Part of a materials science engineering course, a project through which students investigate the future of solar electricity by creating prototypes of solar cells. Students complete exercises in "project planning, analysis, design, optimization, demonstration, reporting and team building."

The Enlightenment was a period of time, starting around 1715, when people developed new ideas about human existence, including people's basic rights and the purpose of government. When our Founding Fathers created a government for the new United States, they embraced many Enlightenment ideas. LESSON OBJECTIVES: Analyze the ideas behind America's founding documents. *Identify the ideas of various Enlightenment thinkers who influenced America's founders. *Recognize how various individuals and groups contributed to the development of the U.S. government. *Big Ideas: salons, Age of Reason, natural rights, state of nature, social contract, consent of the governed, republicanism, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Locke

Students learn about the wonderful and fascinating country of China, and its environmental challenges that require engineering solutions, many in the form of increased energy efficiency, the incorporation of renewable energy, and new engineering developments for urban and rural areas. China is fast becoming an extremely influential factor in our world today, and will likely have a large role in shaping the decades ahead. China is the world's largest energy consumer and the largest producer of carbon dioxide emissions, leading engineers and scientists to be concerned about the role these emissions play in rural and urban public and environmental health, as well as in global climate change. Through exploring some sources of air pollution, appropriate housing for different climate zones, and the types of renewable energy, the lessons and activities of this unit present ways that engineers are helping people in China, using an approach to cleaner, smarter, healthier and more-efficient ways of living that apply to people wherever they live.

In this unit, students explore the various roles of environmental engineers, including: environmental cleanup, water quality, groundwater resources, surface water and groundwater flow, water contamination, waste disposal and air pollution. Specifically, students learn about the factors that affect water quality and the conditions that enable different animals and plants to survive in their environments. Next, students learn about groundwater and how environmental engineers study groundwater to predict the distribution of surface pollution. Students also learn how water flows through the ground, what an aquifer is and what soil properties are used to predict groundwater flow. Additionally, students discover that the water they drink everyday comes from many different sources, including surface water and groundwater. They investigate possible scenarios of drinking water contamination and how contaminants can negatively affect the organisms that come in contact with them. Students learn about the three most common methods of waste disposal and how environmental engineers continue to develop technologies to dispose of trash. Lastly, students learn what causes air pollution and how to investigate the different pollutants that exist, such as toxic gases and particulate matter. Also, they investigate the technologies developed by engineers to reduce air pollution.

Students explore the biosphere and its associated environments and ecosystems in the context of creating a model ecosystem, learning along the way about the animals and resources. Students investigate different types of ecosystems, learn new vocabulary, and consider why a solid understanding of one's environment and the interdependence of an ecosystem can inform the choices we make and the way we engineer our communities. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in which students use their growing understanding of various environments and the engineering design process, to design and create their own model biodome ecosystems.

Students solve equations and inequalities with rational numbers, and encounter real-world situations that can be modeled and solved using equations and inequalities.

Students estimate the storage capacity of CDs and DVDs by assessing diffraction patterns of green and red laser beams.

Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier, and which people have used to provide mechanical advantage for thousands of years. Students learn about the wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw and pulley in the context of the construction of a pyramid, gaining insights into tools that have been used since ancient times and are still important today. Through numerous hands-on activities, students imagine themselves as ancient engineers building a pyramid. Student teams evaluate and select a construction site, design a pyramid, perform materials calculations, test a variety of cutting wedges on different materials, design a small-scale cart/lever transport system to convey building materials, experiment with the angle of inclination and pull force on an inclined plane, see how a pulley can change the direction of force, and learn the differences between fixed, movable and combined pulleys. While learning the steps of the engineering design process, students practice teamwork, creativity and problem solving.

[Free Registration/Login Required] This high school lesson plan has students look at data from the elections between 1824-1861 and the effect the two party system had on the outcomes.

Students explore picture books to identify the characteristics of four types of conflict. They then write about a conflict they have experienced and compare it to a conflict from literature.

Students learn the role of the executive branch in creating and carrying out laws. Through role-play, the class models the legislative and execution processes as they create a new coin in order to learn how the executive and legislative branches work together. They follow the new coin from its inception as an idea in the executive branch to its creation at the U.S. Mint.
LESSON OBJECTIVES: Identify requirements for the new coin by analyzing a "Presidential Announcement." *Model the legislative process by voting for a "bill" authorizing the new coin. *Act out executive approval by accepting or vetoing the bill. *Participate in the bill's "execution" by designing a new coin. *Recall the steps of the coin-making process by completing a word bank worksheet.

Great Lakes Now: An Exploration of the Great Lakes is an introduction to the science and study of the Great Lakes. This collection aims to introduce students to basic scientific and geographic concepts about the Great Lakes. There are 17 lessons in this collection, each aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and either Common Core standards, Earth Science or SEP standards. The lessons feature a number of interactive or hands-on activities for students to explore such topics as the physical features of the Great Lakes, the interconnectedness of the water system, and the geology and formation of the Great Lakes. Moving away from these majestic lakes themselves, the lessons also explore broader concepts such as watersheds and ancillary bodies of water that are part of the Great Lakes ecosystem, special environments within the Great Lakes region, and examine societal concerns about drinking water quality – both in the lakes and delivered through municipal water systems. The 17 lessons from this collection can be taught individually or sequenced together as a larger unit on the Great Lakes. Embedded throughout the collection are links to videos produced by Detroit Public Television and Great Lakes Now, as well as a range of other resources that support citizen science and encourage exploration.

Research a data center career you're interested in using Google Search, then create a presentation using Google Slides. Time to complete: 45-90 minutes

In this unit, students explore ancient Greece, learning and exploring the different characteristics of ancient Greece and its values.

This lesson will focus on bony fish form and adaptations. Students will begin by looking at different types of marine life, particularly fish, in the Aurelia application. After discussing the 3 different classes of fish and basic fish anatomy, students will take a deeper dive into the bony fish class and learn about the adaptations that they have to survive in different ecosystems. At the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify the external anatomy of a bony fish and be able to tell the difference between a bony, cartilaginous or jawless fish.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Students observe multiple examples of capillary action. First they observe the shape of a glass-water meniscus and explain its shape in terms of the adhesive attraction of the water to the glass. Then they study capillary tubes and observe water climbing due to capillary action in the glass tubes. Finally, students experience a real-world application of capillary action by designing and using "capillary siphons" to filter water.

Doctors, astrophysicists, and daycare providers are only some of the careers that will be explored in this lesson in which students research careers and publish occupational summaries about them.

This lesson will focus on cartilaginous fish form and adaptations. Students will begin by looking at different types of marine life, particularly fish, in the Aurelia application. After discussing the biological classification system and the 3 classes of fish, students will learn the external anatomy of the main groups of cartilaginous fish. Students will then take a deeper dive into the adaptations of cartilaginous fish that make them different from bony fish. We will finish up by covering modern issues that are facing cartilaginous fish and how we can help their populations.

Estimated time required: 1-2 class periods.

Technology required for this lesson: Tablet or Smartphone.

Students make sense of dollars and cents when they study the importance of saving and budgeting in this lesson.

Students explore various habitats (forest, desert, water, rainforest, and wetland), investigating how plants and animals survive within them, and compare and contrast the information that they gather.