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Blast Off!
Source Institutions
Students design and create their own air-powered rockets, in this hands-on activity.
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Canine House of Cards
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This simple construction activity teaches the importance of architectural structure. Learners build and test designs for a paper "doghouse" strong enough to hold the weight of a jumbo dog biscuit.
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Electric Paddle Boat
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In this activity, learners build an electric two-paddle boat using paint paddles, plastic knives, and empty water bottles.
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Set It Straight
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners build a simple tabletop seesaw to test how different variables (the position of the fulcrum, distance, weight) affect its balance under increasing weight loads.
Finding the Right Crater
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This quick demonstration (on page 11 of PDF) allows learners to understand why scientists think water ice could remain frozen in always-dark craters at the poles of the Moon.
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Eye Spy
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This fun activity uses simple materials such as milk cartons and mirrors to introduce the ideas of optics and visual perception.
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Action Figure
Source Institutions
In this project, students explore how levers work, by making a puppet with moving limbs.
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As Straight as a Pole
Source Institutions
In this engineering activity (page 3 of PDF), young learners investigate how a pole can be made stable by “planting” its base in the ground or adding supports to the base.
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Designing a Wall
Source Institutions
In this engineering activity (page 5 of PDF), young learners investigate how materials and design contribute to the strength of a structure, particularly walls.
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Supporting Structures
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In this activity about living things and gravity (page 5 of PDF), learners design and build an exoskeleton or an endoskeleton for an animal of their own invention.
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Rockets Away!
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners work in teams to construct and test fly drinking straw rockets. Learners explore how changing the rockets' fins affect flight distance.
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Paper Bridges
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In this activity, learners build bridges using paper and explore how much weight each bridge design can support.
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Straws and Pins
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In this activity, learners build bridges and cantilevers in a series of "building out" challenges with straws and pins.
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Full of Hot Air: Hot Air Balloon Building
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In this activity, learners create a model of a hot air balloon using tissue paper and a hairdryer. Educators can use this activity to introduce learners to density and its role in why things float.
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Handheld Water Bottle Rocket & Launcher
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In this activity, learners build handheld rockets and launchers out of PVC pipes and plastic bottles. Use this activity to demonstrate acceleration, air pressure, and Newton's Laws of Motion.
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Cook Up a Comet
Source Institutions
In this activity (on page 5 of PDF), learners use dry ice and household materials to make scientifically accurate models of comets.
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Clay Beams and Columns
Source Institutions
In this activity, learners make or use pre-made clay beams to scale and proportion. Specifically, they discover that when you scale up proportionally (i.e.
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Nosedive
Source Institutions
This is a great activity for investigating the basics of lift and drag as they pertain to flight. Learners will discover how to avoid "taking a nosedive" by building their own paper airplane.
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Draggin' Boats
Source Institutions
Learners design, build, and test models of "dragon boats" made from up to three milk cartons.
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Go Fly a Kite
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In this hands-on activity, children create their own kites that can fly indoors. Learners are exposed to basic concepts of gravity and air resistance.