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Jam Jar Jet
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners create a "Jam Jar Jet" based on Francois Reynst's discovery of a pulsejet engine, which uses one opening for both air intake and exhaust.

Kinetic Sculpture: Program the Pico Cricket to Make Your Art Light Up or Spin
Source Institutions
Use a Pico Cricket (micro-controller) to animate your art! You can program a Pico Cricket to make your art spin, light up, or make music.

An Ice Lens
Source Institutions
In this optics activity, learners discover basic lens-making techniques by using a tennis ball to make a lens out of ice.

Sky Time: Kinesthetic Astronomy
Source Institutions
Through a series of simple body movements, learners gain insight into the relationship between time and astronomical motions of Earth (rotation about its axis, and orbit around the Sun), and also abou

Smart Domino Tricks
Source Institutions
In this activity, you take regular dominoes, and turn them into conductive switches that can turn on a LEGO RCX block or Pico Cricket (micro controller). LEGO RCX block or Pico Cricket is required.

Interactive Pencil Drawings: Drawings That Tell a Story!
Source Institutions
Margaret Pezalla-Granlund, a Minnesota artist, came up with this really fun and surprising activity using graphite from a pencil, connected with a Pico Cricket to tell a story: "The first time I saw s

LEGO® Chemical Reactions
Source Institutions
This activity uses LEGO® bricks to represent atoms bonding into molecules and crystals. The lesson plan is for a 2.5 hour workshop (or four 45-minute classes).

Save a Snowman
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners explore the concept of insulation by trying to keep Olaf the Snowman from melting. This activity encourages critical thinking and problem solving.

Social Fireflies: Pico "Firefly" Communication
Source Institutions
Make two firefly lanterns, then program them to blink to one another and change colors.

Edible Glass
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners discover the principles of edible glass by making a supersaturated sugar solution.

Food Forensics: A Case of Mistaken Identity
Source Institutions
This lesson is designed to serve as an introduction to the immune system. It can stand alone or it can lead into further studies of the immune system.

Making Metals Strong
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners demonstrate the effects of cold-working (strain-hardening) and annealing. Learners discover that these processes change the load that a wire can support.

Musical Ice: How to Make an Ice Theremin
Source Institutions
Build a musical ice theremin by programming a micro controller, like a Pico Cricket to respond to resistance generated by the ice melting, or the ice being touched.

Corals on Acid
Source Institutions
The objective of this inquiry-based lesson is for learners to gain an understanding of how increasing ocean acidity can affect the calcification of marine organisms.

Model Wind Tunnel
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build a miniature wind tunnel to measure force. Learners construct the model out of Lexan plastic, a fan, and a precise digital scale.

Pico Cricket (Tiny Computer) Activity Ideas
Source Institutions
This is a web page that helps informal educators brainstorm on how to use a Pico Cricket (tiny computer) in an informal activity.

Breaking the Code: Mayan Math
Source Institutions
This is a lesson plan for an activity in which learners, playing the role of archeologists, use math concepts about number bases to decipher the Dresden Codex, an ancient Mayan document.

Scratch Film
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners manipulate film to create homemade movies. Scratch Film, also known as Direct Animation, is the process of drawing and scratching designs directly onto film.

Monitoring Amphibians
Source Institutions
In this field study, learners discover how to collect data in the field and how their efforts can help certain animals, specifically, amphibians.

Marble Mazes
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners create a marble maze that contains sensors. As a metal marble triggers the sensors, the Pico Cricket turns on lights or spins motors.