front of the classroom to spell their spelling words before the other team does.