Get Me Off This Planet!
Posted on September 13th, 2015 by Mary Lord
In this lesson to teach middle school students how a spacecraft gets from the surface of the Earth to Mars, students first investigate rockets and how they are able to get us into space, then discuss the nature of an orbit as well as how orbits enable us to get from planet to planet.
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Get Me Off This Planet!
Tags: Aerospace, astronauts, calculations, Class Activities, forces, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Humans in Space, Lesson Plans, Mars, motions, NASA, Physics, trajectory
High school students working in teams of four learn how a device made with dye from berries can be used to convert light energy into electrical energy by building their own organic solar cells and measuring performance based on power output.
In this activity for middle school science, high school physics, or engineering, groups of students explore the housing crisis caused by natural disasters by applying appropriate technology and fluid mechanics to design sustainable shelters that can withstand flooding and high winds.
In this activity, student teams in grades 8 and up learn about the engineering design process and physical forces by building a bridge from a single sheet of paper and up to five paper clips that will span 20 cm and support the weight of 100 pennies. Like real engineers, teams also have limited budgets and must make trade-offs in materials.
Teams of students in grades 5 to 7 locate a contaminant spill in a hypothetical site by measuring the pH of soil samples. They then predict the direction of groundwater flow using mathematical modeling and use the engineering design process to come up with alternative treatments for the contaminated water.
Plant a tree. Snap a selfie for NASA. There are countless ways students and teachers can celebrate the 45th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22. This year’s theme: It’s Our Turn to Lead. See how your small steps can lead to big change!
A Robot Block Party on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I., FIRST Robotics and LEGO League contests, and Botball regionals in New Mexico are just some of the 250-plus events taking place around the country during National Robotics Week.
NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing, is speeding into STEM education. Acceleration Nation is a new learning program created in partnership with Scholastic to teach elementary and middle school students about math and science behind the Three D’s of Speed: Drag, Downforce, and Drafting.
In this hands-on activity, teams of students in grades 3 to 12 learn how engineers design tire treads to increase safety and reliability, then follow the design process to construct, test, and evaluate treads sculpted from clay that will be safe when driving in heavy rain.
