Curated OER
Building A Sturdy Car
Students build a sturdy Lego car using a motor and a pulley. They determine how sturdy the car is by dropping it from the height of the teacher's knee.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Ed Online: What Do Inquiry Based Lesson Plans Look Like?
Inquiry-based lesson plans are usually referred to as "facilitation plans," to help teachers remember their role as facilitator of learning, rather than fount of all wisdom. The notion also helps teachers structure lessons more loosely...
Other
Duke: Center for Inquiry Based Learning
Duke University has established the Center for Inquiry-Based Learning. It serves to enhance math and science lessons. Click on Resources for good examples of Inquiry-based lesson plans.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Science Is a Wonderland
This is an inquiry lesson plan to teach students critical thinking skills. The student will learn through discovery what inquiry skills are and how they are used. They will learn how scientists use these skills in the scientific method...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Math Is Functional
This lesson is a technology-based activity in which students extend graphing of linear functions to the use of spreadsheet software. After students have become proficient in constructing a table of values, students are able to...
South Carolina Educational Television
South Carolina Etv Commission: Nasa Connect
An inquiry-based award-winning series of instructional programs which establish a connection between math, science, and technology concepts. Each episode of the series includes a 30-minute broadcast, a companion lesson guide, and an...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges
Curiosity Machine provides a free, high-interest STEM lessons for students. In this lesson, students will construct a stegosaurus tail that is capable of breaking through a piece of paper. Site includes process and tips to solve design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Signal Horn
Build a signal horn to make low-frequency sounds that can be heard from far away in this STEM lesson. Use this interactive site to document your design process. Included on the site is a video explaining a possible solution to the problem.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Bubble Switch
Curiosity Machine provides a free, high-interest STEM lessons for students. This challenge asks students to create a bubble maze where bubbles move through several on and off switches. This site includes a place for students to document...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Wind Powered Water Pump
With this design challenge, students can build a wind-powered turbine that can pump water up from the ground. This site contains tips to complete the design challenge as well as a place for students to document their engineering design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Buoyant Catamaran
Could you use plastic bottles, popsicle sticks, and tape to Engineer a catamaran that can hold 15 ounces of cargo without sinking? Use this site for lesson plans, tips, and a place to document your process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Air Powered Spinning Machine
Engineer an air-powered spinning machine with this site. Site includes a teachers lesson plan, tips, and a place to document the process of creating this machine.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Pneumatic Creature
Create a creature that uses air to create motion with this challenge. Site includes tips, lesson plans, and a place for students to document their design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Pine Cone
Using cardboard, popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and strings create a pine cone that opens and closes. This site contains lesson plans, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design a Microexpression Zoetrope
Build a zoetrope machine where you can animate a facial expression and the machine plays the animation back with this site. Site contains lesson plans, tips, and a place to document your design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Control a Microraptor's Flight
Using common household materials students are challenged to make a flying raptor and control its flight with attached strings. Site includes lesson plans, tips, and a place for students to document their process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Mechanical Leg
This website challenges students to make a ball and socket joint that mimics the movement of a human hip or shoulder. Using only a tennis ball, rubber bands, cardboard, and tape, students will construct this mechanical device. The site...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Balloon Helicopter
Can you build a balloon helicopter that can fly at least 3 feet from the ground? This site gives a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Ocean Bottom Sampler
Can you design a tool that can lift objects from a water depth of at least 1 foot? This website contains the design challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Speedboat
This challenge has students using a zip line to guide a boat to move through the water for long distances. To help the students build a fast and steady boat this site contains a lesson plan as well as tips. Students can also document...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Strong Honeycomb Structure
Using paper and tape, students are challenged to build a honeycomb structure that is able to support a heavy textbook or more. The website includes a place for students to document their design process, tips, and a lesson plan.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design a Wind Up Mars Rover
Using common household items, students are challenged to build a Mars rover that can travel using elastic energy. Site includes a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Cam Mechanism
Create a simple machine that transfers a rotational motion into linear vertical motion with this challenge. The site gives more details on the challenge as well as tips and place to document your design process. Teachers can find a...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Camouflage an Animal
You are challenged to camouflage an animal in any environment so that you can not see it. This site contains a lesson plan, animal printouts, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.