Take part in a fun experiment and hold an impromptu bouncing contest with your class. Young scientists heat and cool balls before bouncing them to determine whether temperature changes affect how they bounce. The set of...

Converting units is an excellent example of how math relates to our everyday tasks. The resource prompts mathematicians to use baking, cooking, and other daily activities to discover how to make larger quantities of...

What kind of design challenges are there in building structures to support rocket engines? The unit takes design teams through the process of building the lightest possible thrust support structure that can withstand the necessary forces...

Obesity is a worldwide concern. Using survey results, learners compare local BMI statistics to celebrity BMI statistics. Scholars create box plots of the data, make observations about the shape and spread of the data, and examine the...

A one-stop resource for exponents, square and cube roots, scientific notation, and volume formulas guides learners through properties of exponents. As they learn to apply these properties to operations with scientific notation,...

How much rain can that cloud make? Through a simulation, the class estimates the amount of candy rain contained in different cup clouds. After probing the clouds using different methods, class members adjust their estimates. Participants...

Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.

Introduce your class to storage tank failures caused by major storms with an activity that looks at how the concepts of Archimedes' Principle and Pascal's Law affect the storage tanks along the Houston Ship Channel. The background...

Interpret a graph of the number of oranges at a produce stand to determine a likely event at different times. They also analyze the graph to determine which time period oranges were selling most quickly.

Raise the bar and strive to be above average. The assessment task requires budding mathematicians to think critically and evaluate given statements. What does it truly mean to be above average?  

Use geometric patterns to teach your class how to write functions. The assessment task has scholars consider a pattern of dots to draw the next picture of the pattern. Pupils then analyze the pattern, which helps them develop a function...

Through watching several classic air pressure demonstrations, middle schoolers determine that high pressure areas move toward lower pressure areas, heated air causes a drop in pressure, and forces exist when pressures are unequal....

Don't let the resource hide from you. In the assessment task, young mathematicians solve problems involving chameleons that change color. Three different problems require individuals to apply parity in various situations.

Japan is one of only a handful of countries that constructs buildings that are almost earthquake proof. The 13th lesson in the 20-part series challenges scholars to build structures to test against earthquakes. With limited materials and...

Bring balance to your lesson plans with an activity that asks individuals to solve one-step linear equations with inverse operations. Balance scales help learners understand the concept of isolating the variable.

How much work does it take to lift a bucket? An interactive presents a problem of lifting a bucket from the ground to the top of a building. Using their knowledge about work and integrals, pupils calculate the amount of work required to...

Textbooks are heavier than a sheet of paper, so how can paper hold up a textbook? Young engineers create a structure out of paper that can support a textbook. To add another wrinkle, they must stay within budget and time constraints.

What role does trust play in diffusing a tense situation? Young social scientists explore trust on a personal and global level during a lesson on peace and conflict. After participating in a trust sit, participants work in groups to...

Can you determine how far down a rock drops without visual clues? Viewers observe a clip from a movie testing vertical distance only based on sound. They must determine if it is safe to drop down themselves or if it is farther than their...

Should democracies include hate speech as a protected right? Scholars analyze the rights found under the First Amendment to the Constitution through researching evidence. Freedom of expression becomes the focal point of the...

Biotechnology is big! Introduce the uses of biotechnology to science scholars with a fascinating, fact-filled unit. The first installment in a series of four biotechnology units covers the role biotechnology plays in human and...

What's the future of biotechnology? Explore a hot topic in the fourth and final unit in a series of Biotechnology lessons. Learners develop an understanding of the many issues in bioethics, then create an argument for or against the role...

Where does the mass for a growing tree come from? Scholars consider a few different hypotheses and guess which is correct. They then analyze data from different experiments to understand which concepts science supports.

Tools for school—and beyond! Introduce your sixth graders to online tools to plan their academic and professional futures. The fifth and final lesson in a series of career and college readiness activities focuses on a scavenger hunt to...