Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 166)

Diapers: What Keeps Babies and Astronauts from Springing a Leak?

STEM Activity

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When we think about diapers we usually think about babies, because most of us wore them when we were babies and now maybe our siblings or friend’s siblings wear them. But did you know that astronauts also have to wear diapers sometimes? Astronaut diapers are called Maximum Absorbency Garments (MAGs), and astronauts wear them when they have to stay in their suits for long periods of time, such as during spacewalks, or as their ships are re-entering the atmosphere. For babies and for… Read more

Digital Voice Analysis

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Use sound recording and analysis software to record voices of your family members. Can you figure out ways to identify each family member by just looking at the analyzed sound patterns from their voice (e.g., spectral frequency analysis)? Develop a hypothesis about what types of sound analysis will identify an individual. Have a helper record additional test files of your family members, without telling you which file belongs to whom. Unplug your computer speakers and see if you can… Read more

Discover STEM Careers

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

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Each student will get the chance to identify their own uniquely interesting STEM careers by tapping into the insights of the Career Discovery Tool. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. During the Engage section, students can "order" their favorite ice cream using a poll on video chat. During the Explore section, students can access the Career Discovery Tool remotely as long as they have a device and access to the Internet. They can complete the Explore… Read more

Distracted Driver: Do Distractions Affect Driving Video Game Scores?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever tried rubbing your stomach and patting your head at the same time? What about doing your homework or studying for your math test while watching television? It is tough to focus on a task when you are distracted doing something else, isn't it? In this science fair project, you will investigate how distractions affect your focus on a task, such as driving, by looking at how gaming scores are affected as you're talking on a cell phone or having a conversation with a friend. Read more

Divide and Conquer: Proving Pick's Theorem for Lattice Polygons

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you like to play Tetris, then you might like this project. You will learn something interesting about the mathematics of complex shapes as you try to prove Pick's Theorem. The strange shape below is an example of a lattice polygon, which is a polygon whose vertices lie on points in the plane that have integer coordinates. As you can see, it is a complex shape, but there is an easy way to calculate its area, by simply counting lattice points! If you count the number of lattice points on… Read more

DIY Face Mask

STEM Activity

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To slow the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends wearing a mask or cloth face covering—particularly in places where it is impossible to maintain social distancing (staying at least 6 feet away from others). This recommendation is for everyone age two or older (children under the age of two should not wear masks). Many instructions to make your own mask are available online. This activity will help you think through the process of designing and making a mask as an engineering problem.… Read more

DIY Mini Drone: Free Flight

STEM Activity

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Make your mini popsicle stick drone lift off in this activity! You will build a dual-joystick controller to steer your drone so you can fly it manually. How well can you fly without any help from automatic controls? See this page for a complete list of our mini drone projects. You may wish to do the projects in order. Read more

DIY Mini Drone: Motion Control

STEM Activity

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Most modern smartphones and video game controllers have a built-in accelerometer used for motion control. In this project you will program an Arduino® to use an accelerometer to control the steering of a miniature popsicle stick drone. See this page for a complete list of our mini drone projects. You may wish to do the projects in order. Read more

Do Different Tree Species Grow at the Same Rate?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Trees grow more during the early spring than they do the rest of the year. Because of this period of dormancy, or lack of growth, each year of growth is marked by a line called a tree ring. You can count the number of rings in the cross section of a tree trunk to show how old the tree is. You can also count the number of rings in a stem to see the age of a stem or branch. One way to measure the rate of growth of a tree is to count the number of rings per inch. Trees with high numbers of… Read more

Do Migratory Birds Like It Hot?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Why do birds migrate? Do all birds have the same reasons for migrating? Where do they go when they migrate? These are questions scientists have asked for centuries. The more species for which they gather data, the more specific the answers become. In this science project, you will choose a species to investigate, then access and evaluate real data collected by scientists to start answering those questions yourself! Read more

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