Teach Engineering
Copycat Engineers
It's often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Young engineers learn about biomimicry, which uses nature to generate engineering ideas, in the fifth lesson of nine in a Life Science unit. Working in groups, they select...
Curated OER
Changing Planet: Sea Levels Rising
Begin by showing a six-minute video, Changing Planet: Rising Sea Level as an anticipatory set. Pupils draw a topographic map of a potato continent. Finally, they will visit NOAA's sea levels online map and NASA's carbon dioxide...
BioEd Online
Muscle Fibers
What better way to learn about muscle than by dissecting one? Using cow muscle (beef), learners compare bundles of yarn to muscle fibers as they explore each. The supplemental reading about astronauts losing muscle mass in space and what...
National Woman's History Museum
Inventive Women - Part 1
While a woman didn't invent the parasol, three women received patents for their improvements to the original design of umbrellas. In the first of a two-part series on inventive women, class members investigate the patent system to...
BioEd Online
Nutritional Challenges
Eating healthy can be a challenge, especially for people with special dietary needs. After learning about standard nutritional needs for adults, learners take on the role of a dietician and work together to create a menu for one of the...
Baylor College
Energy Sources
Take the concept of burning calories to a more literal level in the second of seven lessons about energy in the realm of food and fitness. Using simple materials, groups will burn breakfast cereal and a pecan to see which one gives off...
Baylor College
Your Nutrition Needs
It takes some work to ensure you have a balanced diet, but once you know the types of foods that are good for you, it becomes second nature. In the sixth of seven lessons about energy and nutrition, learners create a healthy eating plan...
NPR
This Isn't Right: A History of Women in Industry
Women were in the workplace long before Rosie the Riveter pushed up her sleeve. Learn about the working options available to women during the Industrial Revolution, the Progressive Era, and the Great Depression with a lesson that prompts...
Teach Engineering
Alloy Advantage
Mix it up by using an intriguing resource that teaches young metallurgists that alloys are a metal mixture. They learn about the advantages of using alloys over pure metals and investigate titanium alloys as an example to finish the...
Cornell University
Alka-Seltzer Rockets
Blast off! An engaging hands-on activity has pupils create rockets powered by Alka-Seltzer. They learn about the physics behind these rockets throughout the process.
Curated OER
Discover Magazine: The Solar System
Students research ideas for NASA's space exploration. For this Space Science lesson plan, students will try to find a way to bring NASA back into the spot light. Students will presented their ideas to the class for review.
Curated OER
Mission Impossible! Are We Alone in the Universe, or Are We Just One of Its Citizens?
High schoolers examine NASA strategy for scientifically studying any celestial body. They brainstorm about all previous space explorations and missions they can recall, and propose an expedition plan to become space explorers of the...
Curated OER
Searching For Protoplanetary Disks
Learners download NASA Hubble Space Telescope views of star-forming regions in nebulae and look for evidence of planetary systems forming beyond our own solar system. They hypothesize about mysterious objects in NASA HST images.
Curated OER
To Go Where No Student Has Gone Before
Eighth graders participate in interactive video teleconference with employees of NASA Johnson Space Center. Students visit inside of space station module, take video tour of Russian-built Service Module by Astronaut Bill Shepherd, visit...
Curated OER
Lifting Bodies: Designing Your Own Spacecraft
Students work cooperatively with classmates to design a wingless vehicle that can fly back to Earth from space, landing like an aircraft. Students plan and describe their models. Also, they will research facts about the lifting body...
Curated OER
Life Beyond Earth
Students investigate the solar system and what makes a planet habitable. They complete an online Webquest, simulate a NASA training program online, take an online quiz, answer discussion questions, and locate newspaper articles about the...
Curated OER
LCROSS Moon Mission
Young scholars read to discover the sequence of events of the LCROSS moon mission. In this space science lesson, students read an article about the LCROSS moon mission and the events that took place. After reading, young scholars...
Curated OER
Explore Surface Types on a Journey Around Earth
Young scholars explore satellite data. In this technology cross-curriculum math and world geography lesson, students locate specific map areas using a microset of satellite data. Young scholars use technology and math skills to determine...
Curated OER
Creating Impact Craters
Sixth graders simulate the creation of impact craters on Mars.Through the creation of model surfaces, the effects of an impacting object's mass, velocity and size are determined, and the features of the resulting crater are identified.
Curated OER
Cloud Poems
First graders make daily observations about clouds, write in their cloud books, make cloud charts, and make a poem about clouds.
Curated OER
Being Nosy About Our Neighbors
Students use the scientific method to explore the effect of size on impact cratering. They compare images of landforms on Earth to those of other planets to compare surface processes. Students infer the geologic history of another...
Curated OER
NASA Robots
Students discuss the needs for robots in space discovery, and take turns simulating a robot and controller to demonstrate the difficulties of programming a robot to successfully complete simple tasks.
Curated OER
NASA Robots
Students investigate how robots are used in space. In this space science lesson, students participate in an experiment using a blindfold and complete assigned tasks. The students demonstrate how robots are "thinking" machines.
Curated OER
Design Challenge
Students plan, design, construct, and implement an informational display about the International Space Station in small groups.