Building for the Big One

Three, two, one, blast off to a better understanding of force and motion with this exciting science lesson! Beginning with a discussion about rockets and gravity, young scientists go on to complete a series of worksheets about net forces...

How does heat move from one item to another, even when the items are in different states of matter? Pupils experiment with adding washers to hot water and adding hot washers to room temperature water to observe the heat transfer. 

From 3-D cities to building bridges, young engineers engage in innovative STEM challenges that promote brainstorming and collaboration. Learners take on the roles of different types of engineers as well as become familiar...

Explore the respiratory system with a model. First, pupils build a set of lungs to experiment how they inflate and deflate. Then, they delve deeper into the topic with a web quest to discover new information about the nose, trachea, and...

Scholars independently explore several websites to calculate their ecological footprint. Using their new found knowledge, they answer six short-answer questions and take part in a grand conversation with their peers about how our...

What do thunderstorms wear under their raincoat? Thunderwear! Thunderstorms are only one cause of weathering included in this STEM lesson plan. Young scientists investigate the causes of weathering, develop and test a question, and...

Steal cubes sink, but steal ships float. Lesson explores the density of solids as well as the density of water in determining what will sink and what will float. A hands-on group activity helps pupils see that weight and volume are two...

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

As part of a study of earthquakes, groups plot and analyze recent earthquake data, and then design and test an earthquake resistant building. 

As Albert Einstein once said, "I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that don't work." When it comes to creating something new, it takes perseverance and the right attitude. Engineers face a variety of challenges and several...