As they investigate scaling figures and calculate the resulting areas, groups determine the area of similar figures. They continue to investigate the results when the vertical and horizontal scales are not equal. 

During the Winter Olympics, this would be an engaging task to include in your STEM instructional activity. Design teams plan, construct, and test a miniature ski lift that can carry a pingpong ball up and down a rope line without falling...

What if I can no longer justify area by counting squares? Lead a class discussion to find the area of a rectangular region with irrational side lengths. The class continues on with the idea of lower approximations and upper...

Here you will find a model of a linear relationship between two quantities, the water depth of a channel and the distance across the channel at water level. The cross section of the channel is the shape of an isosceles trapezoid. The...

High school physicists demonstrate Bernoulli's Principle by blowing on different items and finding that they do not move in the expected direction! They apply Bernoulli's equation to the flight of an airplane. This well-organized lesson...

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.

High schoolers determine the surface area of the Luxor Hotel, using the square feet of the base, volume, and the volume formula. They create a scale model of the triangular/pyramid shaped hotel.

Junior engineers examine aspect ration in airplane wings. Using the length and width of two differetn wings, they calculate the aspect ratios and compare drag rankings. An engineering or space science class would benefit from this...

Math whizzes examine the relationship between area and volume and the relationship between a 3-D shape and its surface area. Following discussion and practice, pupils participate in a project in which they design packaging for a new...

Demonstrate lift to the class that is studying aerodynamics. In the stream of air produced by a blow dryer, little physicists place a wad of tissue paper and a spherical figure to compare. Or, if you have a vacuum cleaner and beach ball,...