Lesson Plan
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network

What’s the Smallest Thing You Know?

For Teachers K - 5th Standards
Elementary learners listen to a story, then sort objects from largest to smallest at six different stations around the classroom. Adaptable for a large range of age and ability groups. 
Activity
DiscoverE

Electromagnetic Fishing Pole

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Let's go fishing ... for paper clips! Individuals create a device that attracts paper clips. This device relies on an electromagnetism, where a flow of electricity in a loop of wire wrapped around a nail causes magnetism.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mathematics Module

For Teachers 9th
Delve into graphing! The concepts covered begin with basic graphing basic coordinates and algebraic expressions on coordinate planes, and build up to graphing linear inequalities and equations. Learners solve and simplify various...
Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Pilot a Balloon

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Balloons will go where you want them to. Young pilots first add paper clips to a balloon to make it neutrally buoyant. They then use cardboard to steer the balloon in different directions, taking air pressure into account.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Name Patterns

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Here is a fun, colorful, and engaging art project that is sure to get your kids excited! They make a piece of art using watercolor paints, and by making a design out of the letters of their first name. This would be a fantasti art...
Activity
Curated OER

How Gear Systems Work: A Research Project

For Teachers 4th
Students apply information regarding simple machines along with the math concept "ratios." The teacher introduces the concept that technology is the application of scientific knowledge and mathematics concepts to solve a problem. This is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Amazing Triangles

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Student scientists investigate triangle structures. In this building lesson plan, students explore how to design triangle braces in the construction of structures in order to build a stronger base.
Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Sun-Warmed Treats

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Treat your class to a fun activity, complete with treats. Groups create a solar oven from a pizza box. They then use it to heat up some food ... that's what an oven is for, after all!
Lesson Plan
Perkins School for the Blind

Familiar Sounds

For Teachers K - 6th
To foster concept development and auditory discrimination skills, learners with visual impairments listen to identify a variety of common sounds. The teacher makes recordings of various sounds, including those found in the home, at the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mythological Word Origins

For Teachers 9th - 10th
No wonder the ship was called the Titanic. An investigation of Norse, Roman, and Greek Mythology provides insight into mythological characters and corresponding words in the English language. A close look at roots, prefixes, and suffixes...
Lesson Plan
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Teach Engineering

Introduction to Water Chemistry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
What are the issues surrounding water quality? Viewers of this short presentation gain information about the importance of clean water, the lack of fresh water, water contamination, and ways that engineers treat water. 
Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Exploring Energy: What Is Energy?

For Teachers 5th - 6th
...Then the water heater exploded like a bomb. Using a video of an exploding water heater, the resource presents the definitions of energy, potential energy, and kinetic energy to be used in later lessons of the unit.
Activity
DiscoverE

Build a Bobsled Racer

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Host a design challenge of Olympic proportion! Junior engineers build their own bobsleds using simple materials. The activity focuses on kinetic and potential energy and how the center of mass affects motion on a downhill track....
Lesson Plan
US Department of Energy

Geothermal Energy

For Teachers 5th - 8th
With Earth Day quickly approaching, as well as many science fairs, why not challenge your class to investigate geothermal energy or other renewable energy resources? There are five driving questions explored in depth here, as well as...
Printables
We are Teachers

NGSS Explained

For Teachers K - 12th
Here is a very attractive and well-designed infographic explaining the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Lesson Plan
New York State Education Department

TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 13

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The six instructional shifts in this workshop definitely move math and science teachers' understanding of instruction. The workshop, 13th out of a series of 15, asks participants to examine sample tests and to look at how the six...
Lesson Plan
University of Minnesota

Mirroring Emotions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Do you ever give your class the "teacher look"? Without saying a word, they become silent and engaged (hopefully). How do they know what you're thinking? Explore the concept of nonverbal communication and how it relates to our...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design a Running Shoe for a Triathlete

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students develop a new triathlete shoe. They consider several elements of engineering design to develop concepts for a new shoe.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Engineering in Sports

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore physical education by completing a quiz in class. In this engineering lesson plan, students identify different ways engineering has made sports safer such as stronger padding and helmets, stronger equipment and smarter...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design and Construct a Road Sign Support

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students use simple materials to design, build and test a model of a free standing structure used to support overhead road signs.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aerodynamic Design

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students research aerodynamic design. In this aerodynamic design lesson, students investigate wind resistance on a car. Students explore the reasons necessary for aerodynamic design.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Strawkets and Control

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the effect that fins have on rocket flight. They construct two paper rockets that they can launch by blowing through a straw, one with fins and one with wings, and observe and record the results of the rocket flights.
Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Sticky Engineering Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Young scholars explore the properties of different adhesives. In this physics lesson plan, students construct a building structure and determine what glue to use in the process. They present their design in class.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Making Concrete and Safety Instructions

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Pupils demonstrate using tools correctly in order to make concrete. For this concrete lesson plan, students brainstorm on how to use waste to make concrete and take a safety exam.