Mascil Project
Parachute Food Drop
Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.
Teach Engineering
Fun with Air-Powered Pneumatics
How high did the ball go? Engineering teams build a working pneumatic system that launches a ball into the air. The teams vary the amount of pressure and determine the accompanying height of the ball. An extension of building a device to...
Teach Engineering
Club Function
Let's get the herd to follow the rules. The activity associated with the second lesson in the unit introduces the class to the definition of a function. Individuals must gather in groups of zebras and rhinos defined by the general...
Curated OER
Comparison of Snow Cover on Different Continents
Students use the Live Access Server (LAS) to form maps and a numerical text file of snow cover for each continent on a particular date. They analyze the data for each map and corresponding text file to determine an estimate of snow cover...
Curated OER
Introducing Ideas about Inheritance
Is it nature or nurture? In an easily adaptable kinesthetic activity to introduce genetics, learners group themselves based on a variety of categories. They will quickly find that some characteristics are easy to put in order, while...
Curated OER
Schoolyard Bird Project
Students observe and count bird sightings around their schoolyard throughout the school year.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Don't Crack Humpty
Young scholars perform mathematical calculations to design safety device or enclosure to protect an egg as it is rolled down a ramp at increasing slopes.
Curated OER
What's in Wetland Soil?
Students examine the organic and inorganic components of soil. In this environmental science lesson, students identify the factors that influence soil formation. They collect soil samples, conduct tests, and analyze the results.
Curated OER
Construction Technologies: Construct the Strongest Bridge
Middle schoolers investigate how engineers use different types of bridges for different places. In small groups they design and construct bridges for three different scenarios, and answer a series of investigating questions applied to...
Curated OER
Hopper Hunt: IPM Decision-making in Alfalfa
Students describe migrations and life cycle pattersn of a key alfalfa pest, the Porato Leafhopper. They define the Economic Inquiry Level and Economic Threshold. Students evaluate data in relation to profit as it applies to IPM. They...
Curated OER
What To Do After The Hands-Are-On
Middle schoolers perform various demonstrations for each of Newton's Laws, collect data, and write a conclusion for each.
Curated OER
Spaghetti Bridge
Pupils work together to build their own spaghetti bridge. They test the bridge to see how much weight it can hold before breaking. They discover how engineers use this type of information to design bridges.
Curated OER
Satellite Tracker
Students use satellite tracking software to monitor different satellites. They predict and graph the motion of the space station. They create a 3-D display of its path and share it with the class.
Curated OER
Hazard Mitigation: Bioterrorism
High schoolers discuss different ways to spread infectious diseases. In this bioterrorism lesson, students model the rate of smoke emission using CalRoad software. They analyze the effects of airborne release of biological...