How tall is your marshmallow structure? Using only limited supplies (including uncooked spaghetti noodles, masking tape, and one marshmallow), teams endeavor to support the marshmallow atop the tallest spaghetti structure they can build....

Hold a competition in your science or engineering class to find out which group can design the most effective new style of paper cup from a single sheet of paper. Each group will be challenged by this activity and will have fun at the...

Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...

Two scenarios are presented for chemistry detectives to decipher. Both require the use of an infrared spectrometer and focus on the examination of polymer materials. In the first, lumps in polyethylene bottles are analyzed. In the...

Young scholars investigate the characteristics of simple machines. In this simple machine instructional activity, students investigate work as a product of applying constant force. They answer questions about what happens on Earth and...

Check out a lesson plan that starts with force of gravity and moves through the concepts of mass, weight, volume, and density. Learners calculate density, test the buoyancy of objects, and then demonstrate understanding by altering the...

Explore the measures of central tendency through a challenging task. Given values for the mean, median, mode, and range, collaborative groups create a set of data that would produce those values. They then critique other answers and...

Students explore about the One-Tonne Challenge, and work out how they could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by one tonne, through individual actions and by influencing other people. Students use a GHG emission table to...

Learners discuss the benefits of the International Space Station. They evaluate the challenges the designers faced when trying to design the space station. Students discuss the use of scale models when designing large structures and...

Students use Lewis and Clark's journals to identify the forms of non-verbal communication they used. They discover the problems they faced on their journey and how they overcame them. They practice using the non-verbal language of the...

Explore a geometric sequence model through a simulation. Learners change the starting drop height of a ball and watch how the heights of following bounces change. They consider the ratio of the consecutive bounces as they analyze...

This six-week unit encompasses all subjects with a focus study on world history and the development of ancient civilizations. As gifted and talented students dive into the interesting yet challenging topic of Egypt, they...

Triangles, triangles, and more triangles! In this second installment of a 36-part series, your young mathematicians explore two increasingly challenging constructions, requiring them to develop a way to construct three triangles that...

Young scholars are challenged to investigate the physical and chemical properties of plastics and use them to design a system that could be used to separate them. 1st year chemistry students use density for separation, young scholars...

Students receive bloodstain pattern evidence from a crime scene. They answer a series of questions through inquiry, observation, measurement, and analysis. Pupils complete this challenge, by reconstructing the evidence through four...

Students are challenged to come up with a good estimate of the amount of air in foamed polystyrene products. They use this gas evolution experiment and as such have students measure the gas generated when foamed polystyrene is degassed...

Discover relationships between linear and nonlinear functions. Initially, a set of data seems linear, but upon further exploration, pupils realize the data can model an infinite number of functions. Scholars use multiple representations...

Students investigate aircraft design to learn many concepts of physics. In this aircraft design lesson, students use balsa wood and styrofoam to build an aircraft based on their study of wing designs, aviation, and through the use of an...

Students examine how river travel affected the Lewis and Clark expedition. They define gravity, slope, and velocity, conduct a river formations experiment, complete an activity sheet, and watch a video about Lewis and Clark.

Middle schoolers compare the absorbency of a regular diaper and a swim diaper in fresh water and salt water. In this absorbency lesson plan, students mass the diapers and place them in water and determine the change in mass. They do the...

Students design plastic shoes to walk on eggs without breaking them. In this pressure lesson, students consider all the factors needed to design shoes to walk on eggs without breaking them. Students calculate the PSI pressure, the force...

Young explorers examine the route that Marco Polo and his father traveled to reach China. They examine online maps of the Silk Road and harsh terrain of Afghanistan to determine challenges that may have been encountered during travel.

Teams continue with the Asteroid Impact challenge and determine possible locations to construct their underground shelters. Participants cut scale area models of their shelters from paper and place them on the map to find locations...

Challenge young scientists to design their own experimental procedures. They write the procedure for properly preparing two grams of a water-insoluble ionic salt. To finish, they perform the experiment and collect data to prove their...