Lesson Plans (Page 11)

Lesson Plan Grade: Kindergarten

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Students will enter this lesson knowing that materials get warm in the sun. In this fun follow-up activity, your students will get creative with craft materials. They will figure out how to protect an "animal" and its territory from getting too hot in the sun. What will they build to keep their animals cool? This lesson connects effortlessly with the How Sunlight Warms the Earth lesson. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

K-PS3-2. Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area.

Cricket Wicket Knockdown Challenge for Grades 6-8

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build a ball-launching machine to knock down a target. Optionally, they can enter their designs in the 2020 Engineering Challenge for a chance to win a cash prize for your school! Teachers, note that elementary school and high school versions of this lesson plan are also available. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
MS-PS3-5. Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object.

Cybersecurity: Denial-of-Service Attack

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Have you or your students ever felt frustrated at not being able to access a favorite website or online game? Did you realize the site might have been a victim of a cyber-attack? If you aren't careful about online security, your own computer could even be used to launch the attack! In this fun lesson plan, you and your students will model one type of attack (a denial-of-service attack) and figure out how to protect the network against it (no computer programming required)! Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
MS-ETS1-4. Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.

Design a Delayed-Release Tablet

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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In this lesson, students are challenged to design and build a controlled-release tablet, which will be made from different colored bath tablets and a variety of water-soluble plastics. First, they will have to test the properties of each of the different plastic materials. Then their task will be to create a tablet that releases three different colors, each at a pre-determined time after the tablet has been submerged in water. As students design and build their controlled-release tablets, they… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
MS-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.

Design a Seeding Machine to Counteract Deforestation

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

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Forests are the green lung of the Earth and home to millions of different plant, fungi, animal, and bacteria species. Unfortunately, today many forests are threatened by deforestation, which causes significant biodiversity loss. Ongoing reforestation efforts across the world intend to counteract the effects of deforestation. As planting trees by hand does not scale well, machines on the ground, as well as flying drones have been developed to help plant tree seedlings or seeds. In this lesson,… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.
MS-ETS1-2. Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem.
MS-ESS3-5. Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.

Design 'Y'er Genes

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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This lesson introduces students to the relationships between chromosomes, genes, and DNA molecules. Using the example of a strawberry, it also provides activities that clearly show how changes in the DNA of an organism, either naturally or artificially, can cause changes. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

HS-LS3-3. Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

Design Your Own 3D Optical Illusions

Lesson Plan Grade: 8th-12th

In this lesson your students will design their own 3D objects that exhibit "anomalous mirror symmetry"—that is, their reflections appear flipped left to right when you put them in front of a mirror. Students will start by defining the outline of a 2D shape using functions. They will then use MATLAB or Python code to convert the 2D shape into a 3D curve that replicates the outline of the 2D shape when viewed from a certain angle. Finally, they will convert the 3D curve into a solid 3D… 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

Drones in High-Tech Farming (Grades 3-5)

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-5th

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Students will discover the science behind how a drone works, explore how drones are used in agriculture, and program and operate a drone for the purpose of surveying a field. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
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.
3-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
3-PS2-2. Make observations and/or measurements of an object's motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion.

Earthquakes and Tectonic Plates

Lesson Plan Grade: 3rd-7th

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© 2009 California Academy of Sciences How can we determine the locations of tectonic plate boundaries? How can we use seismic waves to pinpoint the epicenter of an earthquake? In this activity, students will explore these and other questions using seismic data and triangulation. Read more

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