Fourth graders delve into the United States Constitution in a unit designed to boost reading comprehension, grammar, and writing. During each lesson, scholars read through and discuss a new chapter and work with prefixes and verbs....

Students discover the functions of different types of bags. In this product design lesson, students discuss they types of bags that people use and then create their own bags for their own purposes.

Sixth graders work together as a class to become a company that has the job of researching, designing, manufacturing, and marketing a useful product. Student transfer plans of final design into a CAD drawing and mass produce the...

High schoolers develop a business card to market them.  In this developing a business card to market them activity, students design a business card to represent them.  High schoolers create a logo or graphic design that is...

Students investigate a problem and background information including the typical capabilities /limitations of a paraplegic. They develop an understanding of the attributes of engineering design.

Third graders use research from a previous lesson to design their own inventions. In groups, they brainstorm a product they would like to see built and share them with the class. They must explain how each one would serve a purpose or...

Middle schoolers examine the use of steamboats in North Carolina. In groups, they design and contruct their own small models of steamboats using simple materials. They test their models in water and share how they were built and why. ...

One of the factors that automotive engineers must consider is wind drag. The less wind drag, the more efficient the car will be. They perform many tests in wind tunnels, then refine their designs and test again. Using simple materials,...

One 17-ounce bottle of Cola requires around 46 gallons of water to produce. How is that possible? Young scientists learn about the hidden water used to produce everyday items. They research, discuss, and look for ways to reduce water...

Electronic engineering hopefuls get hands-on with hand geometry and the technology of biometrics. After taking the appropriate measurement on their hands, they configure their personal hand geometry codes and compare them to classmates....

Explore the scientific process through nature. Scholars become scientists as they develop a question, design an experiment, collect data, and analyze their results. A two-week lesson guides your classes through the process and provides...

As a review of persuasive techniques, groups develop a one-sentence slogan designed to entice others to purchase a produce or adopt a point of view. The group then craft a storyboard for a commercial for their product.

Pixar, DreamWorks, Disney Studios. Prepare your primary graders to become the next generation of film makers with a guide that encourages kids to explore the possibilities of script writing, lighting, sound, editing, and post...

Design and build a rover ... then eat it? This activity has groups of two design and build Mars rovers. The teams determine what instruments they want to include with their rover and plan a budget. They calculate the cost of the body of...

Silver: more than jewelry, it's also a natural antimicrobial agent. An inquiry-based lesson asks collaborative groups to design and implement an experiment to test this property. Using samples of silver nanoparticles and a strain of...

The good thing about building this rover is you get to eat it afterwards. Pairs determine rover parts they want to include in their design based upon their cost and usefulness. The teams design their rovers, build them from edible...

An appropriate way to celebrate and conclude the construction of a rain garden is to share it with the community. Small groups collaborate to design an outreach product such as a PowerPoint presentation, brochure, or poster, to draw...

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...

Work on making good shopping choices with a fun economics project. Kids analyze the differences between brand names and generic products, bigger and smaller units for purchase, and different places they can shop for different items.

Work out your core, Common Core State Standards, through the first workshop in a series of 15 designed for educators. Inquiry-based activities designed for all content areas and grade levels explore the shifts to new standards,...

Sugar cubes, collide! Groups design protection systems using bubble wrap to protect sugar cubes from being destroyed by falling batteries in the STEM lesson. They consider how the experiment relates to collisions in real-world...

Let knowledge grow bountifully like plants in a garden. Given a diagram of a rectangular garden split into plots, scholars determine the area of the entire garden and the areas of the individual plots. As a culminating activity, they...

Teach your young pups some new tricks with this math facts activity. Using a deck of cards and the included game board, pairs of young mathematicians draw cards and attempt to make products that are larger than their partners'...

Focus on inquiry-based learning in your science class with a series of activities designed for middle schoolers. A helpful packet samples four different texts, which include activities about predator-prey relationships, Earth's axis...