Curated OER
Chemical Engineer
Learners identify toxic household products. In this ecology lesson, students research on the health effects, rating and disposal of these products. They rank them based on the danger they pose.
NOAA
Importance of Deep-Sea Ecosystems – The Benthic Drugstore
You never know what you will find next in the deep sea ecosystem. So far, scientists have found items that work as anti-tumor agents, anti-inflammatory agents, agents that stop uncontrolled cell division, and much more. The lesson begins...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Analogous Models
What goes into a museum display? A secondary-level STEM project prompts groups to design a museum display for the Tech Museum of Innovation. They create an analogous, interactive model illustrating a science concept to complete the...
Beyond Benign
12 Principle Match Up
Can you find a match? Scholars review the 12 principles of green chemistry by playing a matching game. The second lesson plan of the series reinforces the principles from the first lesson plan. Individuals play the matching game and also...
Beyond Benign
Is It Easy Being Green Game Show
Is it possible to create an environmentally friendly shampoo? Learners accept this challenge in the fifth lesson plan in a green chemistry series of 24. The analysis of their shampoo ingredients must address pH, exothermic reactions, and...
DiscoverE
Clean It Up
Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink—until we clean it, of course! Scholars design a filtration device that removes pollutants from water. The goal is to have the water come out as clean as possible from the device. How...
Curated OER
Discovering How a Car Works
Learners explain the four stroke process in internal combustion engines. In this physics instructional activity, students role play this process and present their reenactment in class. They draw and label the diagram of an internal...
Curated OER
TE Lesson: How Clean is that Water?
Students examine the factors the affect water quality, and allow for animals and plants to live. They look at how engineers apply water quality information when making stream modifications in order to ensure drinking water quality. They...
Curated OER
Earth Rocks!
Students study the basic elements of the Earth's crust: rocks, soils and minerals. They categorize rocks, soils and minerals and how they are literally the foundation for our civilization. They also explore how engineers use rock soils...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Exploring at the Nanoscale
Nano-nano! Nanotechnology can seem like it's from another planet! After learning about this tiny technology, collaborative groups experiment with how smaller particles affect chemical reactions. They do this by immersing a whole and a...
Curated OER
What Is Energy? Short Demos
Young scholars engage in three short, hands-on, in-class demos which expand students' understand of energy. First, using peanuts and heat, young scholars see how the human body burns food to make energy. Then, they create paper snake...
Teach Engineering
The Amazing Aerogel
Introducing ... the aerogel. The first of a two-installment series teaches young engineers about the properties and uses of aerogels. A PowerPoint presentation provides information about this unique material to help solidify the concept.
Curated OER
ENGINEERING TOOTHPASTE
Students make a class list of household products and discuss how many of these products are made through chemistry. They guess the ingredients in the products and imagine how toothpaste might be made. They make toothpaste.
Teach Engineering
Density and Miscibility
The liquids did not mix — so what do density columns have to do with it? The seventh part in a series of nine provides the theoretical explanation of why density columns do not mix. The lesson covers the topics related to...
Teach Engineering
Photosynthesis—Life's Primary Energy Source
Wouldn't it be great if you could produce your own food? Scholars learn about the processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration in plants. They consider how to use photosynthesis as a model of an efficient system and how to apply...
Curated OER
Population Growth in Yeasts
Students design an investigation using yeast. For this environmental engineering lesson, students design an investigation to determine how environmental factors affect the growth of yeast. They will collect quantitative data and discuss...
Polar Trec
What Is My Footprint?
How do one's habits and lifestyle choices affect the environment? Through a short online survey, learners will calculate their own carbon footprints then determine how to reduce their impact on the environment through simple steps, such...
Curated OER
Fuel Mystery Dis-Solved
Students describe how temperature and surface area exposure affect the rate at which fuel is consumed. They explain why engineers want to know about the properties of a fuel when designing rockets. They create a bar graph of result data.
Curated OER
How Full is Full?
Students examine porosity and permeability and relate these concepts to groundwater flow. They use simple materials to conduct a porosity experiment and use the information to understand how environmental engineers decide on the...
Curated OER
All Steamed Up
Young scholars examine the energy conversions and simple machines are involved in the operation of a steam engine. They make a replica of a small steam engine.
Curated OER
Car Engines
Students create piston systems and explore the conversion of linear to rotary motion that propels a car. In this motion lesson, students build and test a model piston/crankshift system and discover why there is a maximum limit to how...
Curated OER
Connection to Engineering: Fractions of Crude Oil
In this crude oil learning exercise, students read about the fractions of crude oil and their demand. They answer questions about the data given.
Curated OER
Acid (and Base) Rainbows
Pupils are introduced to the differences between acids and bases and how to use indicators, such as pH paper and red cabbage juice, to distinguish between them. They make predictions that can be answered through scientific investigation,...
Curated OER
Sand Castles: Pre-engineering 101
Students examine how soil holds together and what the effect of particle size and water content is on soil. For this engineering lesson students complete a lab, record their observations and discuss what they learned.