Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.

Take a serious look at an equally serious topic! Security scholars explore and discuss the methods hackers use to gain access to personal information during a well-written digital citizenship activity. Part of an extensive series, the...

Explore a trailblazing way to talk about innovation. Using the Scratch coding program, young computer scientists create innovations and write stories to accompany them. They include some of the add-ons they mastered throughout the unit.

Become talented in computer science. After interviewing a computer science guru, pupils work on individual projects related to a virtual music talent show. They learn how to use different code blocks in the Scratch programming language,...

What effect could one person's invention have on the human race? In the case of the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution, small improvements in farming methods led to increased food production. The human population began to boom, leading us...

Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory lesson sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats to measure the...

Oh Boy! What you have found is not just another Jeopardy game, but a template you can use to create your own. Just imagine 25 students racing to provide the question for the answer, Manifest Destiny. Complete instructions for creating a...

"Who was the most famous Egyptian?" "What were pyramids used for?" These are two of the great review questions you'll find in this fun, ancient Egypt review game. Kids will use their knowledge of Egypt's past to win the game.

An exciting twist on the study of the classical hero and the heroic quest! Using film to explore modern-day tales of heroes, the resource contains complete, ready-to-use lesson plans for as many as twelve days of instruction. Throughout...

What can bulldozers and screen doors have in common? Use this lesson on fluid power to find out. It begins with some simple teacher demonstrations, includes a couple of videos, and culminates with an inquiry-based activity to investigate...

Take a big bite out of the red tomato by practicing your use of the variables mouseX and mouseY in a JavaScript coding task. The activity will guide you step-by-step and will help young coders understand how to draw objects based on the...

What do digital citizens do? Make sure your kids are using their heads, hearts, guts, and even their feet to be excellent digital citizens! The poster includes an image of a child with certain body parts highlighted. These body parts are...

Newton's Laws get the rocket to work, but do they serve any other functions? A six-page resource classifies rockets by the type of propellant they use. It then describes applications of Newton's Laws of Motion, both in the...

Individuals design and build a set of shock absorbers to protect their astronauts when they land. Using a limited amount of supplies, pupils build a system that will keep two large marshmallows from flying out of a cup when it lands...

Make music. Class members construct a simple record player using a paper cone and a pin. The resource provides a description of what is happening and why listeners can hear the sounds through the cone. 

You sunk my battleship via the Internet? Groups of three play a modified game of Battleship using the Internet Simulator. Team members determine how to address messages, so each player knows who the message is for, and refine their text...

Encoding What I did Last Summer. Class members develop a way to encode a personal experience using a top-down approach to determine components and sub-components of their experience They then pick one portion of the experience and go...

Pairs work through two scenarios that require them to generate an algorithm. The first activity requires pairs to define a common language to use; the second comes with the language. The pairs then must determine how to code the...

The final performance task for the unit requires class members to utilize what they have learned to create a personal digital scene. Groups work together to develop a scene and then, using top-down design, break the scene into...

Concentrate to determine the best reflector design. Pairs use the engineering design process to build a reflector to increase the current output of a photovotaic panel. Teams arrive at a final design and present it to the class along...

Introduce cradle-to-cradle design thinking. Scholars first discuss the importance of natural laws and rights. They then use a variety of online and print resources to research eco-efficiency and cradle-to-cradle design.

Engineering challenges are not just man-made ... nature has its own set of them. A hands-on STEM activity has groups designing a seed dispersal system. Each group can only use one sheet of paper — a tough task!

Get your learners interested in space exploration. Groups design space rovers using design software and then build prototypes of their designs. The farther the rovers can travel, the better. The catch? The rovers must be powered by...

Pasta is great for cooking—and for making Ferris wheels. Aspiring engineers use an assortment of pasta types to create a functioning Ferris wheel. They keep track of the design process to refine their designs, if necessary. Let's hope no...