Teach Engineering
Building an Electromagnet
Your pupils can build their own electromagnet — awesome! The culminating activity in an eight-part series challenges groups to design and build their own electromagnet. The goal of the activity is to build a magnet capable of picking up...
Teach Engineering
Cell Membrane Structure and Function
Teach your class how to get out of a cell — or break in. The third installment in a seven-part series introduces the class to cell membranes and their functions. The lesson plan includes information to present to the class,...
Teach Engineering
Alloy Advantage
Mix it up by using an intriguing resource that teaches young metallurgists that alloys are a metal mixture. They learn about the advantages of using alloys over pure metals and investigate titanium alloys as an example to finish the...
Teach Engineering
Magical Motion
Make solutions to projectile motion problems magically appear using equations. Pupils watch a clip from a Harry Potter movie and find the length of time it takes for a remembrall to fall into Harry's hands. They use a projectile motion...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Bone Mineral Density
Bone up on bone density. The second installment of the seven-part series has pupils read articles on two different websites to learn about bone density and its measurement, as well as X-rays and other imaging tools. A quiz assesses their...
Teach Engineering
Maximum Mentos Fountain
A messy fountain is potentially an energy experiment in disguise. Groups investigate the variables in creating a fountain from soda and Mentos. The last activity in a six-part series on energy has the class observe the fountain in terms...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Ohm's Law 2
Students study Ohm's Law 2 after completing an activity about Ohm's Law 1. They determine how long it takes to charge a battery. They examine if it is better to use batteries in series or parallel circuits.
Curated OER
Bulbs & Batteries Side by Side
Learners build parallel circuits, exploring how they function and looking at their unique features. They describe how current changes when batteries are added in parallel or removed from a parallel arrangement, demonstrate the process of...
Curated OER
Traveling Sound
Learners explore how sound waves move through liquids, solids and gases in a series of simple sound energy experiments. They describe how sound needs molecules to move and that changing the medium that it travels through changes the...
Curated OER
Air and Water Pressure
Students examine buoyancy and fluid pressure. They conduct a series of fun experiments to discover the effects of pressure and explore how pressure differences can be used to float, lift, transport, or hold a material in place.
Curated OER
Planetary Landers
Students watch programs from a series titled "Planetary Landers". As a class, they view a poster of various vehicles that have made their way into space. In groups, they brainstorm the characteristics that should be included when...
Curated OER
Introduction to Graphical Representation of Data Sets in Connection with Nuclear Decay
Young scholars record data, make observations, and share in experimentation and discussion of numerical experiments.
Curated OER
When Ants Fly
Here is a great lesson on constructing line graphs. Learners identify common characteristics of birds, ants common needs of all living things. They also write a story from the perspective of an ant or a bird that has lost its home and...
Curated OER
Shapes and Tools
Young learners view different shapes drawn by the teacher on the board. The teacher identifies each shape by name and discusses the importance of knowing the difference between shapes when building something. The pupils complete the...
Curated OER
Energy Conservation
Students investigate energy conservation. In this energy conservation and analyzing data lesson plan, students identify and explain several energy sources and research renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Students use statistics...
NASA
Suit Yourself: Fitted for Space
If he keeps this up, will he have enough air? After watching a video about spacewalks, groups of four brainstorm aspects of spacesuit design and present it to the rest of the class. Groups create mathematical models of oxygen use for two...
NASA
Ascent: 50 Seconds to MECO
All systems go! With a video and a Google Earth tour as background, pairs investigate two graphs. The graphs display acceleration vs. time and velocity vs. time of a space shuttle launch. Using graphing calculators, the pairs take a...
NASA
Lost in Space: Bone Density
If you don't use it, you lose it. Groups work together to compare bone loss on Earth as opposed to bone loss in space. They determine the equations that model bone loss and make calculations to determine the amount of bone loss for...
NASA
Exercising in Space
Using the CEVIS space bike as a context, groups work together to calculate the settings required for astronauts to reach their necessary exercise. Pupils calculate the prescribed exercise settings and complete the last section, which can...
NASA
Newton’s Cool in the Pool
Pupils work together to investigate the cooling of NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. Using data collected as the pool cooled, groups determine the values needed in Newton's Law of Cooling equation to model the situation. They...
Texas Instruments
Endothermic and Exothermic Processes
Students investigate temperature using the TI. In this chemistry lesson, students analyze the change in temperature, as chemicals are dissolved in water. They analyze data collected using the CBL 2.
NASA
Communications and the Lunar Outpost
Can you hear me now? Groups use given information about communication on the moon to determine the maximum distance an astronaut can travel and stay in communication. Using the calculations, they determine what lunar features they can...
It's About Time
Coal and Your Community
When I was young, I was afraid of the dark. Now I am afraid of getting the electric bill. This fourth lesson in a series of eight focuses on coal mining, conservation, and energy efficiency. Scholars start by taking data from a table and...