All resources in PA STEM Toolkit Workgroup - Sandbox

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Arithmetic and Travel Planning

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The learner plans a vacation trip to Washington DC focusing on a three of their own selections between the numerous historical sites, monuments or museums. The learner plans where they will visit over those three to four days. Using addition, subtraction and or percentage functions, the learner prepares a budget for lodging, transportation, entertainment, souvenirs and food. The student will be ask to develop a five slide PowerPoint presentation of one of their places chosen and what they plan to spend on the visit to Washington DC. Materials to include in this exercise are computer, books and calculators.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan, Reading

Author: Deborah Madden

Triangles Everywhere: Sum of Angles in Polygons

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Students learn about regular polygons and the common characteristics of regular polygons. They relate their mathematical knowledge of these shapes to the presence of these shapes in the human-made structures around us, especially trusses. Through a guided worksheet and teamwork, students explore the idea of dividing regular polygons into triangles, calculating the sums of angles in polygons using triangles, and identifying angles in shapes using protractors. They derive equations 1) for the sum of interior angles in a regular polygon, and 2) to find the measure of each angle in a regular n-gon. This activity extends students’ knowledge to engineering design and truss construction. This activity is the middle step in a series on polygons and trusses, and prepares students for the Polygon and Popsicle Trusses associated activity.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Andi Vicksman, Maia Vadeen, Malinda Zarske, Nathan Coyle, Russell Anderson, Ryan Sullivan, Sabina Schill

What Is a Robot?

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This lesson introduces students to the major characteristics of robots. The associated activity uses the LEGO MINDSTORMS(TM) NXT system as an example. Before studying robots in more detail, it is important for students to consider the many items they encounter in their daily lives that are robots so they can explore ways engineers can utilize robotics to solve problems in everyday life.The activity also serves as an introduction to the LEGO NXT system so that students may utilize it as an educational tool in subsequent lessons and activities.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Ajay Nair

Tower O' Power

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In this activity, students learn about creating a design directly from a CAD (computer-aided design) program. They will design a tower in CAD and manufacture the parts with a laser cutter. A competition determines the tower design with the best strength:weight ratio. Students also investigate basic structural truss concepts and stress concentrations. Partnership with a local college or manufacturing center is necessary for the completion of this project.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Authors: Christopher M. Yakacki, Diana Wiant, Janet Yowell, Malinda Schaefer Zarske

Renewable Energy Design: Wind Turbines

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Students are introduced to renewable energy, including its relevance and importance to our current and future world. They learn the mechanics of how wind turbines convert wind energy into electrical energy and the concepts of lift and drag. Then they apply real-world technical tools and techniques to design their own aerodynamic wind turbines that efficiently harvest the most wind energy. Specifically, teams each design a wind turbine propeller attachment. They sketch rotor blade ideas, create CAD drawings (using Google SketchUp) of the best designs and make them come to life by fabricating them on a 3D printer. They attach, test and analyze different versions and/or configurations using a LEGO wind turbine, fan and an energy meter. At activity end, students discuss their results and the most successful designs, the aerodynamics characteristics affecting a wind turbine's ability to efficiently harvest wind energy, and ideas for improvement. The activity is suitable for a class/team competition. Example 3D rotor blade designs are provided.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: AMPS, Gisselle Cunningham, Lindrick Outerbridge, Russell Holstein

Alien Launchers

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What kiddo doesn't want to launch something across the room?! In this challenge, students work to launch an alien the greatest distance using everyday materials. This is a challenge that can easily be adapted to different age groups and a variety of circumstances such as needing substitute plans or just beginning the wonderful world of STEM.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Beth Norman

Go Green: Reduce, Re-use, Recycle, and Re-design a Plastic Grocery Bag

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This is a STEM unit that can be used in conjunction with ITEEA EbD TEEMS Grade 2 Our Environment, Our Health Unit. Further, teachers might want to use this STEM Unit with environmental units and Earth Day. Students learn about their positive and negative impact on their environment. Students learn that they can have a positive impact on their environment when they use the 4 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Redesign process.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Jessica Redcay

Air: Design a Parachute for a Lego Person

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This STEM challenge can be used during an air unit. Students work together in groups to create a parachute for a lego person. Students are able to find ways to best maximize air resistance. The students need to find the best way to increase the time that the lego person stays in the air when dropped from the second floor to the first floor.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Jessica Redcay

Oil Spill Simulation

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Students will have the opportunity to work in groups and investigate the effects of an “oil spill” in a water body. In a simulated “ocean” (a pan of water), students will drop a small amount of oil into the water and see the effects and interaction. In an introduction to the workshop, students discuss sources of pollution and oil contamination in water bodies – from point sources (tanker spills) and non-point sources (vehicle run-off). A brief discussion on preventing and cleaning up oil contamination will lead into the activity, in which the students will use a variety of materials to see what method works best for recovering the most oil from the water.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Jamie Hitz

PBL Snow Project

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This project is for students in second grade who will be asked to further look at snow and how it affects their daily lives. Through this activity they will learn more about hazardous weather. Then they will make a conclusion as a group based on the information they found.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Alex Ventresca