You don't need a scale to determine weight. This activity provides a way to use the concepts of air pressure and surface area to determine the weight of a vehicle by calculating the amount of weight each tire supports.

Up it goes! Groups must design and build a windmill able to lift a weight. The packet includes discussion points to use prior to the build that cover topics such as variables, fairness, and the design process.

There are patterns in nearly everything — even earthquakes. Pairs research current earthquakes to see if there are any patterns. They determine the mean, median, and mode of the earthquake data, along with the maximum and...

A bite of bits. The first lesson in a unit of 15 introduces the class to the byte. Pupils learn about other standard units for measuring file sizes, develop an understanding of relative sizes and the kind of units used to measure...

Challenge young meteorologists to apply their knowledge of weather to build their own weather stations. The resource provides the directions to build a weather station that contains a wind vane, barometer, thermometer, and rain...

Looking for the best inclined plane for the job? Groups calculate the theoretical mechanical advantage for four different inclined planes. They determine the actual mechanical advantage by measuring the amount of force needed for the...

Class members use an applet on the Internet to simulate the spread of a disease. The simulation allows individuals to determine two nodes to vaccinate to limit the number of nodes infected. By running several simulations, scholars...

Help your class determine the types of pollutants coming from vehicle exhaust. Groups use an air quality monitor to determine the emissions from different vehicles, to gain knowledge about combustion energy, and to predict how the...

Turn your pupils into engineers who are able to use scientific principals to design a ship. This long-term project expects pupils to understand concepts of density, buoyancy, displacement, and metacenter, and apply them to constructing a...

Use the resource to teach methods for solving exponential equations. Scholars solve exponential equations using logarithms in the twenty-fifth installment of a 35-part module. Equations of the form ab^(ct) = d and f(x) = g(x) are...

Explore Snell's Law using thin films. In the fifth installment of a seven-part series, pupils solve a set of problems relating to Snell's Law and use this skill during an experiment requiring the collection of reflective measurements...

How can nanoparticles be used in the battle against skin cancer. Class members take on the question as they gather information about electromagnetic radiation, specifically ultraviolet radiation. Pupils learn about the mathematical...

The last activity in a nine-part series has teams create a Google Earth map using the data they collected during a field trip. Using the map, groups analyze the results and make adjustments to the map to reflect their analysis. A short...

Where should I stand to get the best view? Pupils use inverse trigonometric functions to determine the horizontal distance from an object to get the best view. They round out the lesson by interpreting their answers within context.

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...

Class members engage in a STEM experiment and investigate how materials affect heating in a house by creating models of houses and using different top surface materials. They record the temperature inside the models and consider what the...

Pupils learn to apply strings in computer science. They master two new user interface elements and also use string type data to represent ASCII characters. Finally, individuals create an app for Mad Libs in the eighth lesson of the series.

Explore decision-making logic in programming computer games. The 10th installment of a 21-part unit teaches scholars how to apply conditional statements and Boolean expressions. They use these concepts to create a "Guess My Number" game...

Scholars learn how to make a digital canvas and fill it with artwork by creating a drawing app using the canvas element. The activity requires learners to previous knowledge of arrays and return commands to draw images.

Start programming in event-driven style. Scholars learn to place buttons on the user interface and use event handlers. They also learn to recognize errors in code and debug as necessary. This is the second lesson plan in the series of 21.

Explore how people use event-driven programming in games with a lesson that teaches scholars to use new screen elements and events. They apply these new elements to create a simple chaser game.

Bring your pupils in the loop with while loops. Scholars learn how to modify conditional statements to produce while loops in the 14th lesson of the series. They use flowcharts to understand loops and then program some examples of...

Beans are for more than just counting! Introduce public key cryptography with cups and beans and ask scholars to use the beans to send secret numbers. Participants learn how this activity relates to public key cryptography and...

Investigate invisible forces. Young engineers design a setup that changes the direction of a steel ball using a magnetic force. The purpose of the setup is to model the gravitational pull of spacecraft by planetary bodies.