This is an activity about image resolution. Learners will recreate a solar …
This is an activity about image resolution. Learners will recreate a solar image taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) using various sizes of building bricks, and discuss how their recreations relate to image resolution. Learners will also compare SDO images to solar images from older spacecraft to see how improved technology helps scientists learn more about the Sun.
The discovery of restriction enzymes and their applications in DNA analysis has …
The discovery of restriction enzymes and their applications in DNA analysis has proven to be essential for biologists and chemists. This lesson focuses on restriction enzymes and their applications to DNA analysis and DNA fingerprinting. Use this lesson and its associated activity in conjunction with biology lessons on DNA analysis and DNA replication.
How do we design the most efficient machines and processes? Today we’ll …
How do we design the most efficient machines and processes? Today we’ll try to figure that out as we discuss heat & work, reversibility & irreversibility, and how to use efficiency to measure a system.
Watch a reaction proceed over time. How does total energy affect a …
Watch a reaction proceed over time. How does total energy affect a reaction rate? Vary temperature, barrier height, and potential energies. Record concentrations and time in order to extract rate coefficients. Do temperature dependent studies to extract Arrhenius parameters. This simulation is best used with teacher guidance because it presents an analogy of chemical reactions.
Students build on their understanding and feel for flow rates, as gained …
Students build on their understanding and feel for flow rates, as gained from the associated Faucet Flow Rate activity, to estimate the flow rate of a local river. The objective is to be able to relate laboratory experiment results to the environment. They use the U.S. Geological Survey website (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt) to determine the actual flow rate data for their river, and compare their estimates to the actual flow rate. For this activity to be successful, choose a nearby river and take a field trip or show a video so students gain a visual feel for the flow of the nearby river.
Students learn various topics associated with the circle through studying a clock. …
Students learn various topics associated with the circle through studying a clock. Topics include reading analog time, understanding the concept of rotation (clockwise vs. counter-clockwise), and identifying right angles and straight angles within circles. Many young students have difficulty telling time in analog format, especially with fewer analog clocks in use (compared to digital clocks). This includes the ability to convert time written in words to a number format, for example, making the connection between "quarter of an hour" to 15 minutes. Students also find it difficult to convert "quarter of an hour" to the number of degrees in a circle. This activity incorporates a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT robot to help students distinguish and visualize the differences in clockwise vs. counter-clockwise rotation and right vs. straight angles, while learning how to tell time on an analog clock. To promote team learning and increase engagement, students work in teams to program and control the robot.
This awesome science video leads students through the process they could use …
This awesome science video leads students through the process they could use to engineer the solution to a problem. There is a challenge to design a robot to help them solve the problem in the video.
Students learn and practice how to find the perimeter of a polygonal …
Students learn and practice how to find the perimeter of a polygonal shape. Using a ruler, they measure model rooms made of construction paper walls. They learn about other tools, such as a robot, that can help them take measurements. Using a robot built from a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT kit that has been programmed to move along a wall and output the length of that wall, students record measurements and compare the perimeter value found with the robot to the perimeter found using a ruler. In both cases, students sketch maps to the scale of the model room and label the measured lengths. A concluding discussion explores the ways in which using a robot may be advantageous or disadvantageous, and real-world applications.
Students learn about probability through a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NTX-based activity that simulates …
Students learn about probability through a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NTX-based activity that simulates a game of "rock-paper-scissors." The LEGO robot mimics the outcome of random game scenarios in order to help students gain a better understanding of events that follow real-life random phenomenon, such as bridge failures, weather forecasts and automobile accidents. Students learn to connect keywords such as certainty, probable, unlikely and impossibility to real-world engineering applications.
Students are presented with a challenge question that they must answer with …
Students are presented with a challenge question that they must answer with scientific and mathematical reasoning. The challenge question is: "You have a large rock on a boat that is floating in a pond. You throw the rock overboard and it sinks to the bottom of the pond. Does the water level in the pond rise, drop or remain the same?" Students observe Archimedes' principle in action in this model recreation of the challenge question when a toy boat is placed in a container of water and a rock is placed on the floating boat. Students use terminology learned in the classroom as well as critical thinking skills to derive equations needed to answer this question.
In this activity, students revisit the Pop Rockets activity from Lesson 3. …
In this activity, students revisit the Pop Rockets activity from Lesson 3. This time, however, the design of their pop-rockets will be limited by budgets and supplies. They will get a feel for the limitations of a real engineering project as well as an opportunity to redesign and retest their rockets.
Students learn about rotary encoders and discover how they operate through hands-on …
Students learn about rotary encoders and discover how they operate through hands-on experimentation. Rotary encoders are applied in tools to determine angle measurements and for translations of angular motion. One common rotary encoder application is in a computer's ball-type mouse—the ball itself is a type of rotary encoder. In this activity, students experiment with two rotary encoders, including one from a computer mouse and one created using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT kit. They collect data to define and graph the relationship between the motion of the rotary encoder and its output.
This activity is about planetary rovers. Learners will simulate the challenges in …
This activity is about planetary rovers. Learners will simulate the challenges in communications that engineers face when driving a rover on Mars. They will particpate as part of a rover team to design and execute a series of commands that will guide a rover made of people through an obstacle course simulating the Martian surface. Students will learn the limitations of operating a planetary rover and problem solving solutions by using this simulation. The lesson models the engineering design process using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes, vocabulary, student journal and reading.
Debbie Clark's 8th grade science students take several days to complete their …
Debbie Clark's 8th grade science students take several days to complete their Rube Goldberg contraptions. Bringing things from home, they experiment with the parts, design their contraption, and make a blueprint for it before beginning to build. This is a lesson that emphasizes cooperation, teamwork, creativity and design.
Hello everyone! Our STEM team and the 1st grade team collaborated on …
Hello everyone! Our STEM team and the 1st grade team collaborated on a transdisciplinary project that integrated science, engineering, writing, technology, and social studies. In this project-based learning unit we provided the students the following driving question: How will you create a tool that is useful in a family activity? Students used the design thinking process to design and engineer their family activity tool. Want to see more of what we do in our STEM/EdTech class? • Photos: http://instagrm.com/davidleeedtech • Videos: https://www.youtube.com/davidleeedtec... • Website: http://www.davidleeedtech.org • Twitter: http://twitter.com/davidleeedtech • Blog: http://davidleeedtech.wordpress.com Intro Music by Ryan Little “Falling Down”: https://soundcloud.com/iamryanlittle Background Music by Ryan Little “Slow Down”: https://soundcloud.com/iamryanlittle Elizabeth DiRenzo, STEM Science Specialist: https://twitter.com/iTeachSTEAM Becca Goess, STEM Design Specialist: https://www.instagram.com/missrgoess/ Megan Godek, Techology Specialist: https://twitter.com/MEGodek
STEM MINDS™ curates, creates and delivers the best STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, …
STEM MINDS™ curates, creates and delivers the best STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) programs to children, specific to their needs. “A” for Art is embedded in everything we do as creativity is the foundation for learning!
Use the menu to navigate to the STEM Hub to find plenty of great coding activities. (http://stemminds.com/steamhub/steam-hub-courses-3/)
You will need to register for a free account to access materials.
This site offers a collection of hundreds of free K-12 STEM resources, …
This site offers a collection of hundreds of free K-12 STEM resources, from standalone models and simulations to short activities and week long sequences of curriculum materials. Filter by type of subject, activity type and grade. Searchable subjects include: physics and chemistry, life science, engineering, earth and space, and math.
Some of the hands-on activities include: -circuits and party lights -how fast …
Some of the hands-on activities include: -circuits and party lights -how fast do humans run -brain injury -how sharks swim -harnessing electricity -building model hand
OR explore the whole library to find something to suit your needs! This includes smaller lessons as well as larger. (E.g., oceans, lemon battery, light, solar, motors, sensors, windmill, seismograph, telegraph)
Each activity is broken down into steps and includes the time needed and an estimated cost per student in USD.
Build affordable inquiry and project-based activities to visualize data across science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculum. Middle school standards-based lesson plans written by teachers for teachers.
No restrictions on your remixing, redistributing, or making derivative works. Give credit to the author, as required.
Your remixing, redistributing, or making derivatives works comes with some restrictions, including how it is shared.
Your redistributing comes with some restrictions. Do not remix or make derivative works.
Most restrictive license type. Prohibits most uses, sharing, and any changes.
Copyrighted materials, available under Fair Use and the TEACH Act for US-based educators, or other custom arrangements. Go to the resource provider to see their individual restrictions.
