Read the book “Chicka, Chicka, Boom Boom” to your students. Discuss the letters that are in the book. Then have students work in pairs or groups to create a coconut tree that can hold as many alphabet magnets as possible. When finished students will count how many letters their tree could hold. They will also name as many letters as they can from their tree.

After reading the book Clouds by Gail Saunders-Smith the students will get into groups of 2 to create their own clouds, using slime, and then discussing the type created, and turn and talk with a different team.

Read the story, The Gingerbread Man. Discuss the plot and what happens in the beginning, middle and end. Discuss an alternate ending. Guide the students to think of another way he could safely get across the river. Then get the students to work together in groups of two to build rafts using straws that will float on water and hold up a penny that’s represents the fox.

A short tutorial about how to utilize the engineering design brief template on Go Open NC. This is the template we will use to upload high-quality lessons that are tied to NC Content Standards and utilize the engineering design process

Students will research lighthouses of North Carolina using print and digital resources and create a digital presentation on the NC lighthouse of their choice. After studying basic electric circuits, students will use cardboard and Makedo tools to design and build a model of this lighthouse and wire it to light using a kit of electronic supplies. Students will showcase their final products with friends and family using digital photography, Google Presentations and a screencast video on Flipgrid or another platform of the teacher’s choosing. Students will submit a Seesaw documenting their experience with the Design and Engineering Process while building their lighthouse.

Students can work in groups in order to design a race car using stick magnets as the energy source. Students are using their knowledge of magnetic energy to design a race car that can be pushed or pulled through a race course seeking the fastest time. Students will design their race car out of a set group of engineering/building supplies. Math can be incorporated as well in the design process.

Students can work in groups from 1-5 in order to design a race car using stick magnets as the energy source. Students are using their knowledge of magnetic energy to design a race car that can be pushed or pulled through a race course seeking the fastest time. Students will design their race car out of a set group of engineering/building supplies. Math can be incorporated as well in the design process.

In this unit, students will research insects and dive into writing juicy paragraphs with main ideas and supporting details. They will create their insect out of various materials to get ready for the gallery opening.

Students will explore principles of force of motion and engineering by creating their own marble runs. The marble runs will be created out of material such as paper, cardboard, tubes, etc. Students are experimenting with different models to see how fast the marbles can travel based on different slopes and angles.

Create a model of the digestive, respiratory, and muscular system. Students can choose a specific system to focus on and write descriptions within the model to inform others.

Students will create a model of the rotation of the Earth, moon, and sun. The model will demonstrate how the rotation of the moon and sun can cause solar and lunar eclipses.

Students will use stream tables to create a landslide and explain why erosion changes the land on mountaintops.

Students will use stream tables to create a landslide and explain why erosion changes the land on mountaintops.

Students will select from a variety of materials to design a new creature. The creature should include body parts that will allow it to get food, protect itself, and move from place to place.

Can you create a free standing castle using the given materials that will withstand the dragon’s fire?

Students will be grouped into teams. Then each team will create a pathway for their Hexbug to travel. The Hexbug path should be 5 feet from beginning to end and must include two curves, a hill, one bridge and one tunnel. The Hexbug must travel from the beginning to the end without any assistance. Each team will have a timer and will have 20 minutes to design the quickest path they can for their Hexbug.  After the first race teams will have 5 minutes to talk about changes they can make and 5 minutes to make the changes. There will be one final race to see if a different team is able to win.

Students will design a pencil box utilizing popsicle sticks, painters tape, and cardboard. After designing, they will test it’s functionality with pencils and then measure the volume inside their box with unit cubes.

Students can work collaboratively in small groups of 3-4 students for this engineering design unit that integrates literacy to explore forces and motion (pushes or pulls).  Students will design a way to safely keep bunnies out of a garden.

Students will work or in learning teams to design and build a cardboard ship bow using Makedo tools to transform their desk or a copy paper box into a pirate ship for the classroom museum. Students will research historic North Carolina pirates including Blackbeard using multiple print and digital texts to prepare a written entry for their exhibit.Family and other classes will be invited to view the museum.  Students will share their experience with the Design and Engineering Process through class discussion and by publishing a digital record of the DEP on Seesaw.