Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Assembly Line
Working under specific constraints and with designated criteria, groups work together to create a product using an assembly line process. In addition, they work through the entire engineering design process with an excellent graphic to...
Close Up Foundation
Rights Auction
In an engaging activity on universal and unalienable rights, learners work in groups to establish a democratic nation and determine what principles they want to protect to ensure a democratic society. They conduct a "rights auction" in...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Interactive Gumball Machine
Sure, you may be able to build a better mousetrap, but what about a gum dispenser? In a fun engineering challenge, teams must design and build a working interactive gumball machine with specific constraints and criteria.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Get it Write
In an effort to practice engineering design, STEM classes break out into teams and endeavor to make a working ink pen. To prepare, they read about writing implements through history, patents, and viscosity of liquids. Armed with this...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Dramatic and Theatrical Aspects in Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”: A Common Core Exemplar
“So I’m going to have a copy of this play put in the cornerstone and the people a thousand years from now’ll know a few simple facts about us.” Our Town is used as the text in a Common Core exemplar that examines the dramatic and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A “New English” in Chinua Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart”: A Common Core Exemplar
To examine the “New English” Chinua Achebe uses in Things Fall Apart, readers complete a series of worksheets that ask them to examine similes, proverbs, and African folktales contained in the novel. Individuals explain the meaning...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Power of Graphene
To prepare for the activity, STEM classes read about nanotechnology and the amazing properties of graphene. They collect a graphene sample from pencils, and then connect them into simple circuits to determine whether it makes a better...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Try Your Hand at Nano
Fascinating reading about nanotechnology, nanoscale properties, and liquid crystals precedes a fun activity for young engineers. They measure their hands in nanometers, research, and then investigate how heat effects a sheet containing...
Curated OER
Riding on a Pendulum
A comprehensive resource gets fourth grade physical scientists making observations about the period of a pendulum and then applying knowledge to a playground swing. Through seven different stations, they will record observations and...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Statue Display Tower
Sometimes engineering problems that seem easy prove to be more challenging than imagined. Present your class with the challenge to build a functional display tower to support a statue using only the supplies available in class while...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Water Tower Challenge
Providing clean water to a town is quite a feat... is your class up for the challenge? After a short reading about water towers, groups work together to design a working water delivery system. The water flow must be adjustable (able to...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Tall Tower Challenge
A fun and challenging activity for nearly any age group, partners must work together to build the tallest structure possible using paper clips, straws, and pipe cleaners. In addition to being tall, the structure must also be able to...
Curated OER
Clouds
Incorporate art and poetry into an early elementary science lesson about cloud formation. With fun and engaging activities that follow a natural learning progression, youngsters will develop key vocabulary and conceptual understanding...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Freedom and Individuality
What are the strengths and weaknesses of American individualism and independence? Explore these principles through a close reading of Jack London's To Build a Fire, and engage in high-level discussion with your class by analyzing the...
What So Proudly We Hail
The Meaning of America: Enterprise and Commerce
Using Mark Twain's The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg, invite your learners to consider the concept of virtue in a democratic society devoted to gain and self-interest. This stellar resource guides your class members through a close...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Making of the Fittest: The Birth and Death of Genes
After watching an engaging 13-minute video about the colorless blood of icefish, future ichthyologists examine icefish blood and non-icefish blood (blood samples are simulated with Karo syrup mixtures) to determine advantages of...
Curated OER
High School EcoHouse Curriculum
How has the level of carbon dioxide changed over recent years, and what is contributing it? Groups work together to research and present their findings in a creative way. Also built into the lesson is a visit to a sustainable house, but...
University of Wisconsin
Measuring Slope for Rain Gardens
The slope of the land is an important feature when considering the erosion that will occur. In this resource, which is part of a rain garden unit, learners calculate the slope of the proposed garden site. Even if you are not planning a...
Curated OER
Shipping Rolled Oats
What better way to start your day than with a box of oatmeal? Or what better way to start your geometry class than by calculating its volume? Eighth graders discover just how practical volume computation can be in business and in breakfast!
Curated OER
Two Triangles' Area
Need an activity for teaching the Pythagorean Theorem? Geometry juniors apply the Pythagorean theorem to two triangles to determine a final calculation.
Curated OER
Hand Span and Height
Is there a relationship between hand span width and height? Statisticians survey each other by taking measurements of both. A table that can hold data for 24 individuals is printed onto the worksheet, along with questions for analysis....
Curated OER
8.SP.1Texting and Grades I
Here is a fitting question for middle schoolers to consider: Is there a relationship between grade point average and frequency of sending texts? Starting statisticians examine a scatter plot and discuss any patterns seen.
Illustrative Mathematics
Oakland Coliseum
Help algebra learners relate a real-life function that happens at the Oakland Coliseum every time the Raiders play. The resource states that the revenue of the Oakland Raiders home games is a function of the number of seats sold and the...
Curated OER
Triangle's Interior Angles
Given a pair of parallel lines and a triangle in between, geometers prove that the sum of the interior angles is 180 degrees. This quick quest can be used as a pop quiz or exit ticket for your geometry class.