To launch:  Read “Albert’s Alphabet” by Leslie Tryon Students will then “build” the letters of their name using provided materials or you can assign groups of students letters, so that the class can “build” the alphabet. 

Students will use Lego WeDo kits or any other building kit such as k’nex, or geomags or craft materials to build the alligator or alligator mouth and then use a protractor to measure the angle of the mouth opening. Connecting math and the everyday world through the use of building an object to incorporate angle measurements.   As an extension of learning students will then attempt to vary the measurement by adjusting the bands or speed of the motor if using wedo or programmable build kits or non-robotic version by adjusting the hinge of the mouth. Students should attempt to alter the build in efforts to change the angle.

Students will create a virtual exhibit that chronicles the journey of the black people during the Great Migration.  Students will use Book Creator in order to create their “exhibit”

 Students, in groups of three, will research the different groups that were involved in the Vietnam war (Vietcong, American soldiers, American press, War Hawks, Anti-War Doves). They will find primary sources and create a summary that reflects their specific group’s perspective on the war. Each group will be required to conduct an “interview” that represents how their specific group was affected by war. Project requires students to already know some type of primary source breakdown strategy. I use SOAP (Speaker, Occasion, Audience, Purpose) in order to break down these primary sources. 

After reading several stories by Sandra Markle, and researching a landform of choice, students will make a list of adaptations that an animal living in that environment would need such as, fur, wings, claws, sharp teeth etc. Then using recycled materials such as paper rolls and craft materials such as wiggly eyes and pom poms, create a new animal.

Students will engage in and design an aerial glider from a list of materials that will be provided for them. An aerial glider is a mobile vehicle that is suspended in air for a given amount of time, and it travels a targeted distance.This vehicle will demonstrate animal adaptations and how their wings are beneficial for successful flight of that creature in their biomes. Knowledge of these concepts will be crucial for industry related fields such as mechanical, electrical and additive manufacturing engineering in both the public and military sectors. Students will learn the hard and soft skills necessary to be globally competitive citizens and perform at the highest standard in various careers. This lesson should be taught at the conclusion of the ecosystems unit as students will need prior knowledge of animal adaptations and how they must adjust to various environments in order to survive.

 This is a hands-on project that uses George Orwell's novel, Animal Farm, as the touchstone text. Students work in groups to construct a functioning windmill that can generate electricity. Each student has a role based on the characters in the book. There are also segments of the project that focus on extracting key information from the text.

Learners will become paleontologists for a day/week. They will discover this career and undertake the challenge of designing a fossil excavator structure to remove newly discovered fossils stuck in a cave crevice. As a class, graph the results on the amount of weight each structure could lift without breaking

Can your group make a balloon to look like a favorite book character, famous person or Superhero which will be driven by a Sphero and Sphero Chariot?

Students will use the design process to create a new pair of shoes.  Students will use multiplication to find the area and/or perimeter of their design.

 Students will create a sustainable ecosystem and observe the process of carbon cycling and photosynthesis using time lapse cameras.

Students will learn about famous African American, Lonnie Johnson who invented the Super Soaker and overcame problems along the way.  They will then be given the STEM process to invent/create a miniature toy.  Students will learn about the life of a famous African American, and then apply the STEM process to solve a problem just like Lonnie Johnson.

Students will start by brainstorming ideas for their tower by looking at actual examples for inspiration. Next, they design their tower on paper or by using digital tools. Another part of this process is to locate materials. Next, they will build the dice tower according to their design and test it. Finally, students redesign the tower as needed, either to fix malfunctions or to improve the existing function and aesthetics. This project is meant to be done over several class periods, potentially as a major project or even the final assignment for a design elective. It contains the entire design cycle, and numerous opportunities for students to report on their project to the teacher or their classmates in whatever way the instructor thinks best. Therefore students have many opportunities to demonstrate their learning in both formative and summative assessments

This task explores the real world topic of building light rails. Throughout the implementation of this task the students will learn about the cost of building railways and how to implement them within a budget. This task explores such mathematical concepts of using coordinates to find the distance between points, using coordinates to build polygons and find the area and length of sides, and writing equations of parallel lines.

 Students will be asked to evaluate their local community and design and build a 3-dimensional circular space, building, or facility to meet their town's / city's / state's needs. Requirements: two written paragraphs, blueprints drafted on graph paper, a physical model, a Project Improvement Plan, and self reflection. 

 Students will program a RaspberryPi using Python to analyze data for the school weather station. They will identify how sensors work and which sensors are needed to collect data. Students will use the Raspberry Pi to program with Python and Javascript Object Notation to create a RESTful API that will display the results of the collected data onto a magic mirror in the classroom. This project can be broken up into lesson sections, smaller projects, and further elaborated upon over time. 

Student will be able to use integration and differentiation to determine the volume of a solid and see the connection to the formula of a cylinder.

This is a culminating activity to be used after completion of a Solutions unit, or later in the curriculum as review or evidence of concept retention. Students will create and label molecular level drawings of aqueous solutions, differentiating between dilute and concentrated solutions, electrolyte and nonelectrolyte solutions, and to illustrate how an ionic solid dissolves.  For each, students will explain in detail what is happening using Livescribe Echo pens.

This is a culminating activity to be used after completion of a Thermochemistry unit, or later in the curriculum as review or evidence of concept retention.  Students will create and label a heating curve, and explain what is happening on a molecular level using Livescribe Echo pens.