Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 188)

Paper Squawker

STEM Activity

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9 reviews

Did you know that not all animals use their ears to ‘hear’ sounds? Snakes, for example, perceive sound waves through their jaw bones! And many insects perceive sound waves through their antennae. While these methods of detecting sound might be different, they all respond to the same thing that our ears do, which is sound waves in the environment. In this activity you will generate some impressive sound waves from very simple materials, and observe how these sound waves are… Read more

Pass the Cranberry….Volcano!

STEM Activity

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While you might enjoy cranberry sauce, if you’ve ever tasted a real cranberry you were probably surprised by the taste – definitely not as sweet as the sauce! Cranberries and cranberry juice are very tart to eat, but they can be delicious when combined with other ingredients (such as orange zest and sugar, or cranberry muffins!). Cranberries add tartness to these foods because they are acidic, similar to lemons or limes. Foods that are acidic will usually taste sour or tart,… Read more

Password Duel

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th

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Do your students have their own online accounts like email or social media? What about a login for the school computers? If so, they might have to pick passwords. Have you ever had trouble creating (and forgetting) good passwords? This fun lesson plan involves a guessing game that can teach your students how to make their passwords harder to guess. Learn how to keep your accounts safe! Read more

Physics Secrets for Hula Hooping

STEM Activity

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Have you ever spent time spinning a hula hoop around your waist or arm? Could you easily do it, or was it difficult? Have you ever wondered how hula hoops work, or, in other words, what makes them be able to spin around a person's waist or arm? It comes down to the physics that is involved. Physics can help you determine what makes one hula hoop a winner and another a flop. In this activity you will get to create your own hula hoops and investigate how their masses affect how they spin. … Read more

Pick a Card, Any Card

STEM Activity

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Have you ever been playing cards and wished you could use psychic powers to draw the card you wanted? You may not be psychic, but you can still have the power of probability on your side. In this activity you'll investigate the probabilities of drawing specific types of cards from a deck. You'll discover how math can help you avoid the dreaded phrase, "Go fish!" Read more

Picture This: How Visualizing Data Can Lead to the Right (or Wrong) Conclusion

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Big data is one of the most promising and hyped trends in technology and business today. Big data refers to data-analysis jobs that are too large and complex to be analyzed by applications that are traditionally used. Big data sets hold valuable information. Many publicly available data sets have the potential to improve our everyday lives by giving us insight into the things we care about. How well-equipped are we to extract information from the data? Visualizations and aggregations (or… Read more

PID Controller Tuning for a Drone

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Note: to do this project you will need the DIY Mini Drone Kit, available from our partner Home Science Tools®. An Arduino must be purchased separately. The Electronics Kit for Arduino, available from our partner Home Science Tools®, contains the additional parts you will need, including an ultrasonic sensor. The program in the DIY Mini Drone: Arduino™ Altitude Control project uses a proportional controller to control the drone's altitude. A potentiometer is connected to one… Read more

Ping Pong Pickup Challenge for Grades 3-5

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th

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15 reviews

In this fun engineering lesson plan, your students will build devices from paper, tape, string, and paper clips to pick up and retrieve a ping pong ball. The challenge is to pick up the ball from as far away as possible! Middle school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. The 2023 competition is over, but you can see what students built and learn about the winners on the 2023 Engineering Challenge summary page. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Ping Pong Pickup Challenge for Grades 9-12

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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In this fun engineering lesson plan, your students will build devices from paper, tape, string, and paper clips to pick up and retrieve a ping pong ball. The challenge is to pick up the ball from as far away as possible! Elementary school and middle school versions of this lesson plan are also available. The 2023 competition is over, but you can see what students built and learn about the winners on the 2023 Engineering Challenge summary page. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

High School - Science & Engineering Practices

Pinholes, Light and Aperture Size

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Pinhole cameras are not just for grannies! Even compared to all of the latest technology, a pinhole camera still gets beautiful results. Find out how this very simple aperture design works to control the way light enters the lens of your camera. Read more

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