Introduce young mathematicians to concepts of financial literacy with this open-ended word problem. With seven dollars to spend during field day and given a list of available items and their prices, children must determine how they want...

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...

A scenario and background information are provided for two different open-ended experiments that experienced chemistry classes can perform toward the end of the school year. In the first, they design a method for testing flakes of paint...

If your future physicists know how to construct simple circuits, include resistors, and use a multi-meter to measure voltage, then you might employ this lesson plan on Ohm's law. Each lab group investigates the relationships among...

Definitely for high schoolers, this instructional activity is an open-ended exploration of energy efficiency. Groups of two to three junior environmental engineers design an experiment to test for efficiency. They prepare a full lab...

Students engage in a lab that focuses on animal behavior in an open ended inquiry based laboratory experience. They build an ethogram, display a transition matrix and analyze a Markov Chain. They remove wings from the drosophila and...

Juvenile geologists drill clear plastic straws down into a playdough sedimentary rock model, pulling out sample rock cores. As they analyze their cores, they apply the law of superposition and discover that originally horizontal layers...

Students examine the dynamics of family finances. In groups, they discuss the importance of a budget and create their own given a fictional amount of money. As a class, they listen to a speaker from the bank discussing the importance of...

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...

Students examine the guidelines put out by the FBI to follow during federal investigations. In groups, they discuss the decision by the FBI to increase surveillance after the terrorist attacks on September 11. They share their opinions...

Students participate in a lab experiment in which they discover the need for so many blocks and tackles on sailing ships. In groups, they make and test their predictions and practice measuring objects in various units. They record and...

Here is a nice, clean wrap-up lesson for your chemistry class when they are studying chemical reactions . They experiment with different oils to make soap. To make it more fun, they are to imagine that they are part of a soap testing...

An excellent lesson plan on the classic book, Where the Red Fern Grows. Learners view the W. Wilson Rawls website and engage in a series of activities generated by the website. They write in their reflective journals, watch a video, and...

Oh nuts! Do macadamias or almonds produce more thermal energy? Energy enthusiasts find out with this experiment. The objective is to demonstrate to your class how the chemical energy contained in foods can be converted into useable...

Students complete a long-term research project on prairie grasses and forbs. They develop research questions, collect and analyze data from reconstructed prairie plots, and publish their research data on a Prairie website.

Students determine the weight of paper waste generated by the class. They brainstorm ways to reduce and recycle. They make their own paper to demonstrate recycling. This lesson is very effective in demonstrating how recycling works.

Students solve quadratic equations. In pairs, students perform experiments where an object's free-fall is measured and graphed. Students discover and write reports on the uses of parabolas in real life applications. A guest speaker,...