Polar Trec
How Much Data is Enough?
The next time you read a magazine or watch the news, make note of how many graphs you see because they are everywhere! Here, scholars collect, enter, and graph data using computers. The graphs are then analyzed to aid in discussion of...
Purdue University
The Represented World: Recreational STEM
How are forces and motion important to a swing set? Scholars explore the concepts of force and motion using swing sets. In preparation for their own STEM design project, individuals take surveys and data from peers, complete labs on...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Design 'Y'er Genes
How do changes in DNA affect an organism? Scholars explore chromosomes, genes, DNA, and mutations by modeling the DNA of a strawberry. They build a DNA model, then manipulate it to show how changing the genes transforms the strawberry...
Baylor College
We Need Water
There's nothing quite like a glass of ice-cold, freshly squeezed lemonade. Lesson seven of this series explains how the water humans need to survive can come in many forms. Teach your class about how much water humans require every day...
Achieve
BMI Calculations
Obesity is a worldwide concern. Using survey results, learners compare local BMI statistics to celebrity BMI statistics. Scholars create box plots of the data, make observations about the shape and spread of the data, and examine the...
Florida International University
The Good, the Bad and the Nasty Tasting
Examine the benefits of chemical defense mechanisms. Organisms in oceans use chemicals to ward off predators. Duplicate this adaptation using a hands-on experiment in which you ward off your predators (your pupils) with some...
Education Development Center
Finding Triangle Vertices
Where in the world (or at least in the coordinate plane) is the third vertex? Given two coordinate points for the vertices of a triangle, individuals find the location of the third vertex. They read an account of fictional...
Education Development Center
Extending Patterns with Exponents
Don't think negatively about exponents. Young mathematicians dissect a fictional conversation between pupils trying to evaluate an expression with a negative exponent. This allows them to understand the meaning of negative exponents.
Beyond Benign
Ecological Footprint
How does your lifestyle measure up in terms of your ecological footprint? Young ecologists examine their impact on the planet using an insightful online calculator. A short quiz asks users to rank the size of their homes, their energy...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Ups and Downs of Populations
As the reality of population decline across many species becomes real, pupils learn about the variables related to changes in populations. They complete a simulation of population changes and graph the results, then discuss limiting...
Annenberg Foundation
Geometry 3D Shapes: Platonic Solids
From polyhedrons to platonic solids, here is a lesson that will have your classes talking! As an introduction to platonic solids, scholars cut and fold nets to create the three-dimensional solids. They use an interactive component to...
Annenberg Foundation
Geometry 3D Shapes: Test Your Skills
Time to find out what they've learned! The final lesson of a five-part series has learners complete a 39-question multiple choice review. They use what they've learned in the previous lessons to complete questions that include concepts...
National Security Agency
What’s Your Coordinate?
Your middle schoolers will show what they know with their bodies when they become the coordinate plane in this conceptual development unit. Starting with the characteristics of the coordinate plane, learners develop their skills by...
It's About Time
Petroleum and Your Community
I was going to write a joke about oil, but it seemed crude. This lesson starts with a comparison of where the US gets oil from and how that has changed over time. After analyzing the data, scholars create a graph and use the Internet to...
Statistics Education Web
Double Stuffed?
True or false — Double Stuf Oreos always contain twice as much cream as regular Oreos. Scholars first measure the masses of the filling in regular Oreos and Double Stuf Oreos to generate a class set of data. They use hypothesis testing...
Bonneville
Making Observations and Recording Data for Solar Powered Water Pumping
Get pumped about an activity with water pumps. The fifth of seven installments in the Understanding Science and Engineering unit has pupils learn how to make observations, record data, and create data displays. Each group measures the...
National Security Agency
Classifying Triangles
Building on young mathematicians' prior knowledge of three-sided shapes, this lesson series explores the defining characteristics of different types of triangles. Starting with a shared reading of the children's book The Greedy...
Achieve
Corn and Oats
How much land does a parcel hold? How much fertilizer does it take for a field of corn? Pupils answer these questions and more as they apply ratio reasoning and unit analysis.
Statistics Education Web
Are Female Hurricanes Deadlier than Male Hurricanes?
The battle of the sexes? Scholars first examine data on hurricane-related deaths and create graphical displays. They then use the data and displays to consider whether hurricanes with female names result in more deaths than hurricanes...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Wad-a-Watershed
What kind of impact do humans have on watersheds? Find out in a lesson that defines, explores, and promotes ways to protect our watersheds. The ultimate goal of the lesson is for learners to discover how a watershed is impacted by...
Beyond Benign
Green"er" Precipitation Reaction
All sodium carbonate may not have the same amount of carbonate, but it should have the same percent. Learners write and balance an equation to predict the chemical reaction between sodium carbonate and zinc acetate. Through the lab...
Serendip
Understanding and Predicting Changes in Population Size – Exponential and Logistic Population Growth Models vs. Complex Reality
Salmonella poisoning impacts over 200,000 people in the United States each year. Scholars learn about the growth of these bacteria using multiple approaches. Then they apply the same growth calculations to endangered species and think...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Built to Last?
Fifth graders test the shelters that were built in a prior activity. They determine the level of durability and water resistance of these shelters through a scientific investigation.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Ohm's Law 2
Students study Ohm's Law 2 after completing an activity about Ohm's Law 1. They determine how long it takes to charge a battery. They examine if it is better to use batteries in series or parallel circuits.