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Lesson Plan
Mascil Project

Design and Build Your Own Vacuum Cleaner, Hair Dryer or Toy Car

For Teachers 6th - 8th
No vacuum cleaner? No problem, just build your own. Scholars apply knowledge of currents to build a model of either a vacuum clear, a hair dryer, or a toy car. While the class completes the activity, instructors consider gender...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Newton Rocket Car

For Teachers K - 5th
Students observe a demonstration of Newton's third law of motion using a small wooden car. They discuss Newton's third law of motion and what happens to motion if the mass or acceleration is increased, construct their car, and record...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build a Cardboard Bridge That Can Hold Potatoes

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students identify the characteristics of a bridge and build with junk materials.  In this bridge building lesson, students use cereal boxes, paper towel or toilet paper tubes and tape to create their bridges.  Bridges must...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building Homes

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Young scholars investigate architecture and construction by building a home from cardboard tubes.  For this housing lesson, students collaborate in groups to plan and create buildings they can fit in made from cardboard tubes,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Balloon Powered Race Cars

For Teachers 8th - 11th
Students examine Newton's Law of Motion and use the formula to calculate speed.  In this laws of motion lesson students create a balloon powered car and calculate its speed and distance. 
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Organizer
Curated OER

Building Bridges

For Students 4th - 6th
In this bridge building worksheet, students follow a set of instructions, making a bridge using books, poster- board, a ruler, toy car and sheet of paper. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Simple Machines I - Inclined Planes, Wedges, and Screws

For Teachers 4th
The principles and uses of inclined planes, screws, and wedges are the focus of a science lesson. In it, youngsters come up with every day examples of simple machines, and build an example of one in class. That project is then used to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Junkyard Wars: Mechanical Monsters

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars examine slope and build a Lego car that can take a steep slope. In this mechanics lesson students build a car and demonstrate them in class and describe what they did.
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Activity
Perkins School for the Blind

Safety Crash Testing

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Everyone knows that cars have safety features, but wouldn't it be fun to design your own? Learners with visual impairments build a ramp and then attempt to use the material provided to design a safety system to protect a raw egg from a...
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Activity
It's About Time

Electromagnets

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Young scientists build their own electromagnet and test it by picking up paperclips. Analysis questions evaluate knowledge at the end of the activity. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ride on a Slide

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students investigate gravity and engineering by participating in a slide building experiment.  In this early physics instructional activity, students utilize cardboard boxes to create a model of a children's slide.  Students...
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PPT
Curated OER

Repeated Addition

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Toy cars are used to show the relationship between addition and multiplication. Learners first view the array of cars, then see the related repeated addition and multiplication equations. A great way to build mathematical connections.
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Lesson Plan
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US Institute of Peace

Mediating Conflict

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Two's a negotiation, but three's a mediation! Demonstrate the differences between the two processes through a role-playing lesson plan. The activity familiarizes pupils with the role of a mediator and examines the types of situations...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Maglev Trains

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore how Maglev trains work. In this technology lesson, students discuss the pros and cons of Maglev compared to conventional trains. They build a simple Maglev train model.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Community Building

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders discover the similarities and differences between cities, towns, and rural communities. Using a Neighborhood map Machine, they create a Venn diagram and map of their own community. Students build a 3-D representation of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Electricity: Will It Conduct?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students build conductivity testers and investigate which solids and solutions conduct electricity. Working in groups, they predict which items will conduct electricity and record their answers on worksheets.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wind Power! 2

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders explore how engineers transform wind energy into electrical energy by building their own miniature wind turbines and measuring the electrical current it produces. They see how design and position affect the electrical...
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Lesson Plan
Lied Center of Kansas

The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare

For Teachers Pre-K - 3rd Standards
Both The Ugly Duckling and The Tortoise and the Hare are great additions to an elementary language arts lesson. Young readers focus on the literary elements of each story, including characters and plot development, and apply...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forces and Motion-The Downhill Racer

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students calculate a toy car's velocity and acceleration. In this force and motion lesson, students build ramps and attach a dropper to a toy car, which is released down the ramp. Students calculate and graph velocity and acceleration...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Mechanical Monsters

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students experiment try to build a Lego car.  In this physical science lesson students present and demonstrate the vehicle that they constructed. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Twenty Green Gates

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders explore mathematics by participating in a pattern building activity. For this geometric construction lesson, 2nd graders discuss a story problem in which a gate needs to be built from triangles and trapezoids up to a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

All Hands on Deck: A Harbor Education Program

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students build a model of an estuary. In this wetland lesson plan, students build a model estuary with a paint tray and modeling clay. They use the model to illustrate the impact of non-point pollution on the watershed.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Before You Were Mine

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students discuss animal adoption and pet care. In this pet lesson, students listen to the story Before You Were Mine by Maribeth Boelts. They discuss animals body language, feelings, and how to best car for them. 
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Speed Trails

For Students 9th - 11th
In this Algebra I/Algebra II worksheet, students conduct an experiment with toy cars in order to calculate and compare average, instantaneous, and constant speed.  The two page worksheet contains three questions.  Answers are...