California Department of Education
Me and My Career
Your career search starts here! Sixth grade scholars begin their journey toward college and career readiness in the first of a five-part series of lessons. Individuals identify where their interests lead them using the Holland code, then...
Scholastic
The First Thanksgiving Feast
Following an online activity, scholars listen to a read-aloud of If You Were at the First Thanksgiving by Anne Kamma. Pupils discuss their family traditions and complete a T-chart comparing the holiday then and now. Collages are made to...
Curated OER
5th Grade, Egg Droppers
The classic "Egg Drop Activity" is described in this fine science lesson plan. Young scientists work together to design a container that will protect the eggs inside of it when dropped from a high place. Lots of good scientific...
Code.org
Check Your Assumptions
Always check your assumptions when interpreting data and data visualizations. That's the take away from this exercise. Class members examine a failed project that looks at search trends to predict flu outbreaks and consider the...
Rochester Institute of Technology
Skateboard Assembly - Cycle Time
Assemble a great lesson on assembly lines. In the first installment of a nine-part technology/engineering series, future entrepreneurs learn about the manufacturing process, specifically about the assembly line and cycle time. The lesson...
Rochester Institute of Technology
Skateboard Performance Testing
Perform an activity on performance testing with a lesson focused on the purpose of wheel bearings on skateboards. Learners conduct performance testing on a skateboard to collect and interpret data.
Rochester Institue of Technology
Meal Picking
Scholars explore systems design and its relation to meal picking by using computer simulations to test systems designs. They learn about the Pick-to-Light System and calculate average picking times.
Curated OER
Lesson 23: Reproduction - Day 5: Birth Control
Students with mild to moderate disabilities discuss human reproduction and the importance of preventing pregnancy. They review reproductive anatomy, sexual decision making, and what birth control is. The lesson concludes with a...
TryEngineering
Networks
Ever wonder how the Internet works? The instructional activity teaches scholars the basics of graph theory and how it applies to the Internet. They perform simulations to see how information is sent on the Internet.
Code.org
Introduction to Arrays
How can you store lists in a computer program? The 16th installment of a 21-part unit introduces arrays as a way to store lists within a variable. Individuals program a list of their favorite things—adding interest to the activity.
California Department of Education
How to Succeed in Life
Is it possible that six simple traits lead to a happy, successful life? Part four of a six-part series of college and career readiness lessons examines the effects of character in determining success. Working groups discuss...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Arduino Blink Challenge
Emerging engineers read about Arduino software and how it can be used. Then they follow a nine-step tutorial to connect an Arduino board to a computer and put it to work! The objective is to code a program that will cause an LED to...
Code.org
Encoding and Sending Formatted Text
Introduce your class to encoding text. Pairs work together to create a protocol to send text prior to learning ASCII encoding. Groups then collaborate to send and translate ASCII codes creating a formatted text message.
Code.org
Discover a Data Story
"Data is so boring, there's no way to find any patterns in them." Or is there? Pairs investigate data sets using different data visualization tools to discover a trend that may exist in a data set. Once they find a trend or pattern,...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Public Keys, One Way Functions and Hard Problems
Use paint to teach about cryptography. Scholars explore public key cryptography by attempting to mix a secret color using paint. After the activity, they investigate the Diffie-Hellman method using prime numbers, exponents, and modular...
Code.org
Creating Functions
Quit repeating yourself ... you can make this simpler! Rather than repeating the same set of code over and over, class members learn to build and call functions in a series of challenges in App Lab. In the end, they combine functions to...
TryEngineering
Sorting Socks is Algorithm Complexity
Use hosiery to teach computer science. Scholars use socks to develop a set of algorithms. They find ways to find a particular sock from a set and ways to sort socks. Finally, they use their algorithms to consider time complexity.
TryEngineering
Solving a Simple Maze
Solve a maze ... from a robot's point of view. In the lesson, your scholars build a small, simple maze from cardboard and then find a route from the start point to the finish point. They write an algorithmic process that a robot could...
Curated OER
Understanding Dialect as Used by Mark Twain
A reading of Mark Twain’s The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County not only offers pupils an opportunity to practice their listening skills but also provides them with examples of dialectic speech. This is the gol’derndest lesson...
Maine Content Literacy Project
Processes of Writing and Speaking
As this short story unit comes to a close, provide a day for a full examination of theme and allow some time in class for individuals to work on their various assessments. This final lesson before presenting iMovies and portfolios is the...
TryEngineering
Data Representation: Millions of Colors
How many colors do you know? The lesson teaches scholars how digital devices use binary and hexadecimal representations to store colors. They learn how millions of colors are available on these devices.
Code.org
Events Unplugged
Introduce event-driven programming. Young computer scientists learn the meaning of event-driven programming and how it is different from previous styles of programming. They play a card game to simulate the challenges that occur in this...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Failure: Seeds of Innovation
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...
Computer Science Unplugged
The Muddy City—Minimal Spanning Trees
What is the most efficient way to ensure everyone is connected? Individual pupils determine the least expensive route to pave roads in a fictional city. In doing so, they learn to find the minimal spanning tree for the situation. They...