Curated OER
Paper Packaging Design
Young scholars create packages with a maximum capacity. In this geometry instructional activity ,students estimate using whole numbers, decimals and fractions. They calculate length, weight and mass of packaging.
DiscoverE
Hold Your Water
Let's hope there are no leaks. Pupils work together in groups to build a device that will keep as much water as possible in a cup. After being dropped from a height of seven feet! Time to haul out the ladder.
LABScI
Catapult: Flight of the Marshmallows
Watch your marshmallows fly. The engaging STEM activity has groups create a catapult to launch marshmallows. After testing their prototypes, they consider improvements and redesign their catapults.
Teach Engineering
Considering Trade-Offs and Maximizing Efficiency in a Fast Food Restaurant
Make fast food restaurants even faster. Groups consider trade-offs when maximizing efficiency in fast food restaurants. Restructuring schedules and floor plans, as well reassigning job duties, all fall under this directive.
DiscoverE
Build a Bridge
Cost overruns are unacceptable—in the real world and in an engaging activity. Groups of pupils get together to build a bridge out of straws, paper cups, and tape. They keep track of costs ($1,000 for each material) and must stay within a...
DiscoverE
Touch Down
Protect the marshmallows! Groups create contraptions that will keep marshmallows in a cup, even after dropping them from a certain height. This is a fun way to model the shock-absorbing capabilities of spacecraft.
Cornell University
Casting
Don't cast a great hands-on resource aside! Scholars learn about the process of casting by actually trying out an example. Plaster of Paris and cookie cutter molds help them complete the activity.
DiscoverE
Spaceship to Mars
Feel like a rocket scientist for the day. Using only paper and tape, scholars create a framework for a spaceship to Mars. Each sheet of paper costs $10 million and each piece of tape costs $100,000. Make sure you stay within budget!
DiscoverE
Lego Structures
Let your class become master builders. Scholars use Legos® or K'nex® pieces to create a structure that looks like an actual building in existence. The time limit is 12 minutes, so you better start building!
DiscoverE
Water Pollution Cleanup
How do scientists determine the best method for removing pollutants from our water sources? Environmental scholars experiment with pollution clean-up options to discover which are the most cost-effective, fastest, and most thorough....
Odell Education
Reading Closely for Textual Details: Grade 6
Close reading doesn't mean to literally read text close to your face, but rather to pay attention to particular details in order to develop a deep and purposeful understanding of text. The first part of a five-part resource provides an...
Curated OER
Rocket Launch
Students consider constraints which contribute to the design of a model rocket. They begin to analyze a model rocket's design and flight. They must be very specific in their thoughts and discussions.
Curated OER
Snail Car
Students design and create robotic cars using Legos and the Robolab program. They hold a "snail race" where the slowest car that can be determined to be actually moving is the winner.
Curated OER
Inventions: The Impact
Students understand that inventions fulfill a need. In this inventions lesson, students create simple designs of inventions that fill a need and understand the value of how inventions help society.
Curated OER
The Solar System: Go Green with the Sun!
Third graders learn how to use solar power. For this sun, technology and energy lesson, 3rd graders learn how the solar power from the sun can give off energy, learn about solar panels, discuss their uses and benefits, and design a...
Curated OER
Bombs Away!
Students design and build a device to protect and accurately deliver a dropped egg. They review and study a number of vocabulary words that are associated with this lesson. They work in a small group in order to develop a successful...
Curated OER
Energetic Musical Instruments
Students apply the principles and concepts associated with energy and the transfer of energy in an engineering context through the designing and making of a musical instrument. After the accomplishment of the design, students must...
Curated OER
Manufacturing Technologies: Making a Picture Frame
Young scholars use cereal boxes, paint, buttons and glue to design and make a frame for a photograph. They consider the different processes involved in making the frame and discuss how their observations apply to manufacturing systems...
Curated OER
Building an Underwater Habitat
Students investigate underwater habitats. In this underwater habitat lesson, students study Aquarius and design their own underwater habitat that can sustain life. Students work in groups and present their habitats to the class. Students...
Curated OER
Making Decisions: Packaging and the Environment
Students work in small groups to redesign the packaging of several common items. They attempt to reach the goal of 25% reduction in packaging materials currently used and explore the impact of various materials and designs in landfills...
Curated OER
Paper Packaging Design
Students discuss the relationship between technology and manufacturing. They then use their ideas to construct a model of a paper board carton package. Next they view a PowerPoint presentation to learn about the history of packaging...
Illustrative Mathematics
Satellite
Learners practice relating rules of trigonometry and properties of circles. With a few simplifying assumptions such as a perfectly round earth, young mathematicians calculate the lengths of various paths between satellite and stations....
Concord Consortium
School Bus Routes
Plan the way to school. Given a map of a school district, class members portray a transportation consultant hired to develop a bus transportation plan that will pick up the eligible riders and get them to school. The plan must contain...
Curated OER
Pride and Prejudice: Problematic Situation
What would you do if your sister ran off with a man whom you didn't trust? Explore a scenario based on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Once kids work though the problem, they read the appropriate chapters from the book and write a...