PBS
Paddle Power
Potentially get all the way across the water. The fourth of five design challenges asks pupils to develop a plan for a paddle-powered boat that will store its energy. Given a limited number of supplies, the class members design, build,...
NOAA
Boat Building Challenge
Scholars build a boat using an assortment of materials such as foam plates, aluminum foil, and skewers, then test its buoyancy with pennies. Challenge boat builders to construct the strongest or fastest boat in a healthy competition with...
Curated OER
Big Boats Up The River
Using boats along in the Port of Albany as the focus, learners practice adding single-digit numbers and interpreting data. This lesson comes with the worksheets, resource links, and other materials to make it a worthwhile experience.
Museum of Science
Paddle Boat
Harness the power of rubber bands of all things. A hands-on activity has scholars design and build paddle boats. They learn how the elastic potential energy of rubber bands can be converted to the kinetic energy associated with motion.
Curated OER
Power Play
Once your physical science stars have a grasp of the different forms of energy, use this resource to get them putting the energy to work. Small groups choose from seven different project options and work together to build an energy...
Curated OER
Boat Safety and Water Sports - Lesson 16 - Hand Signals, Water Skiing
Lesson 16 is part of a twenty-two activity unit on boat safety and water sports. Pupils practice the proper hand signals to retrieve a water skiier who has fallen down in the water. It is suggested to click on the resource link at the...
Curated OER
Fluid Friction
Students, using wood blocks and model boats, investigate how the shape of an object affects friction it encounters as it is drawn through a towing tank.
Smithsonian Institution
Reflections of the Sea
Students, after listening to a selection of Gulliver's Travels, complete a worksheet about basic terms associated with boats, ships, and sailing. They create flag after researching semaphore flagging systems.
Curated OER
A Good Boat is Hard To Find
Eighth graders design and construct a safe and efficient human powered watercraft that can be used on a trip on the Great Lakes. Students utilize math and measurement skills to design and cut the pieces for their boat. Working in...
Curated OER
Aqua-Thrusters!
Students construct their own rocket-powered boat called an "aqua-thruster." These aqua-thrusters will be made from a film canister and will use carbon dioxide gas - produced from a chemical reaction between an antacid tablet and water -...
Curated OER
Ship Building in Action
Students define the purpose of several different types of boats. They develop a list of materials one would ideally use in the construction of a particular type of boat. Students work cooperatively in a group to decide what type of boat...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Sail Away
Students examine what naval architects and marine engineers do. In this engineering lesson students work in teams and design a boat with a sail structure.
Curated OER
Buoyancy: Who Sank the Boat?
Students examine whether objects will sink or float. In this buoyancy lesson students bring in objects and experiment to see if they sink or float.
Carnegie Mellon University
Transportation
Teach your environmental studies, life science, or engineering class how an internal combustion engine works using the first few slides of the accompanying presentation. Then, focus in on the resulting carbon emissions. Finally, take a...
Cornell University
Building a Compound Light Microscope
What better way to learn how to use a microscope than building your own? A lab investigation has scholars use lenses from magnifying glasses and sheets of cork to design their own compound microscopes. They calculate focal length and the...
K5 Learning
Sennin the Hermit
Introduce learners to the magical Japanese hermit named Sennin with a reading response activity. As fifth graders finish the story of Sennin and his mystical powers, they answer four short-answer questions.
Cornell University
Alka-Seltzer Rockets
Blast off! An engaging hands-on activity has pupils create rockets powered by Alka-Seltzer. They learn about the physics behind these rockets throughout the process.
Curated OER
Early German Axis Successes and Failures
In this Axis successes and failures worksheet, students read about the Axis Powers and Allied Powers. Students read the dates of Axis successes, and about the Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of Midway, and El Alamein....
Curated OER
Powerful Pulleys
Students explore the building of a pyramid and how pulleys were used to change the direction of applied force. They demonstrate the mechanical advantage of using a pulley and apply it to modern engineering.
Curated OER
Students Slide to School on Air-Powered Sled
Students locate the Great Lakes on a US map, then read a news article about a sled being used as a wintertime school bus in Wisconsin. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a map and vocabulary activity,...
Curated OER
Water Fun
Students examine uses for water. In this water lesson, students discuss how they use water. As a class students make a PowerPoint by naming one swimming safety rule. Students compare and contrast fishing for fun and fishing for survival.
Curated OER
Density - An Intrinsic Property
Learners discover the property of density while participating in a lab exercise. In this scientific measuring lesson, pupils utilize a scale to measure the density of different metal materials. They document their work and present their...
Curated OER
World War II - The Allied Response
Your class will benefit from this excellent presentation on World War II, and the Allied Response to Hitler's threat. The PowerPoint is packed with important information about battles, key figures in the war, and has an excellent...
K5 Learning
Robert Fulton – Steamboat Inventor
Examine the life of steamboat inventor, Robert Fulton, through reading comprehension worksheet that includes both multiple choice and short answer questions. Then, take part in a word search and write definitions, words, and sentences...