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Learners use red cabbage juice and pH indicator paper to test the acidity and basicity of household materials. The activity links this concept of acids and bases to acid rain and other pollutants.

In this activity (on page 2 of the PDF under GPS: Sailboat Design Activity), learners will discover how the shape of an object, not just its weight, determines whether it floats or sinks.

In this engineering challenge, learners design and build a crane out of cardboard to see how heavy a load it can lift.

Working in teams of four, learners build tetrahedral kites following specific instructions and using specific materials.

Learners recreate the classic egg-drop experiment with an analogy to the Mars rover landing. The concept of terminal velocity will be introduced, and learners perform several velocity calculations.

In this engineering activity, learners build a device (an anemometer) to measure how fast the wind is blowing.

In this activity, learners explore the human influences on the carbon cycle and examine how fossil fuels release carbon.

In this classic hands-on activity, learners estimate the length of a molecule by floating a fatty acid (oleic acid) on water.

In this ocean engineering activity, learners explore buoyancy and water displacement. Then, learners design models of deep sea divers that are neutrally buoyant.

Data in computers is stored and transmitted as a series of zeros and ones. Learners explore how to represent numbers using just these two symbols, through a binary system of cards.

Computers are often used to put lists into some sort of order—for example, names into alphabetical order, appointments or e-mail by date, or items in numerical order.

In this activity, learners discover how solar energy can be used to heat water.

In this activity, learners construct speedy vehicles made out of paper plates and powered by twisted rubber bands.

In this activity, learners model directed evolution by making paper fly. Learners construct and fly paper airplanes.

In this activity, learners build an old-fashioned paddle boat out of simple materials.

In this activity, learners create a mixture of water, alcohol and permanent marker ink, and then add salt to form a colored alcohol layer on top of a colorless water layer.

In this design challenge activity, learners modify a cup so it can carry a marble down a zip line and also drop it onto a target.

In this activity, learners take apart a used zinc-carbon dry cell battery.

In this activity, learners explore the concept of friction and how ball bearings reduce friction.

Learners build particulate matter collectors--devices that collect samples of visible particulates present in polluted air.