Gravity Design Brief

Students are going to be working in an Engineering Design team to create a car using K’Nex pieces. They will work through 3 iterations of design in a goal to have their car travel 600 CM. They will use a ramp (defined in the lesson) to have their car gain momentum. They will also create a 3D Printed wheel to be attached to their design and determine if this has improved their design. Teacher/Student Guide Links to 3D Design Videos Project Rubric

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Eric Verno

Building A Paper Bridge: An Introduction to Problem Solving

This activity allows the student to explore problem solving strategies while working with a partner. This activity (building a paper bridge), requires students to question word definition and the application of those definitions. Through problem solving strategies, students discover the need for applying math skills.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Steve Walston

Mission to Mars

The Mission to Mars curricular unit introduces students to Mars the Red Planet. Students discover why scientists are so interested in studying this mysterious planet. Many interesting facts about Mars are revealed, and the history of Martian exploration is reviewed. Students will learn about the development of robotics and how robots are beneficial to science, society and the exploration of space. Details on engineers' involvement in space exploration are presented. Furthermore, students will learn how orbits allow astronauts to move from planet to planet and what type of equipment is used by scientists and engineers to safely explore space. Lastly, the specific details on and human risks for a possible future manned mission to Mars (and back to Earth again!) are discussed.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Stormwater Management in Residential Properties

This problem- based learning lesson looks at the increase of stormwater runoff due to effects of humans continuing to develop more and more of the landscape by building roads, streets, sidewalks, factories, etc. Students will analyze the benefits of using green infrastructure to reduce the amount of runoff in their community and increase biodiversity. Each lab group will play the role of a resident in a community. Their goal is to use the engineering design process to create a model showing how they will decrease stormwater runoff and increase biodiversity. The lesson ends with each lab group presenting their green infrastructure plan to a board. Please note that this lesson focuses specifically on the City of Lancaster in PA, however, documents can be modified depending your specific location.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Author: Carly Kessler

Vaccine Debate

Students will gather information and data about vaccine information. They will use this information to argue whether or not vaccinations should be mandatory, culminating in a summative assessment in the form of a debate and a reflection on the information gathered.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Authors: Ryanne Dennis, Molly Horn, Madeleine Wright

Build Your Own Artificial Satellite

Students build their own satellite using household materials. Through the process, they learn about satellites and their functions.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Author: Syeda Lammim Ahad

Learn 3D Design Using Tinkercad

This series of lessons will teach all of the key features in Tinkercad, a free, web-based 3D design platform. When you have finished the lessons you will have a comprehensive knowledge of how to design/draw in 3D. After that all you need is practice to improve your skills.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Diagram/Illustration, Interactive, Lesson, Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy, Unit of Study

Author: Tom Guellich

Careers: What Will Future Jobs Look Like?

Students will examine how technology is changing or eliminated careers that currently exist. Students will draw conclusions and develop hypotheses about these current careers and the changes that could possibly occur based on technology.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Unit Honey Bee- Module 1-3

Students will examine ways declining bee population can impact day to day life, by considering how the cost of honey and pollination has been affected society Students will create real-world problems that relate to statistics on the declining bee population.

Material Type: Unit of Study

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Science Here, Science There, Science Careers EVERYWHERE!

Science Career Exploration

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Glide Slope Ratio & Angle and Paper Airplanes

Students will calculate the glide slope ratio and angle of paper airplanes they have created. They will make claims about the type of airplane and support claims with evidence and reasoning from their class data.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Engineering Design Prototype - Simple Machines

In this activity, students will learn about and apply the Engineering Design Process to solve a problem. While working through the steps of the Engineering Design process they will focus on defining the criteria and constraints of a design problem, learn about scientific principles of simple machines, understand tool and machine safety, and create a prototype solution to the problem. The activity frames the problem around researching, designing, building and testing a prototype that is built with at least one simple machine that will launch a ball into a target. At end of unit students test their prototypes and present their findings of working through the process. ● Project Rubric

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Diagram/Illustration, Lecture Notes, Unit of Study

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Raystown Lake UBD

Students will learn about the water cycle, watersheds, and point and non-point source pollution. Students will then apply this knowledge to take a position in the debate about the proposed development at Hawn's Bridge Peninsula at Raystown Lake and write a letter to the editor expressing their opinion. Pairs well with an Engineering Design Challenge or a Meaningful Watershed Educational Experience (MWEE).

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Module

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Body System Amusement Parks

In the Body System Amusement Parks project, students team up to create amusement parks based on the various systems and organs within the human body. With the power of abstraction, each attraction represents the cardiovascular system, the muscular system, the digestive system, etc. Teams create both 3D scale models and presentations to an unnamed wealthy investment firm looking to build a new park in the students’ very own town. This activity was heavily inspired by a post from Danielle Dace.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Mini Car Design Challenge

This engineering design challenge is a great hands-on activity that utilizes the engineering design process, 3D modeling, and 3D printing technology. The challenge can be completed individually or in groups of 2 to 3. Students will work to complete the following challenge: Using the design process, design, document, model, and produce a toy car with interchangeable parts.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

This project will be focused on designing, constructing and evaluating different containers to determine the optimal design for heat retention. After students have constructed their designs and collected and shared data, students will evaluate the class data to create an optimal design for our culminating event: warming ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookies to perfection! Through this activity, students will learn about energy transfer, engineering design process, data collection, graphing, rate of change, optimization, surface area and proportions. The students will test the effectiveness of their design using Vernier Probes to gather quantitative data and graphing the rate of temperature change. They will then create a poster presentation to share their data to the class. Students will use their mathematical skills to quantitatively analyze the strength and weaknesses of their designs while enjoying some delicious, toasty, warm cookies.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Data Set, Lesson Plan

Angular Velocity: Sweet Wheels

Students analyze the relationship between wheel radius, linear velocity and angular velocity by using LEGO(TM) MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT robots. Given various robots with different wheel sizes and fixed motor speeds, they predict which has the fastest linear velocity. Then student teams collect and graph data to analyze the relationships between wheel size and linear velocity and find the angular velocity of the robot given its motor speed. Students explore other ways to increase linear velocity by changing motor speeds, and discuss and evaluate the optimal wheel size and desired linear velocities on vehicles.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: James Muldoon, Jigar Jadav, Kelly Brandon

Using Truth Tables to Solve Logic Problems

Students solve logic problems using truth tables and then implement them using digital logic gates (engineering) or software (computer science).

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

Think Outside the Bottle

The Challenge: The challenge is to design and build a water filtration device using commonly available materials. To meet this challenge, students use an iterative repeating process as they build, test, and measure the performance of the filtration device, analyze the data collected, and use this information to work towards an improved filtration design. It is the same design process used by engineers and scientists working on ECLSS for NASA. Although students will work in teams of two–three, they are encouraged to think of their entire class as a single design team working cooperatively and learning from the efforts of all members in order to produce the best water filtration device. Students measure the effectiveness of their filtration device using pH test strips. Detailed plans and a complete materials list are provided.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator

9th Grade Cube Challenge

Students will use a perceived weak material to construct something that is surprisingly strong. Students can experiment with different shapes and configurations to see what holds the most weight. The cube size is defined, what each student places within each 4x4 square, is up to them.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson

Author: STEMToolkit Administrator