This is an applied project where your students will choose from three different project options, then use the design thinking process to create an artificial intelligence and robotics project that solves their user’s problem. In Lesson 1, each student will read all three project overviews. Then, they will choose the project they want to work on for the remaining lessons in the project!

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Code Editor, Electronics Kit, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

In this lesson, students will learn more about their user and complete the first two steps in the Design Thinking process: Empathize and Define. They will listen to pre-recorded video interviews to learn about the wants and needs of their user! Students should only work on the material that corresponds to their project choice. For example: if a student chose Project 1A, they would only work on the Project 1A content.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Code Editor, Electronics Kit, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

In this lesson, students will ideate and sketch designs and pseudocode for their project, then create prototypes of their designs with Micro:bit or MakeCode Arcade. Students should only work on the material that corresponds to their project choice. For example: if a student chose Project 1A, they would only work on the Project 1A content.

Estimated time required: 2-3 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Code Editor, Electronics Kit, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

In this lesson, students will share their projects with their peers, give/receive feedback on each other’s projects, export and submit their designs, and answer a series of reflection questions. Note: the lessons for 1A, 1B, and 1C are almost identical in this section. This is a great chance for students to teach each other about their specific project choice and user!

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Code Editor, Electronics Kit, Laptop/Desktop, Tablet.

Have you ever tried to reach for something that was too far away? What tool could help you reach an object? Try inventing your own grabber to use at home.

The Maker Party, an initiative in which people around the world meet up, learn to make things, and share what they've made online. This collection is designed to support the Maker Party by providing a one-stop shop of STEM and digital making resources that focus on the problem, technology, or process behind object creation. Teachers can use the collection, which is categorized into design, how to (DIY), arts and crafts, robotics, and engineering subtopics, in conjunction with hands-on activities to further this initiative. Like the Maker Party, this collection is designed to encourage hands-on engagement in science, technology, engineering, math, and the arts. This Collection includes: Video (58), Media Gallery (3), Lesson Plan (3) for Grades All , Resources in Spanish (5).

This video from KET traces the energy transformations that occur when coal is burned to produce electricity. Some of the mechanical processes are also described.

Students create large-scale models of microfluidic devices using a process similar to that of the PDMS and plasma bonding that is used in the creation of lab-on-a-chip devices. They use disposable foam plates, plastic bendable straws and gelatin dessert mix. After the molds have hardened overnight, they use plastic syringes to inject their model devices with colored fluid to test various flow rates. From what they learn, students are able to answer the challenge question presented in lesson 1 of this unit by writing individual explanation statements.

Excellent site where students are challenged to read several case studies and make choices about what they would do in the situation. After they choose they are presented with some of the consequences that their decision may produce in order to see if it changes their decision.

Graph theory is a visual way to represent relationships between objects. One of the simplest uses of graph theory is a family tree that shows how different people are related. Another application is social networks like Facebook, where a network of "friends" and their "friends" can be represented using graphs. Students learn and apply concepts and methods of graph theory to analyze data for different relationships such as friendships and physical proximity. They are asked about relationships between people and how those relationships can be illustrated. As part of the lesson, students are challenged to find the social graph of their friends. This prepares students for the associated activity during which they simulate and analyze the spread of disease using graph theory by assuming close proximity to an infected individual causes the disease to spread.

This article features children's literature about mammals and the mammals that live in the polar regions.

This lesson will discuss the details for a possible future manned mission to Mars. The human risks are discussed and evaluated to minimize danger to astronauts. A specialized launch schedule is provided and the different professions of the crew are discussed. Once on the surface, the crew's activities and living area will be covered, as well as how they will make enough fuel to make it off the Red Planet and return home.

Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum Module. Students build spreadsheets to estimate discharge for a culvert using the Manning equation, and to estimate culvert size, given a specified discharge.

Mapper's Delight is an iPhone app that shows how rappers cover the globe with references to cities, neighborhoods and regions, using augmented reality to put music and language at your fingertips. With access to data from 1 million transcribed song lyrics, explorers discover how the world's most popular form of poetry and performance engages language arts, STEM, and cultural and data literacy for the 21st century.

Estimated time required: 1 class period.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Rap music is often about the first person narrative point of view. When one listens to rap they are listening to a story about a person who, like any other author, comes from a specific community, in a specific time and a specific place. That community may be separated or distinguished from that of the listener by media, history, or experience, but in many ways they are still connected. The artist is, at the same time, a unique expression of the community they claim to represent (local perspective) and someone who is subject to the same generalizations when they are viewed from someone not of that community (visitor’s perspective).

Estimated time required: 1 class period.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Students will use mathematical concepts (plotting points, slope, equations) and Social Studies (geography) to Map their way around the globe.

Estimated time required: 1 class period.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Students will use mathematical concepts (plotting points, slope, equations) and Social Studies (geography) to Map their way around the globe.

Estimated time required: 1 class period.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Using the Rap Almanac database students will be able to run simple and/or advanced searches using keyword words, rhyme phrases, people, places, or by the complexity of text found in hip hop lyrics.

Estimated time required: 1 class period.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Students learn about slope, determining slope, distance vs. time graphs through a motion-filled activity. Working in teams with calculators and CBL motion detectors, students attempt to match the provided graphs and equations with the output from the detector displayed on their calculators.

This is an indoor lab where students design marble runs to test what factors affect the final velocity of a marble.