North Carolina State University
Construction
Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, learners work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...
Skyscraper Museum
Building a Skyscraper
Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...
Radford University
Building Your Own Home
Building a home means mastering math. Scholars apply various math topics to situations associated with the construction of a home. They consider the volume of concrete needed for a foundation, the perimeter and area of
blueprints, the...
Curated OER
Build Your Dream Science Lab
Would your ideal science lab be filled with bubbling beakers and zapping Tesla coils? Or would it contain state-of-the-art computer technology and data analysis? Dream big with an innovative lesson that connects math and language arts...
Exploratorium
Building Three-Dimensional Structures
Are you looking for a good 3-D geometry lesson that includes hands-on activities for your middle schoolers? Look no further than this one! Pupils use centimeter grid paper embedded in the plan, along with detailed construction...
Mathematics Vision Project
Congruence, Construction and Proof
Learn about constructing figures, proofs, and transformations. The seventh unit in a course of nine makes the connections between geometric constructions, congruence, and proofs. Scholars learn to construct special quadrilaterals,...
Teach Engineering
Build the Biggest Box
Boxing takes on a whole new meaning! The second installment of the three-part series has groups create lidless boxes from construction paper that can hold the most rice. After testing out their constructions, they build a new box....
Virginia Commonwealth University
General Construction Measurement and Dimensions
Learners construct their understanding of measurement and dimensions in this step-by-step approach that begins with an all group vocabulary introduction, consisting of measuring objects and dialoging using measurement vocabulary....
Radford University
Building a Recreation Center
It's all about location, location, location. Small groups work to find the best spot for a rec center to serve three different communities. Learners construct the inscribed and circumscribed circles of a triangle to find the best place....
Howard County Schools
Building a Playground
Scholars crave practical application. Let them use the different models of a quadratic function to plan the size and shape of a school playground. They convert between the different forms and maximize area.
American Institute of Architects
Architecture: It's Elementary!—First Grade
Build an interest and appreciation for architecture in your young learners with this fun 10-lesson art unit. Engaging children in using their five senses, the class first observes the environment around them, paying special attention to...
Curated OER
Access Ramp
Just about every public building that your students are familiar with has an access ramp which complies with ADA requirements. As it turns out, designing such a ramp is an excellent activity to incorporate slope, the Pythagorean Theorem,...
Bowland
Pointzero: Confined
Groups plan their escape carefully. Three three-tiered puzzles help a story character escape their situation, each involving integer sequences, transformations, and geometric constructions. The teacher resource includes slides and...
Teach Engineering
Cell Membrane Color Sheet and Build a Cell Membrane
A cell of another color is still a cell. Pupils color a cell to identify its structures in the fourth segment of a seven-segment series. Groups work together to build a three-dimensional cell membrane segment, which is combined with...
Teach Engineering
Straw Bridges
Pairs work as engineering teams to design and build model bridges from drinking straws and tape. In this third segment in a series of 10, teams compete in an attempt to build the strongest bridge. To help with the design, the groups...
EngageNY
Solving Problems by Finding Equivalent Ratios
Combine total quantities and equivalent ratios in problem solving. The fifth lesson in a series of 29 presents problems that can be solved using equivalent ratios. Pupils use part-to-part ratios and either sums or differences of the...
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Over the Hill
Can you hear me from there? Pupils determine the place to build a cell tower on a hill. The class uses constraints and creates a scale drawing on a coordinate system to calculate the exact location of the base of the cell tower.
Illustrative Mathematics
Why Does SSS Work?
While it may seem incredibly obvious to the geometry student that congruent sides make congruent triangles, the proving of this by definition actually takes a bit of work. This exercise steps the class through this kind of proof by...
Curated OER
What Do You SUBpose?
Submarines are the fous of this math and science instructional activity. In it, learners explore the world of submarines: how they work, and what they are used for. They engage in hands-on activities, watch video clips, and work in...
Teach Engineering
Protecting Our City with Levees
Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.
Teach Engineering
The Magician's Catapult
Class members work in pairs to build a catapult to launch a grape a given distance. The catapult project, a compound machine, reinforces pupils' understanding of simple machines.
Teach Engineering
A Good Foundation
It takes a strong foundation to build a house and a stronger one for a bridge. This resource presents the effects of geology and soil on bridge foundations. Working in groups, the class investigates the interaction of shallow and deep...
EngageNY
Creating a Histogram
Display data over a larger interval. The fourth segment in a 22-part unit introduces histograms and plotting data within intervals to the class. Pupils create frequency tables with predefined intervals to build histograms. They describe...
Illustrative Mathematics
Chicken and Steak, Variation 2
Many organizations put on barbecues in order to make money. In a real-world math problem, the money allotted to purchase steak and chicken at this barbecue is only one hundred dollars. It is up to your potential chefs to figure out how...