Students explore a computer-aided design program. Students chart out roller coaster design, computer graphics and architecture. Students focus on understanding the connections between mathematics, science, technology and innovation.

William Bell's Forbidden City is used as the basis of a study of China, Chinese culture and government, and especially of the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Class members select a topic for Internet research and then prepare a...

Students simulate life in space aboard the space shuttle. In this space exploration lesson, students work in small groups to model life aboard the space shuttle. Each student is given a job, conducts Internet research on space, and...

To wrap up your year of general chemistry, have lab groups compete in a tot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) competition. With their foundation in chemical nomenclature, stoichiometry, and gas laws, each group completes several...

Bring Internet research and social issues to your language arts class in this activity. After investigating the topic "Media Violence and How It Affects Teenagers" on the Internet, middle schoolers work in groups to compile their...

Explore optics using an inquiry-based experimental approach! Young scholars use a set of materials to design and build a unit capable of focusing a beam of light. They experiment with different lenses to determine the best approach to...

Introduce your class to air masses and how they affect the weather with a lesson that focuses on the differences between high and low air pressure systems. The class explores actual weather data using archived weather data.

Young meteorologists examine the four main types of weather fronts and how they appear on a weather map. Participants learn about the difference between the types of weather fronts along with their distinguishing features. A...

Lift—it is about the wing's attack. Using a virtual wind tunnel, pupils investigate wing shape and angle of attack. Learners use worksheets to record their observations and to convert verbal relationships into mathematical equations in...

Is GIS the real manifestation of Harry Potter's Marauders Map? Introduce your class to the history of geographic information systems (GIS), the technology that allows for easy use of spatial information, with a resource that teaches...

Is there a correlation or causation relationship between air pollutants? Groups develop a hypothesis about the daily variation of air pollutants, specifically ozone and CO2. Using Excel to analyze the data, the groups evaluate their...

What does an MRI machine have to do with a slinky? This activity challenges learners to run a current through a slinky and use a magnetic field sensor to measure the magnetic field. Groups then change the length of the slinky to see...

In this math and geography real world investigation, 6th graders plan a driving trip to a city that is located several states away from their home while recording the elevations of three cities that are included in the trip. They use...

Young mathematicians practice their reasoning as well as adding and subtracting skills with this worksheet that includes five simple word problems about birthdays. Learners are give pictures of birthday cakes and based on the number of...

Research various types of bridge designs. Your class will be asked to consider what it would be like without bridges while learning about how they work. They will construct a model bridge based on given parameters. They then calculate...

Learners plan a mock mission to Mars. In this space science lesson, students work in cooperative groups and select one experiment to take on their mock mission. Learners create a mission plan form and send a proposed experiment to NASA.

After reading Elie Wiesel's Night, watching the movie Life is Beautiful, and researching World War II, class members write a comparison essay on the book and film. This includes a prior knowledge activity, discussion in whole and small...

Cover the 1980s in your class with a brief informational text and seven related questions. The one-page reading passage includes general information about jobs and skills, population patterns, and the AIDS epidemic. 

As part of a career exploration and investigation, learners research the Internet for possible career options and identify what type of educational preparation is required for those careers, as well as possible salary options,...

Extra! Extra! Read all about past and present energy use in a classroom-made historical newspaper. Useful as a cross-curricular assignment between science, history, and language arts, the project is sure to get young journalists...

I can't calculate a base-2 logarithm since my calculator doesn't have a base-2 log key. Young mathematicians use the change of base formula to extend the properties of logarithms to all bases. Among these bases is the natural log base,...

How can digital technology of today link us to the events of the past? Scholars use technology to uncover the vast number of historical resources available in lesson 12 of a 22-part America's History in the Making series. Using databases...

Four lessons spotlight a variety of professions while boosting listening and observational skills and making inferences. Lesson one challenges pupils to group cards based on a commonality then justify the relationship they see....

Middle schoolers study the basic concepts of the Global Positioning System and how it increases the accuracy of navigation. They examine trilateration and how the speed of light is used to calculate distances.