NPR
Introduction to the Engineering Design Process
Step by step is always best. In groups, future engineers create the tallest possible tower with marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Along the way, they learn about the engineering design process.
NPR
Investigate the Plastic Problem
Plastics are forever. The second lesson plan in a 10-part unit has pupils research the effects of plastics on the environment. They present their findings by creating an infographic.
NPR
Define the Plastic Problem
Individuals identify a specific problem concerning plastics and write a problem statement, which describes the problem, explains why it's a problem, and identifies desired solutions.
NPR
Share and Reflect
Would you have done anything differently? Groups publish one-minute videos on their engineering solutions to the plastic problems. They self-reflect on their work throughout the unit.
NPR
Prototype the Solution
It's always nice to see what the solution looks like. Groups build a prototype of their solution to the plastics problem in the sixth installment of a 10-part unit. The prototypes can be either a visual prototype or a working prototype.
NPR
Brainstorm and Evaluate Solutions
May the best idea win. In groups, scholars brainstorm solutions to the problem statement developed in the previous instructional activity. The best idea moves forward to the prototype stage.
NPR
Identify Criteria and Constraints
What defines success? The fourth installment of a 10-part series focuses on the criteria for engineering design success in solving the plastics problem. Pupils also consider any constraints.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Spreadsheet Tutorial 1: Formulae, Functions, and Averages
Spread your knowledge of spreadsheets. The first of five tutorials in the Spreadsheet Data Analysis unit introduces the basics of spreadsheets. It shows future data analysts how to organize and format tables, and how to use functions to...
PBS
NOVA Cybersecurity Lab Lesson Plan
Don't be fooled by cyber scams! An informative instructional activity teaches techies about cybersecurity. They watch videos, play a game, and engage in discussion to improve their understanding of online safety.
Teaching Tolerance
The Privacy Paradox
What's more important: privacy or convenience? Scholars consider the question as they take a digital privacy quiz and read a transcript of an NPR podcast about the privacy paradox. As a culminating activity, pupils develop a list of five...
Curated OER
Introduction to AgriScience and Technology
This brief and simplistic slide show lists the needs of humans, our sources of food and fiber, wood products, and agricultural innovators. Since no teacher's notes are provided for the slides, the overall intent of the presentation is...
Curated OER
How Clean is the Water?
Learners read about and discuss water and how it is used as a resource and how engineers use technology to preserve it. In this water lesson plan, students look at a picture of water treatment and tell what is wrong with the picture.
Curated OER
Comparative Religions: Islam
Engage theologians through online text resources during this comparative religions activity. Designed to interact with the online Glencoe text World History, there are many free tools on this site that stand alone. Scholars read the...
Curated OER
Recipes for Foreign Foods
Upper graders choose a foreign country to research. They use the computer to locate three recipes from the country of their choice. Next, they link the information in each recipe to what they know about nutrition and food. Note: This...
Curated OER
How Photocells Work
Give small groups of physical scientists tokens that represent electrons in a photovoltaic cell. They play a dice game in which they move the tokens around, representing the flow of electrons through the p-n junction of a semiconductor...
Curated OER
A Day in the life of.....
Learners view a list of careers and choose one to research. They discuss each career, gather information, and list their resources, and they should compile. They write a flyer about their career and print it.
Curated OER
Irregular Past Simple
Learners practice, through repetition, the past tense forms of the irregular verbs teach, wear, win, and write. It is an interactive online resource, so have your elementary fast finishers in the computer lab work on it while you...
Curated OER
Wish + Simple Past
Everyone loves taking a trip to the computer lab! Bring your English language learners to this online resource to have them work with wish and the past simple tense. They read a few example sentences before jumping in! The first activity...
TryEngineering
Circuits and Boolean Expressions
Teach basic logic using Boolean operators. Young computer scientists learn about the operators NOT, AND, and OR, and how they can be expressed using Boolean notation, logic gates, or truth tables. Along the way, they learn about half...
University of Victoria
Grammar: Adjective Order 2
Bring your learners to the computer lab for this quick exercise placing adjectives in the correct order. There are six examples to work with, and learners must place each of the adjectives in the correct order. What makes this resource...
Curated OER
The Water Cycle - Main Components
Present the water cycle to your middle schoolers with this lesson plan. After an anticipatory set, they participate in a Q & A session about the terms associated with the water cycle: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, and...
Curated OER
Fix It
Word processing practice and vocabulary blend with proofreading in a multi-purpose lesson that makes excellent use of an hour in the computer lab. Learners edit the grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors in a given paragraph (not...
Curated OER
Creating an Author Brochure
Pupils, while in the computer lab, visit a variety of web sites and read about the life and work of Langston Hughes. They create an author's brochure on Mr. Hughes from the data they collect from the various web sites. Each student...
Curated OER
Data With Candy
Students, while utilizing the classroom and the computer lab with a bag of colored candy, gather and interpret data, calculate averages and draw conclusions and draw a bar graph. They estimate how many candies are in the bag, what...