Students work together in small groups, while competing with other teams, to explore the engineering design process through a tower building challenge. They are given a set of design constraints and then conduct online research to learn basic tower-building concepts. During a two-day process and using only tape and plastic drinking straws, teams design and build the strongest possible structure. They refine their designs, incorporating information learned from testing and competing teams, to create stronger straw towers using fewer resources (fewer straws). They calculate strength-to-weight ratios to determine the winning design.

In this video learn how to take a Lewis dot structure to a partially condensed structure to a condensed structure. Video gives an example of this process. [6:48]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Learn how to classify bonds as covalent, polar covalent or ionic by using the differences in electronegativity in this video. Video explains the Pauling scale to find the electronegativity differences in bonding. [11:38]

Khan Academy learning modules include a Community space where users can ask questions and seek help from community members. Educators should consult with their Technology administrators to determine the use of Khan Academy learning modules in their classroom. Please review materials from external sites before sharing with students.

Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains the challenge of studying materials that are too small to see with the naked eye. The technique some scientists use to observe individual atoms is similar to the technique of using touch to find out the size, shape, and location of objects in a small room. [1:05]

Students use a table-top-sized tsunami generator to observe the formation and devastation of a tsunami. They see how a tsunami moves across the ocean and what happens when it reaches the continental shelf. Students make villages of model houses and buildings to test how different material types are impacted by the huge waves. They further discuss how engineers design buildings to survive tsunamis. Much of this activity setup is the same as for the Mini-Landscape activity in Lesson 4 of the Natural Disasters unit.

In this video adapted from KUAC-TV and the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, learn how tectonic plate movement is responsible for building mountains, such as the Wrangell and St. Elias Mountains.

This interactive activity produced for Teachers' Domain shows the relationship between tectonic boundaries and the locations of earthquake events and volcanoes around the world.

Students measure different types of small-sized beams and calculate their respective moments of inertia. They compare the calculations to how much the beams bend when loads are placed on them, gaining insight into the ideal geometry and material for load-bearing beams.

Students conduct several simple lab activities to learn about the five fundamental load types that can act on structures: tension, compression, shear, bending, and torsion. To learn the telltale marks of failure caused by these load types, they break foam insulation blocks by applying these five load types, carefully examine each type of fracture pattern (break in the material) and make drawings of the fracture patterns.

Learn all about gemstones at this site. Here you can view gem images and read the very detailed descriptions and general information facts pertaining to select gems.

Towers have been a part of developed society for centuries, serving a variety of purposes, from watch towers to modern cell towers. In this activity, student groups design and build three types of towers (guyed or cable-supported, free-standing or self-standing, and monopole), engineering them to meet the requirements that they hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds.

This site provides information on carbohydrate metabolism regulation through a quiz set-up. Answer each question, and the correct answers will be presented, complete with a full tutorial.

Understandable lessons about numerous aspects about the composition, function, and interactions of proteins. Each starts with an interactive quiz and links to a tutorial.

A wonderful place to learn all about the fungi. click on the buttons at the bottom of the page to go to sections on their life history, systematics and morphology.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students examine how to use fractions to measure and help conserve freshwater resources.

What are sentence fragments and run-on sentences? Explore this informative resource to review the meaning and some examples of these. Provides techniques for avoiding fragments and run-ons in writing assignments.

This University of North Carolina writing tutorial gives examples and how to use transitions and stresses the importance of organization. W.9-10.1c cohesion/clarity/reason, W.9-10.2c cohesion/clarity/trans, W.11-12.1c Transitions/Cohesion, W.11-12.2c Transition/Cohesion CCSS.ELA-Literacy.WHST.6-8.2.c

In this video segment from Louisville Life, high school students in Louisville, Kentucky describe the benefits of creating rain gardens as a solution to non-point source water pollution.

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students examine our growing waste problem and learn about strategies we can use to lessen the strain on our landfills and Earth's natural resources: reduce, reuse, recycle.

In this virtual field trip find out about how volcanoes are formed and what kind of destruction can they cause. Discover how volcanoes affect our environment and where can you find active volcanoes on earth and on other planets.