High School Lesson Plans (Page 4)

Make Mushroom Packaging to Explore Long-Term Ecological Impact

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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Are your students passionate about the environment? Do they like to explore new ideas for more eco-friendly products? This lesson will give your students a chance to grow a product out of mycelium composite, a material that recently gained traction as an eco-friendly alternative for many plastics and foams. Students will analyze the impact of this product on the environment at every step of its life cycle, from raw material to the end of its life, and compare it to a plastic or cardboard… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

Model the Chances of Getting an Autoimmune Disease

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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Can genetic or environmental factors affect our chances of getting a certain disease? In this activity, your students will model how an existing predisposition can impact the probability of developing an autoimmune disease using dice and M&M's® candy! Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

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

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

Protecting Nature with Technology

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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You might have read about the negative impacts modern human civilization has had on the environment, like pollution, deforestation, and extinction of animal species. How can we use modern technology to help protect the environment? In this project-based lesson students will design an electronic circuit that can measure something in the environment like water quality and light pollution, and develop a plan for how their circuits could be used to solve a real-world problem. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

HS-ESS3-4. Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.

Recycling PLA Plastic using Green Chemistry

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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Educational Goal To understand: How polylactic acid (PLA) plastic is an example of green chemistry technology particularly pollution prevention and designing safer chemicals Student Objectives Students will: Learn about renewable "corn" plastic is made from polylactic acid Recycle the polylactic acid cup into a new product: a cleaning solution Conduct a saponification reaction Analyze PLA against the 12 principles of green chemistry (Optional) Verify the contents of their… Read more

Rocket Catcher Challenge for Grades 9-12

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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In this fun engineering lesson plan, your students will build a rocket-catching device to help a falling rocket land vertically without crashing, using simple and readily-available materials. Elementary and middle school versions of this lesson plan are also available. This lesson was part of the 2025 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

High School - Science & Engineering Practices

Rubber Band Car Challenge for Grades 9-12

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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In this fun engineering lesson plan, your students will build rubber band-powered cars using readily available craft supplies. The challenge is to build a car that goes as far as possible while making careful use of materials. Elementary school and middle school versions of this lesson plan are also available. This lesson was part of the 2024 Science Buddies Engineering Challenge. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

High School - Science & Engineering Practices

The Making of a GMO Crop

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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Students will compare and contrast methods of selective plant breeding, describe the scientific process of creating a genetically modified plant, compare genetically modified soybean seeds to conventional soybean seeds, describe the impact weeds have on plant growth, and understand how a genetically modified seed can help farmers manage weeds. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

HS-LS1-1. Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins, which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.
HS-LS3-1. Ask questions to clarify relationships about the role of DNA and chromosomes in coding the instructions for characteristic traits passed from parents to offspring.

Volleyball Machine Challenge for High School

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

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Teach your students about the engineering design process with this fun lesson plan. They will design and build two "volleyball machines" that launch a ping pong ball back and forth over a net. While the 2019 Engineering Challenge is over, your students can still try this project and compare their scores to top scores from around the world! Teachers, note that elementary school and middle school versions of this lesson plan are also available. Looking for this year's challenge? Check out… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

High School - Science & Engineering Practices

Wind Maze

Lesson Plan Grade: 4th-12th

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Students will explore the elements by designing a wind maze, a device that can direct the wind along a specific path. Learning Objectives Students will: Design and test a wind maze. Consider how to direct the wind down an intended path by creating bends in the maze. Use observations from their tests to compare solutions and iterate on their designs. NGSS Alignment This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations: … Read more

High School Lesson Plans (70 results)

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