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💪✅
Students learn Design Thinking as a problem-solving process through real-world engineering challenges. Through observing the Jeddah Tower construction and building the tallest freestanding tower supporting a marshmallow using spaghetti, tape, and string, analyzing famous engineering successes and failures (Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Japan's Maglev Train, Ford Pinto, Hyatt Regency Skywalk, Solar Impulse, Titanic), and designing plans to save Dullis the sloth by creating and testing rescue device prototypes, students develop their own Design Thinking Reference Guide understanding criteria, constraints, and iterative design processes.
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💪✅
Students discover resource limitations and human impacts on Earth's finite materials investigating distribution and formation. Through examining fossil fuel shortages or exploring climate crisis connections, creating annotated diagrams showing how Earth's resources distribute unevenly from geological processes analyzing renewable versus nonrenewable formations, and engineering conservation devices or mitigation plans for drought-stricken regions, students learn sustainable resource management importance.
🔬
💪✅
Students master how air mass motions and complex interactions cause weather changes. Through solving wedding weather disasters or tracking storm time-lapses showing sudden shifts, rotating through six stations investigating temperature, humidity, air pressure, ocean currents, landforms, and weather fronts interpreting maps providing accurate updates, and designing meteorologist weather reports predicting regional patterns explaining causes scientifically, students learn forecasting using air mass knowledge.
🔬
💪✅
Students explore mutations as DNA changes causing trait variations understanding beneficial, neutral, and harmful effects. Through solving identical-looking but different-tasting food mysteries or examining mutation cases in populations, conducting experiments modeling DNA replication errors and environmental mutation triggers like radiation, and engineering CRISPR applications or mutation protection strategies, students learn how genetic changes drive evolution and disease.
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💪✅
Students learn heat transfers through conduction, convection, and radiation understanding energy flow from hot to cold. Through solving temperature sensation mysteries or conducting heat transfer experiments with different materials, testing insulation properties comparing how quickly ice melts in various materials, and engineering thermal solutions like coolers, solar ovens, or insulated containers, students discover thermal energy as total kinetic energy of particles in matter.
🔬
💪✅
Students learn questioning claims, designing valid experiments, and building evidence-based arguments. Through debunking Halloween candy myths or testing TV commercial claims, conducting controlled experiments testing paper towel absorption and tape strength comparing brands, and designing plus testing their own products using full scientific method, students discover how scientists use observations, testable questions, controlled experiments, and data making sense of the world.
🔬
💪✅
Students deepen scientific argumentation and inquiry skills, constructing sophisticated Claim-Evidence-Reasoning arguments beyond simple observations. Through exploring complex investigations demanding nuanced analysis, designing controlled investigations handling multiple variables and analyzing complex data for patterns, conducting peer review examining experimental designs, students develop authentic scientific reasoning scientists use in research preparing for investigations requiring careful planning and analysis.
🔬
💪✅
Students tackle more complex design challenges requiring deeper empathy work, sophisticated prototyping, and rigorous user testing. Through advanced case studies examining professional design processes, conducting multi-iteration design cycles addressing community problems, and completing comprehensive engineering projects with extensive stakeholder feedback, students refine their ability to identify real needs, generate innovative solutions, and persist through multiple rounds of testing and improvement.
🔬
💪✅
Students discover ecosystems are delicate balancing acts where every organism plays crucial roles. Through investigating crashing honeybee populations or solving Manny Mantis's pesticide protest, conducting nature walks mapping organism connections, experiencing "Dice of Destiny" environmental stressors simulating population changes, and designing solutions protecting threatened coral reefs and wetlands, students learn ecosystem changes ripple through entire webs—complex problems rarely have simple solutions.
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💪✅
Students discover gravity is constant invisible force affecting all objects with mass pulling them downward. Through solving optical illusion mysteries with bowling balls or investigating falling object experiments, conducting four lab stations dropping ping pong balls, building pendulums, and testing air resistance proving gravity pulls consistently, and engineering parachute delivery systems using air resistance slowing gravity's pull, students master gravitational concepts.
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Students master how water cycles through Earth's systems driven by sun energy and gravity. Through solving water park closure mysteries or investigating how pollution travels through water cycles causing acid rain, experiencing Water Cycle in a Jar demonstrations and dice-rolling water molecule journeys tracking paths through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, and engineering drought solutions using conservation devices or technical drawings, students learn water continuously recycles never disappearing.
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Students investigate how forces affect motion discovering Newton's Laws govern all movement. Through solving mysteriously moving supermarket items or testing levitating car models with magnets, conducting three investigations with marbles and ramps testing each law collecting photo and video evidence, and engineering shopping cart crash protectors using force principles safeguarding eggs during collisions, students learn predicting motion outcomes in everyday situations.
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Students discover how science solves problems learning that scientific findings require solid evidence, not guesses. Through investigating crime scene mysteries collecting and analyzing evidence like forensic scientists, examining shoe prints, handwriting samples, hair evidence, and fingerprints using scientific tools and techniques, students learn scientific explanations can be revised as new evidence emerges like detective theories shifting with new clues.
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Students master how genetic variations increase survival probability in specific environments through natural selection. Through solving moth population mysteries or investigating land versus marine iguana divergence conducting simulations, participating in Finch Beak Feeding Frenzy survival games with forks and Froot Loops tracking population data mathematically over generations, and designing biomimicry products inspired by animal and plant adaptations, students learn advantageous traits become common through reproduction.
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Students master how plants convert sunlight, CO₂, and water into glucose and oxygen supporting all life. Through solving plant health mysteries or investigating tree poisoning crimes with herbicide, gathering evidence spinach leaves photosynthesize by measuring oxygen production and testing for glucose under different light conditions, and engineering optimal light conditions for Elodea plants producing oxygen for aquariums, students discover photosynthesis powers Earth's ecosystems.
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💪✅
Students investigate reproduction at genetic levels discovering asexual versus sexual reproduction differences. Through solving sibling appearance mysteries examining chromosomes or comparing algae and frog reproduction types, conducting inheritance pattern investigations using Punnett squares predicting offspring traits, and engineering genetic diversity projects, students learn how sexual reproduction creates variation while asexual reproduction produces genetically identical offspring.
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💪✅
Students investigate matter at atomic and molecular levels discovering that appearance reveals nothing about internal structure. Through exploring reactive elements with interactive periodic tables or solving Chef Crystal's molecular mystery, building atom models with electrons and energy levels, testing conservation of mass in chemical reactions, and designing element character profiles, students learn how atomic structure determines everything from reactivity to taste.
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Students discover adding or removing thermal energy affects particle motion, temperature, and state transitions. Through solving lake transformation accusations or investigating wood frog freezing survival with cryoprotectants, conducting four investigations testing metal ball thermal expansion, food coloring mixing rates, butter boat phase changes, and soda can air pressure, and engineering solutions for Particleville's pothole and water problems, students master states of matter principles.
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💪✅
Students investigate Earth's changing climate and human impact on planetary systems. Through examining rising global temperatures with data analysis or solving ice melting mysteries, conducting ecological footprint calculations comparing resource consumption across lifestyles, and designing solutions reducing carbon emissions through renewable energy proposals or sustainable community planning, students discover connections between daily choices and planetary health learning how individual actions scale to global consequences.
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💪✅
Students learn energy constantly transforms while total amount stays constant through conservation principles. Through solving energy transformation mysteries or analyzing rollercoaster ride physics, conducting experiments with marbles and ramps measuring energy at different heights calculating potential-to-kinetic conversions, and engineering marble run contraptions maximizing energy transfers or designing amusement park rides, students discover how position and motion relate to energy.
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💪✅
Students discover resource limitations and human impacts requiring transitions to sustainable alternatives. Through investigating fossil fuel mysteries or exploring climate crisis connections, creating annotated diagrams showing how Earth's resources distribute unevenly from geological processes analyzing renewable versus nonrenewable formations, and engineering conservation plans or mitigation solutions addressing resource scarcity in affected regions, students learn energy source choices impact planetary health.
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💪✅
Students master how continental drift and plate tectonics reshape Earth's landscape over geological time. Through solving fossil distribution mysteries across continents or investigating whale bones in desert locations, reconstructing Pangaea using fossil and geologic data creating "before and after" maps showing continental positions, and designing modern equipment measuring plate movement gathering data proving plates still shift today, students analyze evidence for plate motion.
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Students investigate changes at molecular levels discovering ice melting is reversible (physical change) while eggs cooking creates entirely new substances (chemical change). Through solving Titanic artifact mysteries or investigating Lady Liberty's green transformation, rotating through six hands-on stations testing physical versus chemical changes, and researching synthetic materials' environmental impacts engineering sustainable alternatives, students identify differences between changes rearranging matter versus changes creating new substances.
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💪✅
Students discover all living things are made of cells—tiny building blocks doing work keeping organisms alive. Through animated journeys inside bodies or live video investigations of specialized cells, examining onion skin and cheek cells under microscopes identifying organelles, conducting plant cell turgor pressure experiments testing drought effects, and designing never-before-seen cells with specialized jobs, students learn how cell parts work together supporting life and function.
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💪✅
Students learn how circulatory, respiratory, digestive, muscular, and nervous systems work together maintaining life. Through animated journeys shrinking inside bodies or investigating organ shortage crises and donation chains, rotating through four stations testing pulse rates, reflexes, muscle-bone connections, and digestion, and engineering solutions for body system malfunctions like blocked vessels or asthma-obstructed airways, students discover how systems cooperate supporting complex functions.
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💪✅
Students master wave properties including amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and energy relationships. Through solving thunder prediction mysteries or conducting light and sound investigations with flashlights and materials, comparing wave energy transfer using Slinkys and ropes testing amplitude and frequency relationships plus digital versus analog signals, and engineering devices helping deaf people detect sound or blind people detect light, students discover how waves carry energy.
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💪✅
Students explore how invisible forces power our world investigating electricity and magnetism principles. Through solving Light Balance performance mysteries or investigating maglev train levitation, building series and parallel circuits testing conductors and experimenting with electromagnets varying coil counts, and engineering devices using electrical or magnetic principles, students discover how these invisible forces enable modern technology from doorbells to MRI machines.
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💪✅
Students master analyzing scale properties of solar system objects understanding vast cosmic distances. Through solving amusement park engineering failures or analyzing space probe data matching celestial objects, converting astronomical units to centimeters designing scaled amusement parks with planet-specific themed rides representing surface conditions, and building constellation shoebox models showing how star distance affects apparent brightness, students grasp mind-boggling space scales.
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Students investigate how genetics sets possibilities while environment determines actual outcomes for traits. Through solving identical twin appearance mysteries or investigating sea turtle temperature-dependent sex determination, conducting nature versus nurture debates researching height, intelligence, and obesity influences, and engineering nutrition solutions for malnourished regions, students discover traits result from genetic and environmental factors interacting in complex ways.
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Students explore the nervous system as control center discovering how brain, spinal cord, and nerves transmit electrical signals. Through animated journeys following neural pathways or investigating reflex response mechanisms, conducting reaction time experiments measuring stimulus-response delays and building neuron models showing signal transmission, and engineering assistive technologies for neurological conditions, students learn how nervous system coordinates all body functions and protects from harm.
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Students master Earth-sun-moon cyclic patterns and gravity's role in cosmic motions. Through solving opposite season mysteries or investigating satellite orbital mechanics without engines, conducting three investigations testing light dispersion on flat, round, and tilted surfaces creating travel brochures explaining seasonal differences, and designing scaled solar system amusement parks or constellation models demonstrating distance-brightness relationships, students learn Earth's movements create observable patterns.
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Students investigate why earthquakes and volcanoes cluster in specific zones where Earth's crustal pieces meet. Through analyzing seismic data from real earthquakes or investigating volcano eruption patterns, building models demonstrating divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries using graham crackers and frosting, and engineering earthquake-resistant structures or early warning systems, students discover how plate tectonics drives Earth's most dramatic geological events.
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Students discover organisms interconnect through feeding relationships where energy flows from producers through consumers to decomposers. Through solving disappearing prey mysteries or investigating ecosystem crashes, designing visual food webs with organism cards showing energy flow arrows from food sources to consumers, and engineering cafeteria waste reduction systems using decomposer knowledge creating composting solutions, students learn removing one species disrupts entire ecosystem networks.
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Students master how heat, pressure, weathering, and erosion transform rocks through continuous cycles. Through solving treasure hunt mysteries or investigating amazing formation changes over time, conducting Crayon Rock Journey experiments modeling igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic processes through melting and compacting, and engineering protection solutions for famous monuments threatened by weathering and erosion, students learn rocks constantly change over geological timescales.
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Students investigate diabetes understanding how bodies regulate blood sugar. Through animated mysteries exploring insulin's role or live investigations testing glucose levels, conducting experiments modeling pancreas function and insulin response, and engineering solutions helping diabetics manage their condition through monitoring devices or dietary planning tools, students discover how body systems maintain homeostasis and what happens when regulatory mechanisms fail.
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Students discover Earth consists of four interconnected spheres constantly interacting in complex ways. Through investigating volcanic eruptions affecting all spheres or examining environmental disasters, exploring how geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere connect through hands-on models, and engineering monitoring systems tracking sphere interactions during natural events, students learn when one sphere changes, ripple effects cascade through all others creating environmental relationships.
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Students discover organisms interact through symbiotic relationships and predator-prey dynamics maintaining ecosystem balance. Through solving coral reef murder mysteries or investigating kelp forest collapses when keystone predators vanish, creating Ecosystem Tours presentations highlighting mutualism, competition, and predation drama using videos and organism cards, and engineering invasive species monitoring and removal solutions, students learn interaction types shape healthy ecosystems.
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Students investigate evolution evidence discovering three types prove common ancestry across species. Through examining Evie Loo's Natural History Wing fossils or analyzing transitional form mysteries, rotating through stations comparing anatomical structures, embryological development, and fossil sequences, and engineering devices monitoring ongoing evolution like antibiotic-resistant bacteria, students master analyzing evolutionary relationships using fossil, embryological, and comparative anatomy evidence lines.
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Students learn how unequal heating, Earth's rotation, and ocean circulation determine regional climates worldwide. Through solving drift pattern mysteries or investigating current dynamics and formation, conducting six discovery days testing latitude heating, ocean currents, density, geography, and heat capacity effects, and engineering ocean current energy harvesting devices choosing optimal locations, students discover oceans act as climate regulators distributing heat globally.
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Students master how internal and external structures support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction in organisms. Through investigating giraffe-Acacia tree relationships or examining structural adaptations across environments, visiting stations featuring plant and animal specimens from different U.S. regions identifying survival structures creating field guide booklets, and using biomimicry designing products inspired by nature's solutions, students learn structure determines function.
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Students explore Earth's position in cosmos investigating how movements create observable patterns. Through tracking shadow positions changing throughout days or examining why different constellations appear different seasons, conducting investigations graphing daylight length changes and observing constellation movements with planispheres, and engineering solar tracking devices or seasonal planning tools, students discover daily phenomena result from Earth's rotation, revolution, and tilt in space.
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Students investigate energy existing in multiple forms (light, heat, electrical, motion, sound) transferring between types. Through solving twin communication mysteries using energy forms or exploring magnetism and invisible forces, rotating through five energy stations investigating electrical circuits and sound waves, and constructing Rube Goldberg machines demonstrating chain reaction energy transfers with labeled blueprints, students master how energy travels through space and matter.
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Students discover matter transforms during chemical changes but total mass stays constant—matter rearranges without being created or destroyed. Through investigating whether substances create new matter or exploring particle behavior in sealed systems, conducting Alka-Seltzer experiments in sealed bags measuring mass before and after reactions proving conservation, and engineering chemical reaction-powered devices or separation techniques, students master conservation of mass principles.
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Students explore Earth's constantly changing surface through erosion, deposition, weathering, and tectonic activity. Through investigating landscape transformations or mysterious shifting scenery, analyzing topographic maps identifying contour lines and landforms calculating elevation differences, and engineering solutions managing erosion or mapping wilderness areas, students learn why landscapes transform over time and how maps reveal Earth's surface features.
Design Thinking
Students learn Design Thinking as a problem-solving process through real-world engineering challenges. Through observing the Jeddah Tower construction and building the tallest freestanding tower supporting a marshmallow using spaghetti, tape, and string, analyzing famous engineering successes and failures (Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Japan's Maglev Train, Ford Pinto, Hyatt Regency Skywalk, Solar Impulse, Titanic), and designing plans to save Dullis the sloth by creating and testing rescue device prototypes, students develop their own Design Thinking Reference Guide understanding criteria, constraints, and iterative design processes.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
In The Solve, students will:
Examine the Jeddah Tower, an engineering accomplishment and the first man-made structure to reach 1 km in height. Students will then be challenged to construct the tallest free-standing tower capable of supporting a given mass. They will compare tower designs and reflect on the design process to determine which steps of the Design Thinking process were utilized.
⏱ 40 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students analyze famous engineered products and designs from history to determine success or failure and evaluate which Design Thinking process steps were used. They examine six engineering examples. For each example, students watch videos, determine if the design was a success or failure and why, apply Design Thinking process steps to analyze whether engineers used them adequately, and suggest improvements or explain what they would have done differently.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Students solve a mystery demonstrating how to design solutions using Design Thinking. They design a plan to save Dullis the sloth by returning him safely to shore. Students use Design Thinking to create and test a prototype of their Dullis-saving device, then use their unique design solution to create the final page of the Mosa Mack Design Thinking comic.
⏱ 160-170 minutes
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Natural Resources
Students discover resource limitations and human impacts on Earth's finite materials investigating distribution and formation. Through examining fossil fuel shortages or exploring climate crisis connections, creating annotated diagrams showing how Earth's resources distribute unevenly from geological processes analyzing renewable versus nonrenewable formations, and engineering conservation devices or mitigation plans for drought-stricken regions, students learn sustainable resource management importance.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Students help Mosa Mack solve the mystery of the differences between renewable and nonrenewable resources and complete a vocabulary mind map. By the end of The Solve, students discover that some resources we use are incredibly limited and that many resources negatively impact the Earth. (40-75 mins)
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Your students inherit an island running out of oil. Generation by generation, they watch resources disappear—literally pulling "barrels" from a jar until there's almost nothing left. Then comes the pivot: research renewable alternatives (solar, wind, water, geothermal) and design an energy plan to save the island. It's data analysis, critical thinking, and a hands-on lesson in how human consumption impacts Earth's finite resources.
⏱ 180 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Can wind power a car? Students pick one of America's windiest cities, analyze its wind data, and engineer a vehicle that runs on nothing but moving air. They sketch, build, test with a fan, troubleshoot when it doesn't move fast enough—and discover that renewable energy isn't just an idea. It's something you can build, measure, and make work.
⏱ 160 minutes
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Weather
Students master how air mass motions and complex interactions cause weather changes. Through solving wedding weather disasters or tracking storm time-lapses showing sudden shifts, rotating through six stations investigating temperature, humidity, air pressure, ocean currents, landforms, and weather fronts interpreting maps providing accurate updates, and designing meteorologist weather reports predicting regional patterns explaining causes scientifically, students learn forecasting using air mass knowledge.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Mia and Henry's wedding business is crumbling—two weddings depend on specific weather conditions! Tropical wedding: storm ruins plans. Arctic wedding: no snow appears. Students help Mosa solve the mystery by exploring common weather factors. The discovery: air masses (large bodies of air with similar temperature and humidity) interact differently in different regions. Tropical regions: warm humid air masses can create intense storms when they meet cooler air. Arctic regions: cold dry air masses don't always produce snow—temperature and moisture must both be right. Understanding air mass characteristics and collisions explains why weather varies regionally and why predictions sometimes fail. Both weddings saved!
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Six station investigations exploring factors impacting weather. Station 1: Temperature/Latitude—balloon in freezer contracts (cold air), balloon in warm water expands (warm air), latitude affects temperature. Station 2: Humidity—water vapor in air affects precipitation. Station 3: Air Pressure and Wind—high/low pressure systems drive wind patterns. Station 4: Ocean Current Temperature—warm currents (Gulf Stream) moderate coastal climates, cold currents cool regions. Station 5: Landforms—mountains create rain shadows (Sacramento vs. Carson City, Yakima vs. Seattle—windward side wet, leeward side dry). Station 6: Weather Fronts—cold/warm/stationary fronts create different conditions. Interpret weather maps providing accurate regional weather updates.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Act as meteorologists designing weather reports! Students research 5-day weather data for chosen regions, analyze patterns in temperature, pressure, wind direction, humidity, precipitation, identify trends, then predict Day 6 weather explaining causes using air mass knowledge. They design professional weather reports (poster presentations or video recordings) including: current conditions, 5-day data visualization, Day 6 forecast, scientific explanations of weather factors (approaching cold front? high pressure system? ocean current influence? mountain effects?), and presentation delivery with meteorologist flair. Practice communicating complex weather science to general audiences like real TV meteorologists!
⏱ 150 minutes
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Mutations
Students explore mutations as DNA changes causing trait variations understanding beneficial, neutral, and harmful effects. Through solving identical-looking but different-tasting food mysteries or examining mutation cases in populations, conducting experiments modeling DNA replication errors and environmental mutation triggers like radiation, and engineering CRISPR applications or mutation protection strategies, students learn how genetic changes drive evolution and disease.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Kitty Perry has six toes and judges want to disqualify her from the Pretty Kitty Show—"it's just not normal!" Students follow Mosa as she interviews a chromosome and a crazy cat lady to discover why Kitty inherited this extra toe. By the end, they understand that mutations are copying errors in DNA that get passed down through generations, and that these changes can be beneficial, harmful, or simply unique.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students become alien geneticists. They draw gene codes from a bag to create aliens with different trait variations (Tiptoe vs. Walking vs. Shuffle vs. Heels locomotion, different eye colors affecting vision, different mouth types affecting eating). Then they compete in three survival challenges—racing, finding food with color-filtered "goggles," and eating with different utensils—to test which mutations help aliens survive. The data reveals which traits are beneficial, harmful, or neutral, and students design an Ultimate Alien based on their findings.
⏱ 165 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
CRISPR is a revolutionary gene-editing tool that allows scientists to make intentional mutations. Students learn how CRISPR works, choose a "gene of interest" from a library (disease resistance, drought tolerance, bioluminescence, etc.), research the gene, design a CRISPR procedure to modify an organism's DNA, and present their genetic engineering solution at a mock "Genetic Engineering World Conference." It's bioethics meets cutting-edge science, with students grappling with real questions about whether humans should modify nature.
⏱ 200 minutes
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Thermal Energy
Students learn heat transfers through conduction, convection, and radiation understanding energy flow from hot to cold. Through solving temperature sensation mysteries or conducting heat transfer experiments with different materials, testing insulation properties comparing how quickly ice melts in various materials, and engineering thermal solutions like coolers, solar ovens, or insulated containers, students discover thermal energy as total kinetic energy of particles in matter.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Willy's new infomercial promises his tin foil gloves will keep hands toasty warm in freezing weather—but customers discover he's full of hot air. Students follow Mosa as she investigates why the Willy Warm Gloves fail, testing different materials to discover that some conduct heat away from hands while others insulate and trap warmth. By the end, they can explain which materials make the best insulators and why.
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Put Willy Warm's gloves on trial. Students design and conduct two investigations testing his claims: (1) Are tin foil gloves really the best insulators? Students test aluminum foil against bubble wrap, felt, foam, cotton, and cardboard, measuring temperature changes over time. (2) Does mass affect how quickly things cool down? They use different amounts of water and track thermal energy transfer. Then they report findings to the Better Business Bureau with poster presentations and data proving Willy's claims are false.
⏱ 220–240 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design an ice cube protector that keeps ice frozen longest under a heat lamp. Students research insulation, sketch designs, select materials (egg cartons, bubble wrap, foam, felt, milk cartons, aluminum foil), build prototypes, test them with thermometers under warming lamps, and iterate based on results. The winning design maximizes insulation and minimizes thermal energy transfer—proving students understand conduction, materials science, and the engineering design process.
⏱ 210–255 minutes
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Claim-Evidence-Reasoning and the Scientific Method
Students learn questioning claims, designing valid experiments, and building evidence-based arguments. Through debunking Halloween candy myths or testing TV commercial claims, conducting controlled experiments testing paper towel absorption and tape strength comparing brands, and designing plus testing their own products using full scientific method, students discover how scientists use observations, testable questions, controlled experiments, and data making sense of the world.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Parents want to ban Halloween, claiming sugar makes kids hyperactive—but is it true? Students follow Mosa as she investigates this national controversy using the scientific method: making observations, asking testable questions, designing a controlled experiment, collecting data, and drawing conclusions. By the end, they discover that humans make sense of the world through evidence-based reasoning, not myths or assumptions.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Bounty claims their Select-A-Size sheets are 50% more absorbent than the leading brand. Students watch the commercial, analyze the claim, then design their own scientific test using the scientific method. They identify variables, conduct controlled experiments with paper towels and water, collect quantitative and qualitative data, and present findings to a Consumer Product Review Panel. Real science meets consumer protection.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design your own product, then use the scientific method to prove it works. Students invent something (a better insulator? stronger bridge? faster-dissolving tablet?), write their own experimental procedures, identify independent and dependent variables, conduct controlled tests, collect and analyze data, then present findings. It's science fair meets product development—students become both inventors and researchers proving their claims with evidence.
⏱ 150 - 250 minutes (depending on assessment option)
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Claim Evidence Reasoning and the Scientific Method Year 2
Students deepen scientific argumentation and inquiry skills, constructing sophisticated Claim-Evidence-Reasoning arguments beyond simple observations. Through exploring complex investigations demanding nuanced analysis, designing controlled investigations handling multiple variables and analyzing complex data for patterns, conducting peer review examining experimental designs, students develop authentic scientific reasoning scientists use in research preparing for investigations requiring careful planning and analysis.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
⏱ 150 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students design complex investigations requiring sophisticated scientific method application. They ask focused questions identifying specific variables, plan experiments carefully identifying independent/dependent variables, constants, and controls, use precise measurement tools conducting multiple trials, analyze data graphing patterns and calculating statistics, and write comprehensive CER statements addressing error sources and suggesting next steps. Peer review develops critical thinking—students examine each other's designs identifying flaws and proposing improvements for evaluating scientific work.
⏱
The Engineer
Design Challenge
⏱
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Design Thinking Year 2
Students tackle more complex design challenges requiring deeper empathy work, sophisticated prototyping, and rigorous user testing. Through advanced case studies examining professional design processes, conducting multi-iteration design cycles addressing community problems, and completing comprehensive engineering projects with extensive stakeholder feedback, students refine their ability to identify real needs, generate innovative solutions, and persist through multiple rounds of testing and improvement.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
In The Solve, students will: Examine the Marco Polo, the largest container ship to ever reach the ports on the east coast of the United States. Students will then be challenged to construct a ship capable of supporting the most cargo. They will compare ship designs and reflect on the design process to determine which steps of the Design Thinking process were utilized.
⏱ 90-100 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Analyze famous engineering successes and spectacular failures throughout history. Students watch videos and evaluate designs like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (1940 collapse due to aerodynamic forces—40 mph winds caused the 2,800-foot span to crash into the river), alongside successful engineering feats. For each example, they determine: Was it a success or failure? Why? Which steps of the design thinking process did engineers use adequately? Which steps did they skip or rush? Learning from both triumphs and disasters teaches what happens when design thinking is—or isn't—followed carefully.
⏱
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Operation Sloth Rescue! Dullis the sloth is stranded 11 inches high in a tree, surrounded by a lake filled with alligators. Students follow Mosa's animated mystery, then use the complete design thinking process to engineer a rescue device that safely returns Dullis to shore without getting him wet or eaten. They define the problem, identify criteria (must reach 11 inches high, support Dullis's weight, avoid water) and constraints (limited materials, time, budget), brainstorm solutions, build prototypes, test with actual models, iterate based on failures, and create the final page of a Mosa Mack comic showing their solution.
⏱
Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Biodiversity
Students discover ecosystems are delicate balancing acts where every organism plays crucial roles. Through investigating crashing honeybee populations or solving Manny Mantis's pesticide protest, conducting nature walks mapping organism connections, experiencing "Dice of Destiny" environmental stressors simulating population changes, and designing solutions protecting threatened coral reefs and wetlands, students learn ecosystem changes ripple through entire webs—complex problems rarely have simple solutions.
What Your Students Will Experience
Most Popular
The Solve
Mystery Investigation
The Yellowstone wolf controversy erupts—ranchers say wolves kill livestock and scare away tourists, while conservationists argue wolves maintain biodiversity and have far-reaching ecosystem impacts. Students follow Mosa Mack as she investigates both perspectives, weighing pros and cons of different solutions (remove wolves? relocate them? compensate ranchers? create protective zones?). By the end, they discover that complex biodiversity problems can have multiple valid solutions—each with tradeoffs that must balance human needs with ecosystem health.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Take a biodiversity nature walk around your schoolyard. Students photograph or sketch every organism they find (plants, insects, birds, fungi), identify species using field guides and online databases, then create poster diagrams showing how organisms connect in food webs. Next comes the "Dice of Destiny"—roll to encounter an environmental stressor (drought? invasive species? pollution? habitat loss?). Students predict ripple effects through their schoolyard ecosystem and create split-posters showing biodiversity before and after the stressor hits. Small changes, big consequences.
⏱ 200 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Choose a threatened ecosystem (coral reefs? rainforests? wetlands? prairies?) and design a solution to preserve its biodiversity and ecological services. Students research specific threats (climate change, deforestation, pollution, overfishing), engineer solutions—maybe it's artificial reef structures, wildlife corridors, water filtration systems, or native plant restoration—build prototype models, then present and evaluate each other's designs. Real conservation challenges meet engineering design process.
⏱ 180 minutes
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Gravity
Students discover gravity is constant invisible force affecting all objects with mass pulling them downward. Through solving optical illusion mysteries with bowling balls or investigating falling object experiments, conducting four lab stations dropping ping pong balls, building pendulums, and testing air resistance proving gravity pulls consistently, and engineering parachute delivery systems using air resistance slowing gravity's pull, students master gravitational concepts.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Billy and Dullis share summer vacation videos—Billy's first skydive, Dullis's embarrassing tree fall—both caused by gravity. Then Mosa's video shows something impossible: her bowling ball rolling uphill! Students investigate the mystery, examining the footage closely and testing similar scenarios. The revelation: it's a visual illusion! The background creates the perception of uphill when the ball is actually rolling downhill. Every object follows gravity's predictable pull toward Earth's center—no exceptions. What looks like defying gravity is just tricky perspective.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Four gravity investigation stations with ping pong balls, meter sticks, and paper. Station 1: Drop ping pong ball from different heights—measure how far it falls, observe it always falls downward. Station 2: Create pendulums with string and balls, release from different positions—mark targets showing gravity's consistent pull. Station 3: Drop flat paper vs. crumpled paper—same mass, different air resistance, different fall times (but same downward direction). Station 4: Build ramps with chopsticks—balls always roll down, never up. Students draw arrows representing gravity's pull, comparing initial vs. final object positions, proving gravity consistently pulls objects toward Earth.
⏱ 140-145 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a delivery system that safely drops supplies to disaster relief areas using knowledge of gravity and air resistance. Students research parachute designs, calculate how air resistance opposes gravity's pull (slowing descent), then engineer prototypes using paper, string, bubble wrap, tissue paper, cardboard, cloth, and cotton balls. They test by dropping packages from heights, measuring fall times and impact damage. Successful designs balance gravity's downward force with air resistance's upward push—delivering supplies gently instead of smashing them. Real-world physics meets humanitarian engineering.
⏱ 170-175 minutes
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Water Cycle
Students master how water cycles through Earth's systems driven by sun energy and gravity. Through solving water park closure mysteries or investigating how pollution travels through water cycles causing acid rain, experiencing Water Cycle in a Jar demonstrations and dice-rolling water molecule journeys tracking paths through evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, and engineering drought solutions using conservation devices or technical drawings, students learn water continuously recycles never disappearing.
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Mystery Investigation
Splashy Land, the famous water park, is forced to close—drought brings water restrictions crushing summer fun! Students follow Mosa tracing water's path, discovering the crisis is larger than expected. Water used in the park and community is part of a larger cycle: evaporation (sun heats water → becomes vapor), condensation (vapor cools → forms clouds), precipitation (rain/snow falls), collection (water gathers in oceans/rivers/groundwater), repeat. Mosa's creative solution: treat and recycle wastewater! Wastewater isn't waste—it's a water source that can be purified and returned to the environment for reuse. Splashy Land reopens using recycled water!
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Experience the water cycle firsthand! Part 1: Water Cycle in a Jar Demonstration—observe 250 mL tap water heated on hot plate, watch evaporation, see condensation on ice-filled beaker above, witness precipitation as droplets fall. Identify stages: boiling, evaporation, melting, condensation, precipitation. Part 2: Water Cycle Journey—use 9 dice rolling through stations (ocean, cloud, glacier, river, plant, animal, soil, groundwater, atmosphere), tracking your path as a water molecule. Students might: evaporate from ocean → condense in cloud → precipitate as snow → melt into river → absorbed by plant → transpired into atmosphere. Create annotated diagrams showing multiple possible water molecule paths through the cycle.
⏱ 200 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Research a U.S. state experiencing drought using the United States Drought Monitor website, then engineer solutions! Students gather statistics on drought severity, water scarcity impacts, affected regions, then design either: (1) Conservation devices—rainwater harvesting systems, greywater recycling systems, atmospheric water generators, drip irrigation, fog-catching nets, or (2) Technical drawings—detailed plans for water-saving technologies. Build prototypes using cardboard, plastic cups, tubing, coffee filters, sand, gravel, bottles, or create professional technical drawings with specifications. Present drought solutions explaining how designs conserve, capture, or recycle water addressing state-specific challenges.
⏱ 105–125 minutes
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Force & Motion
Students investigate how forces affect motion discovering Newton's Laws govern all movement. Through solving mysteriously moving supermarket items or testing levitating car models with magnets, conducting three investigations with marbles and ramps testing each law collecting photo and video evidence, and engineering shopping cart crash protectors using force principles safeguarding eggs during collisions, students learn predicting motion outcomes in everyday situations.
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Mystery Investigation
Newton's Supermarket customers are terrified—items move on their own, objects fall mysteriously, shopping carts roll without being pushed. Is it haunted? Students follow Mosa as she analyzes security camera footage and conducts reenactments, discovering that every "paranormal" event follows Newton's Laws. Objects at rest stay at rest until force acts on them (Newton's First Law). Heavy items need more force to move than light ones (Newton's Second Law). When a cart pushes items, items push back on the cart with equal force (Newton's Third Law). No ghosts—just physics!
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
A local magazine claims mysterious forces are occurring in town—terrifying headlines hurt tourism! Students debunk each claim by completing three investigations with marbles, golf balls, tennis balls, ping pong balls, rulers, ramps, and textbooks. They test: (1) How force affects motion (Newton's First Law—objects in motion stay in motion unless acted upon), (2) How mass affects acceleration (Newton's Second Law—heavier objects need more force), (3) Action-reaction pairs (Newton's Third Law—equal and opposite reactions). They collect photo/video evidence, connect data to Newton's Laws, and present digital presentations validating each law scientifically.
⏱ 200 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Research car crash collisions, then apply that knowledge to redesigning shopping carts that protect precious cargo—raw eggs! Students investigate safety mechanisms (crumple zones, airbags, seatbelts), design shopping cart prototypes using cardboard, bottle caps for wheels, popsicle sticks, cushioning materials, then test by sending carts down ramps into crash boards. Success = egg survives! They measure impact forces, analyze which design features work best (suspension systems? padded interiors? shock absorbers?), and create investment pitches convincing Ms. Newton to fund their invention. Newton's Laws meet real-world engineering.
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The Nature of Science
Students discover how science solves problems learning that scientific findings require solid evidence, not guesses. Through investigating crime scene mysteries collecting and analyzing evidence like forensic scientists, examining shoe prints, handwriting samples, hair evidence, and fingerprints using scientific tools and techniques, students learn scientific explanations can be revised as new evidence emerges like detective theories shifting with new clues.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Explore "The Case of the Pilfered Popcorn" to learn how to collect and analyze evidence from the crime and help Felix and JoJo catch the culprit! By the end of the Solve, students learn how science helps solve crimes, and they discover how evidence impacts scientific theories. (75 mins)
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students collect and analyze popcorn crime scene evidence, rotating through investigation stations. They measure shoe prints with rulers comparing to suspect data, analyze handwriting examining letter formation and slant, conduct ink separation chromatography experiments, and examine hair samples under magnification. After gathering all evidence, they compile findings into investigative reports using evidence-based reasoning to identify the thief, learning how scientists support conclusions with data.
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The Engineer
Design Challenge
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Selection & Adaptations
Students master how genetic variations increase survival probability in specific environments through natural selection. Through solving moth population mysteries or investigating land versus marine iguana divergence conducting simulations, participating in Finch Beak Feeding Frenzy survival games with forks and Froot Loops tracking population data mathematically over generations, and designing biomimicry products inspired by animal and plant adaptations, students learn advantageous traits become common through reproduction.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Caroline the grey-winged moth wants to know why she's the only grey moth when her great-great-grandfather said there were tons of grey moths in his day. Students follow Mosa time-traveling back to the Industrial Revolution when coal factory soot turned tree bark dark. They witness a robin swooping down, easily spotting and eating white-winged moths against dark bark—but grey moths blend in perfectly, surviving! Natural selection in action: when the environment changed (clean bark → sooty bark), the advantageous trait changed (white camouflage → grey camouflage). Grey moths survived, reproduced, passed traits to offspring. Over generations, grey became common. When pollution cleaned up, white moths had the advantage again, explaining Caroline's situation.
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
The Finch Beak Feeding Frenzy! Students participate in a survival game discovering how different traits affect survival probability. They receive "beaks"—intact plastic forks (some birds), broken forks with fewer prongs (other birds)—then compete to collect Froot Loops "food" in 9-oz clear cups within timed rounds. Different beak types succeed with different food types. Students track data across multiple generations: count survivors, calculate percentages, graph population changes over time mathematically showing how advantageous traits increase while disadvantageous traits decrease. They produce mini nature documentaries explaining natural selection and adaptation witnessed during the bird beak activity, using evidence from their collected data.
⏱ 220–230 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design biomimicry products using animal or plant adaptations to provide humans with the same benefits! Students select adaptations (gecko feet sticking to walls? owl silent flight? lotus leaf water repellency? cactus water storage? chameleon camouflage? shark skin reducing drag?), identify how the adaptation functions, then engineer human products inspired by these traits: climbing gloves mimicking gecko toe pads, quiet airplane designs copying owl wings, waterproof fabrics based on lotus leaves, desert survival gear using cactus principles. They create poster presentations or construct prototypes, explaining how their designs transfer nature's solutions to human challenges.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Photosynthesis
Students master how plants convert sunlight, CO₂, and water into glucose and oxygen supporting all life. Through solving plant health mysteries or investigating tree poisoning crimes with herbicide, gathering evidence spinach leaves photosynthesize by measuring oxygen production and testing for glucose under different light conditions, and engineering optimal light conditions for Elodea plants producing oxygen for aquariums, students discover photosynthesis powers Earth's ecosystems.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Fern the fern dreams of growing tall like the forest's tallest tree, but something's terribly wrong—she's not growing at all, can't repair her leaves, and feels awful. Students follow Mosa as she consults with a wise canopy layer tree and a singing chloroplast to solve Fern's mystery. The diagnosis: Fern lives at the dark forest floor, receiving insufficient sunlight for photosynthesis! Without adequate light energy, she can't convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose (food) and oxygen. Fern needs more light exposure to fuel the photosynthesis process that powers growth and repair.
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Gather evidence proving photosynthesis occurs in spinach leaves. Students design and conduct investigations testing for photosynthesis products. They might: use heat lamps providing light energy, measure oxygen production, test for glucose/starch presence in leaves, compare leaves exposed to light vs. darkness, or use indicators showing carbon dioxide consumption. Through careful data collection and analysis, they construct evidence-based arguments demonstrating that spinach leaves exposed to light perform photosynthesis—converting CO₂ and H₂O into glucose and oxygen using light energy captured by chloroplasts.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
The local pet store ran out of oxygen pumps—aquarium fish are in danger! Engineer a solution using photosynthesis. Students design investigations testing optimal light conditions for Elodea (aquatic plants) to maintain oxygen-rich water. They experiment with: different light intensities, various distances from light sources, colored filters, and duration of light exposure. Using Phenol Red or Bromothymol Blue indicators to detect CO₂ changes (showing photosynthesis occurring), baking soda solution providing carbon source, test tubes, beakers, and rulers, they collect data determining ideal lighting conditions maximizing Elodea's oxygen production—saving fish through plant biology.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Genetic Variation
Students investigate reproduction at genetic levels discovering asexual versus sexual reproduction differences. Through solving sibling appearance mysteries examining chromosomes or comparing algae and frog reproduction types, conducting inheritance pattern investigations using Punnett squares predicting offspring traits, and engineering genetic diversity projects, students learn how sexual reproduction creates variation while asexual reproduction produces genetically identical offspring.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Algae accuse frogs Paulie and Nicole of lying about being siblings—they look so different! Students follow Mosa investigating at the genetic level, discovering crucial reproduction differences. Algae reproduce asexually, simply replicating with all mother's genes passing unchanged, creating identical offspring. Frogs reproduce sexually—sperm fertilizes egg, mixing genes from both parents. This creates genetic variation explaining why Paulie and Nicole look different despite being siblings. Students must identify which potential father frog is theirs by matching inherited traits.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Your students design two alien families from scratch—one that reproduces sexually, one asexually—and discover how genetic variation (or the lack of it) shapes each generation. It's hands-on genetics with a creative twist, turning abstract inheritance patterns into something they can build, compare, and argue about.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Here's the challenge: start with a desired trait in an offspring and work backward. What parent combination would you need? Students use reverse engineering to think like geneticists, designing ideal parent pairings to produce specific outcomes. You pose the problem; they wrestle with the genetics—and discover that inheritance isn't always as predictable as it seems.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Atoms & Molecules
Students investigate matter at atomic and molecular levels discovering that appearance reveals nothing about internal structure. Through exploring reactive elements with interactive periodic tables or solving Chef Crystal's molecular mystery, building atom models with electrons and energy levels, testing conservation of mass in chemical reactions, and designing element character profiles, students learn how atomic structure determines everything from reactivity to taste.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Customers are returning Chef Crystal's famous crème brûlée—something is wrong with the taste! Students follow Mosa Mack as she uses a quantum microscope to zoom into the molecular level, discovering that an unlikely collection of atoms and molecules is to blame. By the end, they understand that while substances may look identical to our eyes, their molecular composition tells a completely different story.
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students become atom architects. They color, cut, and assemble models showing electrons orbiting in energy levels around the nucleus. Then they explore bonding—discovering that atoms with incomplete outer shells desperately want to bond with other atoms to become stable. Finally, they build molecular models (H₂O, H₂, H₂O₂) using their atom cutouts, presenting findings on why atoms bond and how molecules form. It's kinesthetic chemistry that makes the invisible visible.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Create an element character profile—complete with personality! Students research an element from the periodic table, learning its atomic number, mass, properties, reactivity, and real-world uses. Then they personify their element: Is Helium bubbly and social because it's so light? Is Iron strong and dependable? They design character cards with drawings and present their element's "personality" based on scientific properties. It's periodic table meets creative storytelling.
⏱ 150 minutes
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States of Matter
Students discover adding or removing thermal energy affects particle motion, temperature, and state transitions. Through solving lake transformation accusations or investigating wood frog freezing survival with cryoprotectants, conducting four investigations testing metal ball thermal expansion, food coloring mixing rates, butter boat phase changes, and soda can air pressure, and engineering solutions for Particleville's pothole and water problems, students master states of matter principles.
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Mystery Investigation
Birds are furious at humans—every winter, humans pave their lake with "white tar," then steal water for swimming pools! Mosa stands accused representing the human race. Students follow her year-long investigation gathering evidence. The discovery: it's the same substance—water—behaving differently in different states! Winter: water molecules slow down as thermal energy decreases, arrange in fixed patterns, freeze into ice (solid state—the "white tar"). Summer: thermal energy increases, molecules move faster, ice melts to liquid water that humans use for pools. Same H₂O molecules, different arrangements and motion explain the mystery. Birds learn about states of matter!
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Determine the best protocol for storing, transporting, and thawing plasma between hospitals! Students conduct four investigations understanding thermal energy and particle motion relationships. Investigation 1: Metal Ball and Ring—observe thermal expansion when adding/removing heat affects average kinetic energy. Station 1: Food Coloring in Water—watch food coloring spread faster in hot water (particles move faster) than cold water (particles move slower). Station 2: Butter Boats—investigate phase change as butter melts from solid to liquid with added thermal energy. Investigation 3: Soda Can Air Pressure—observe can crushing when cooling changes gas pressure. Investigation 4: PhET Simulation—manipulate variables testing pressure relationships. Develop models predicting state changes.
⏱ 115–155 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
The city of Particleville faces two problems: (1) Excessive potholes plaguing roads, (2) Desperate demand for fresh water threatening the community. Students select one problem and engineer solutions using states of matter knowledge. Pothole solutions might involve: materials that expand/contract less with temperature changes, self-healing asphalt using phase-change materials, coatings preventing freeze-thaw damage. Water solutions might involve: atmospheric water generators condensing water vapor from air, fog-catching nets, desalination systems converting saltwater to freshwater, water recycling technologies. They research materials, create technical diagrams or prototypes, and present designs explaining how controlling state changes solves community problems.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Climate Change & Ecological Footprint
Students investigate Earth's changing climate and human impact on planetary systems. Through examining rising global temperatures with data analysis or solving ice melting mysteries, conducting ecological footprint calculations comparing resource consumption across lifestyles, and designing solutions reducing carbon emissions through renewable energy proposals or sustainable community planning, students discover connections between daily choices and planetary health learning how individual actions scale to global consequences.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Sea levels are rising around the world—but why? Students follow Mosa as she investigates this global mystery, gathering evidence about greenhouse gases, atmospheric warming, melting ice caps, and thermal expansion. By the end, they understand how increased CO₂ traps heat in Earth's atmosphere, causing glaciers to melt and oceans to expand, threatening coastal communities worldwide.
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Model the greenhouse effect with two plastic containers, thermometers, and a heat lamp. One container is open to air, the other is sealed (representing trapped greenhouse gases). Students place both under identical lamps, measure temperature changes every few minutes, graph their data, and discover that the sealed container heats up significantly more—just like Earth's atmosphere traps heat when greenhouse gas concentrations rise. Real data, clear cause and effect.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Calculate your carbon footprint, then design a solution to reduce it. Students analyze U.S. greenhouse gas emissions data by source (transportation? electricity? agriculture?), use online calculators to measure their personal carbon footprints, research one major emissions source, then engineer a solution—maybe it's solar-powered cars, carbon-capture technology, or sustainable farming methods. They build models and present designs for reducing humanity's impact on climate.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Potential & Kinetic Energy
Students learn energy constantly transforms while total amount stays constant through conservation principles. Through solving energy transformation mysteries or analyzing rollercoaster ride physics, conducting experiments with marbles and ramps measuring energy at different heights calculating potential-to-kinetic conversions, and engineering marble run contraptions maximizing energy transfers or designing amusement park rides, students discover how position and motion relate to energy.
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Mystery Investigation
Engineers at Kinetic Kars can't figure out why their new roller coaster won't complete its track. Students follow Mosa as she runs experiments to solve the engineering puzzle, discovering how potential energy (stored at height) converts to kinetic energy (motion) and why mass and speed matter. By the end, they can explain the relationship between the two energy types and predict what it takes to keep a coaster moving.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
The Alleycats bowling team needs championship-level advice: what height should they release the ball from, and should they use a heavier ball? Students build marble ramps, systematically test different heights and marble masses, measure how far the marble knocks an index card, and graph their data. The conclusion? Height and mass both affect kinetic energy—but one matters way more than you'd think.
⏱ 120 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a roller coaster that maximizes energy transfer and delivers a marble into a cup at the finish line. Students use foam pipe insulation to engineer tracks with at least one loop, one banked curve, and enough initial potential energy to complete the entire run. They test, troubleshoot, adjust heights, and present their final designs—discovering firsthand why roller coaster engineers obsess over every inch of track elevation.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Renewable Resources
Students discover resource limitations and human impacts requiring transitions to sustainable alternatives. Through investigating fossil fuel mysteries or exploring climate crisis connections, creating annotated diagrams showing how Earth's resources distribute unevenly from geological processes analyzing renewable versus nonrenewable formations, and engineering conservation plans or mitigation solutions addressing resource scarcity in affected regions, students learn energy source choices impact planetary health.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Jody and classmates arrive home on the last day of school to terrible news—summer vacations are canceled! Gas prices have skyrocketed beyond affordability. Students follow Mosa as she travels worldwide investigating the cause. The discovery: fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) formed from ancient plants and animals over millions of years. Humans are consuming these nonrenewable resources faster than Earth can replenish them. As supplies dwindle, prices soar. The solution? Mosa suggests switching to renewable resources (solar, wind, water) that naturally replenish and can power vehicles and homes—potentially saving summer vacation plans!
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Create annotated diagrams explaining how uneven distribution of Earth's mineral, energy, and groundwater resources results from past and current geoscience processes. Students research renewable resources (solar energy distribution varies by latitude, wind patterns concentrated in specific regions, hydroelectric power requires water sources) and nonrenewable resources (coal deposits from ancient swamps, oil from marine organism accumulation, natural gas in specific geological formations). Diagrams illustrate: where resources are located globally, why they're distributed unevenly, how they're limited and typically non-renewable, how human removal changes distributions, and short/long-term consequences for people and environments.
⏱ 120 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a plan to either (1) conserve a natural resource or (2) mitigate uneven distribution of a natural resource. Conservation examples: rainwater harvesting systems, energy-efficient building designs, water recycling programs, reduced consumption campaigns, fossil fuel alternatives. Mitigation examples: renewable energy infrastructure for resource-poor regions, water pipeline networks, battery storage systems for inconsistent solar/wind power, resource sharing agreements between nations. Students research their chosen challenge, develop engineering solutions with diagrams and prototypes, explain environmental and societal benefits, and present plans showing how designs address resource limitations or distribution inequities.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Plate Tectonics
Students master how continental drift and plate tectonics reshape Earth's landscape over geological time. Through solving fossil distribution mysteries across continents or investigating whale bones in desert locations, reconstructing Pangaea using fossil and geologic data creating "before and after" maps showing continental positions, and designing modern equipment measuring plate movement gathering data proving plates still shift today, students analyze evidence for plate motion.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Lystrosaurus bones found on three separate continents—Africa, India, and Antarctica! The Triassic Park guide calls it impossible—how can one creature's fossils be distributed so widely? Students follow Mosa as she time-travels beneath oceans and across Earth's surface, discovering Earth's structure: inner core, outer core, mantle, and crust. The crust is broken into tectonic plates floating on the mantle's hot, slowly moving magma (convection currents). Millions of years ago, these continents were connected in the supercontinent Pangaea. As plates drifted apart, Lystrosaurus fossils separated—continental drift explains the distribution!
⏱ 45-80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Act as an archaeological team reconstructing Pangaea! Students analyze fossil evidence (Lystrosaurus in Africa/India/Antarctica, Mesosaurus in Africa/South America, Glossopteris fern across southern continents, Cynognathus in South Africa/South America) and continental shapes. They cut out continent pieces, use logic and evidence to position landforms as they appeared 200 million years ago, construct a Pangaea "before" map by tracing continents in their connected supercontinent formation, create an "after" map showing current positions, then photograph or create stop-motion animations showing continental drift over time. Present findings explaining plate tectonics theory based on fossil distribution.
⏱ 120 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design modern equipment answering the question: Are Earth's plates still moving? Students research current plate movement measurement technologies (GPS sensors tracking millimeter shifts? Seismographs detecting earthquakes at plate boundaries? Satellite imaging monitoring continental drift? Laser ranging systems? Ocean floor mapping equipment?), then engineer their own data-gathering devices. They create technical diagrams or 3D prototypes showing how their equipment measures plate motion, calculates movement rates, or detects boundary interactions. Presentations explain how collected data proves plates continue moving today—typically 2-10 centimeters per year.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Chemical & Physical Changes
Students investigate changes at molecular levels discovering ice melting is reversible (physical change) while eggs cooking creates entirely new substances (chemical change). Through solving Titanic artifact mysteries or investigating Lady Liberty's green transformation, rotating through six hands-on stations testing physical versus chemical changes, and researching synthetic materials' environmental impacts engineering sustainable alternatives, students identify differences between changes rearranging matter versus changes creating new substances.
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Mystery Investigation
Amir cooked a huge breakfast before Mom gets home—can he reverse everything back to its original state? Students follow Mosa as she dives into different foods at the molecular level, examining what happens during cooking processes. The verdict: melted ice can refreeze (physical change—bonds stay intact), but cooked eggs can't un-cook (chemical change—bonds break, new substances form). Amir learns the hard way that some changes are reversible, others are permanent.
⏱ 40–75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Six lab stations investigating substance interactions. Students test: (1) Alka-Seltzer dissolving in water (bubbling, gas produced—chemical), (2) ice melting (state change—physical), (3) iodine reacting with potato starch (color change—chemical), (4) paper tearing vs. burning (physical vs. chemical), (5) liver breaking down hydrogen peroxide with catalase enzyme (bubbling—chemical), and (6) additional reactions. They record observations, identify evidence of chemical vs. physical changes, then create poster presentations communicating their findings.
⏱ 100 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Research a synthetic material (plastics? polyester? nylon? synthetic rubber?), discover the natural resources it's created from, investigate how it's manufactured, identify pollution it generates, then engineer a solution to reduce environmental damage. Students create infographics or presentations for a Town Hall meeting explaining the problem and proposing solutions—maybe biodegradable alternatives, recycling programs, or cleaner production methods. Chemical engineering meets environmental responsibility.
⏱ 170–175 minutes
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Cells
Students discover all living things are made of cells—tiny building blocks doing work keeping organisms alive. Through animated journeys inside bodies or live video investigations of specialized cells, examining onion skin and cheek cells under microscopes identifying organelles, conducting plant cell turgor pressure experiments testing drought effects, and designing never-before-seen cells with specialized jobs, students learn how cell parts work together supporting life and function.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Eric collapses during a hike—what went wrong inside his body? Students follow Mosa on an animated journey into three different cell types: muscle cells, small intestine cells, and nerve cells. By comparing the cell membrane, mitochondria, and nucleus across these cells, they discover that different cell structures support different functions, and that complex organisms need many types of cells working together to survive.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Your team has just returned from a mystery mission with unknown samples. Your job: determine whether they're evidence of life. Students first explore interactive cell diagrams to learn organelle structures and functions, then use compound microscopes to examine known specimens—onion skin (plant cells with cell walls), cheek cells (animal cells), and elodea leaves. Now comes the real test: examine the mystery samples and determine which came from living organisms. The evidence? Whether or not they observe cells.
⏱ 300 total minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a never-before-seen cell that performs a specific service. Students brainstorm specialized jobs their cell could do (maybe it cleans pollution, produces light, or stores massive amounts of energy?), then engineer custom organelles with structures that support those functions. They create detailed, colorful poster drawings showing how molecules move in, out, and through their unique cell, then present their designs. It's creative cell biology where structure dictates function.
⏱ 120 minutes
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Interactions of Body Systems
Students learn how circulatory, respiratory, digestive, muscular, and nervous systems work together maintaining life. Through animated journeys shrinking inside bodies or investigating organ shortage crises and donation chains, rotating through four stations testing pulse rates, reflexes, muscle-bone connections, and digestion, and engineering solutions for body system malfunctions like blocked vessels or asthma-obstructed airways, students discover how systems cooperate supporting complex functions.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Aaliyah is a circus trapeze artist, and tonight she can't feel her leg right before showtime! Mosa and Billy shrink to microscopic size, entering her body to investigate. They explore the circulatory system (pumping blood and oxygen), respiratory system (bringing in oxygen, removing carbon dioxide), digestive system (breaking down food into nutrients), muscular system (enabling movement), and nervous system (sending signals). The discovery: Aaliyah sat on her leg too long, cutting off blood flow. Without circulation delivering oxygen, nerves stopped signaling properly. One system failure cascades through all connected systems—the body functions as one integrated whole.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Four stations revealing body system interactions. Station 1: Rest vs. Exercise—Students measure pulse and breathing rates at rest, then after exercise, discovering circulatory and respiratory systems work harder together during activity. Station 2: Patellar Reflex—Test knee-jerk reflexes with reflex hammers, observing how nervous and muscular systems communicate instantly. Station 3: Chicken Wing Motion—Dissect chicken wings (with gloves) to see how muscles attach to bones, demonstrating muscular and skeletal system connections. Station 4: Saltine Lab—Test crackers with Benedict's solution and iodine, watching chemical digestion break starches into sugars. Students construct visual models linking all systems together.
⏱ 190 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a solution for a body system malfunction: (1) Blood vessel blocked by plaque—engineer stents, clot-dissolving drugs, or bypass procedures; (2) Airways obstructed by asthma—design inhalers, breathing treatments, or airway-opening devices; (3) Stroke killing brain nerve cells from oxygen loss—create rehabilitation tools, clot removal devices, or preventive monitoring systems; (4) Weakened muscles from muscular dystrophy—develop support braces, mobility aids, or therapy equipment. Students research their chosen problem, design medical solutions, and present how their innovations address the malfunction while understanding that fixing one system helps restore overall body function.
⏱ 200 minutes
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Waves
Students master wave properties including amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and energy relationships. Through solving thunder prediction mysteries or conducting light and sound investigations with flashlights and materials, comparing wave energy transfer using Slinkys and ropes testing amplitude and frequency relationships plus digital versus analog signals, and engineering devices helping deaf people detect sound or blind people detect light, students discover how waves carry energy.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Thad the Thunder's show stumps audiences—he predicts thunder's exact timing! After Billy loses all his money betting against Thad, Mosa suspects deception. Thad's assistant Sam shares interesting information. Students follow Mosa learning about waves, discovering Thad's trick: light waves travel faster than sound waves! During lightning storms, light reaches observers almost instantly, while sound arrives seconds later. Thad sees the lightning flash, counts seconds knowing sound's speed, predicts thunder perfectly. It's physics, not magic—different wave types have different speeds!
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Compare energy transfer in light and sound waves using Slinkys and heavy cotton ropes! Students create waves with different amplitudes (wave height) and frequencies (waves per second), discovering: higher amplitude = more energy (bigger waves carry more energy than small waves), amplitude relates to volume (loud sounds = high amplitude, quiet sounds = low amplitude), amplitude relates to brightness (bright light = high amplitude, dim light = low amplitude). Test wave interactions: waves can be transmitted (pass through clear materials), reflected (bounce off mirrors/foil), or absorbed (disappear into black materials). Investigate digital vs. analog signals—digital signals are more reliable for encoding and transmitting information with less distortion.
⏱ 160 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design solutions using wave knowledge to help people with disabilities: (1) Help deaf people detect sound waves—design devices converting sound vibrations into visual signals, tactile feedback, or written text (vibrating bracelets detecting loud noises? flashing lights responding to doorbell sounds? speech-to-text displays?), OR (2) Help blind people detect light waves—design devices converting light into sound, touch, or temperature signals (sensors beeping when light levels change? tactile displays showing light patterns? echolocation assistive devices?). Research existing technologies, engineer innovative solutions, build prototypes using paper/tape/glue/craft materials, present designs explaining how they detect and convert wave energy.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Electricity & Magnetism
Students explore how invisible forces power our world investigating electricity and magnetism principles. Through solving Light Balance performance mysteries or investigating maglev train levitation, building series and parallel circuits testing conductors and experimenting with electromagnets varying coil counts, and engineering devices using electrical or magnetic principles, students discover how these invisible forces enable modern technology from doorbells to MRI machines.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Mosa gets caught in a storm and takes shelter at an electrical station, meeting an engineer and Eddie the Eel. When Jessie calls—her model skyscraper's light bulb won't glow—Mosa uses what she learned to help. Students discover that electricity is generated when electrons flow from negative to positive charges through closed circuits. But the bulb still isn't bright enough! The solution: generators create stronger electricity by increasing electron flow. By the end, students understand circuits, conductors, and how to boost electrical power.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
The town of Waterville is low on wires but has abundant water. Can water conduct electricity to light up the town? Students test two solutions: pure water and saltwater. They build circuits using water as the conductor, measure current flow, record brightness observations, and analyze data. The verdict: saltwater conducts electricity far better than pure water because salt dissolves into ions that carry electrical charge. Students create annotated diagrams comparing both solutions and recommend the best option for Waterville's electrical system.
⏱ 180 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Homeowners are worried about electromagnetic fields (EMF) from nearby power lines—are they dangerous? Students research the relationship between electricity and magnetism, investigate scientific claims about EMF exposure and health effects, evaluate evidence quality, and design evidence-based reports.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Scale in the Solar System
Students master analyzing scale properties of solar system objects understanding vast cosmic distances. Through solving amusement park engineering failures or analyzing space probe data matching celestial objects, converting astronomical units to centimeters designing scaled amusement parks with planet-specific themed rides representing surface conditions, and building constellation shoebox models showing how star distance affects apparent brightness, students grasp mind-boggling space scales.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Students contextualize Solar System vocabulary in a mind map before helping Mosa Mack come to an aspiring astronaut’s aid in a space-related mystery. Marsha and Wes need to build a canyon contraption to build the first amusement park on Mars, but all his plans are going awry. By the end of The Solve,students discover that the size of surface features of far-away planets, such as canyons, can be determined based on satellite photos and their distance from the Earth. (75 mins)
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Design space-themed amusement parks with accurate planetary scaling! Students convert astronomical units to centimeters making vast distances manageable. They research each planet's conditions—Mercury's craters, Venus's sulfuric clouds, Mars's Olympus Mons, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, Saturn's rings. Design themed rides representing surface conditions, create poster blueprints mapping scaled Sun distances, demonstrating how solar system distances are truly enormous.
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The Engineer
Design Challenge
Students address a misconception: why does the night sky appear flat with varying star brightness? They choose constellations and build shoebox models demonstrating that star distance from Earth causes apparent brightness differences. Using scaled depths inside boxes with aluminum foil stars on toothpicks, they reveal that constellations aren't flat sheets—distance creates the brightness illusion we see.
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Genetics vs. Environment
Students investigate how genetics sets possibilities while environment determines actual outcomes for traits. Through solving identical twin appearance mysteries or investigating sea turtle temperature-dependent sex determination, conducting nature versus nurture debates researching height, intelligence, and obesity influences, and engineering nutrition solutions for malnourished regions, students discover traits result from genetic and environmental factors interacting in complex ways.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Identical twins Jasper and Mo reunite on TV—same genes, same birthday, same laugh—but they look and act differently! Jasper insists it's environment; Mo claims it's all genetics. After their on-air brawl, Mosa investigates. Students examine evidence: both have genetic potential for height, but nutrition and sleep affect actual growth; genes provide melanin capacity, but sun exposure determines skin tone; DNA sets possibilities, but experiences shape outcomes. The verdict: neither twin is completely right. Human traits result from genetics AND environment working together, not one or the other.
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
The greatest scientific debate: nature vs. nurture! Students receive research cards presenting real studies on genetics and environment (height, intelligence, obesity, alcoholism, brain development under stress). Working in teams, they build cases arguing whether genetics or environment has more impact on organism growth. They analyze twin studies, adoption research, plant experiments, and animal studies, prepare presentations defending their position, then engage in classroom debates. The conclusion after all evidence: it's not either/or—both genetic and environmental factors work together influencing every aspect of organism development.
⏱ 150-160 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Many regions worldwide lack nutritional resources needed for children to grow to their full genetic potential. Students research specific areas suffering malnutrition (identifying vitamin/nutrient deficiencies), analyze how environmental limitations prevent genetic potential from being reached (stunted growth, weakened immune systems, cognitive impacts), then design solutions to improve environments: fortified food programs, sustainable agriculture projects, clean water systems, vitamin supplementation programs, or educational initiatives. They create posters and written reports presenting solutions to UNICEF, explaining how their designs help children reach the growth their genetics promise.
⏱ 200 minutes
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Nervous System
Students explore the nervous system as control center discovering how brain, spinal cord, and nerves transmit electrical signals. Through animated journeys following neural pathways or investigating reflex response mechanisms, conducting reaction time experiments measuring stimulus-response delays and building neuron models showing signal transmission, and engineering assistive technologies for neurological conditions, students learn how nervous system coordinates all body functions and protects from harm.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Otis the bat has echolocation down to a science—send a signal, wait for the bounce, catch the prey. But one tiger moth keeps escaping, no matter what he tries. Mosa Mack travels right to the source: inside Otis's nervous system. Students follow as she traces how signals travel from sensory neurons through the spinal cord to the brain and back to muscles. By the end, they can explain how the nervous system senses, processes, and responds—and uncover why Bert the moth's secret trick keeps jamming Otis's signal.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Four hands-on stations turn students into reaction-time scientists. They measure pupil dilation, test blink reflexes, drop rulers to calculate visual and auditory response speeds, then compare their data to Usain Bolt's record-breaking sprint times. By the end, students create visual models mapping exactly how signals race from sensory receptors through neurons to the spinal cord and brain—discovering why some responses happen in milliseconds while others take conscious thought.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
What if your nervous system malfunctioned? Students choose one real nervous system disorder (like paralysis, nerve damage, or sensory loss), research how the signal pathway breaks down, then engineer a solution—either a device to restore function or a tool to manage symptoms. They sketch technical drawings, build prototypes, and present their designs. It's biomedical engineering meets neuroscience, complete with real-world problem-solving.
⏱ 200 minutes
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Sun-Earth System & Solar System Gravity
Students master Earth-sun-moon cyclic patterns and gravity's role in cosmic motions. Through solving opposite season mysteries or investigating satellite orbital mechanics without engines, conducting three investigations testing light dispersion on flat, round, and tilted surfaces creating travel brochures explaining seasonal differences, and designing scaled solar system amusement parks or constellation models demonstrating distance-brightness relationships, students learn Earth's movements create observable patterns.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Neve's ski instructor crew steps off the plane in New Zealand expecting winter and snow jobs—instead, bikinis and summer sun! Panic sets in as employment vanishes. Students follow Mosa disproving wrong theories (New Zealand closer to sun? No! Distance barely changes. Different sun? No! Same sun!). The correct answer: Earth's tilt. Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees on its axis. When Northern Hemisphere (Colorado) tilts toward sun, it receives direct sunlight = summer. Simultaneously, Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand) tilts away, receiving angled sunlight = winter. Six months later, positions reverse. Same day, opposite seasons—Earth's tilt determines angle of sun's rays hitting each hemisphere!
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Three investigations about light dispersion and seasons. Investigation 1: Flat Surface—shine flashlight at different angles on graph paper, measuring light spread (direct = concentrated/hot, angled = dispersed/cool). Investigation 2: Round Surface—repeat with styrofoam sphere discovering curved surface affects light distribution. Investigation 3: Tilted Earth Orbiting Sun—skewer through tilted styrofoam Earth, orbit around lamp "sun" in darkened room, observe how tilt creates seasons as different hemispheres receive varying light angles. Create travel brochures for Northern and Southern Hemisphere destinations, explaining seasonal differences using Earth's tilt and sun angle knowledge. Research best travel times!
⏱ 145 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a space-themed amusement park with scaled planet sizes and distances plus rides representing each planet's conditions! Part 1: Mystery bag of spheres—match spheres to planets using scaled diameters (1 cm : 6,370 km scale: Mercury = marble 0.8 cm, Mars = marble 1 cm, Venus = 1.8 cm sphere, Earth = 2 cm, Sun = 218.5 cm diameter or three yoga balls). Part 2: Map scaled distances on classroom walls. Part 3: Design amusement park with rides matching planetary conditions (Venus roller coaster through sulfuric acid clouds? Mars low-gravity trampolines? Jupiter storm simulators?). Accurate scaling teaches solar system proportions!
⏱ 200 minutes
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Earthquakes & Volcanoes
Students investigate why earthquakes and volcanoes cluster in specific zones where Earth's crustal pieces meet. Through analyzing seismic data from real earthquakes or investigating volcano eruption patterns, building models demonstrating divergent, convergent, and transform boundaries using graham crackers and frosting, and engineering earthquake-resistant structures or early warning systems, students discover how plate tectonics drives Earth's most dramatic geological events.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Every cake at the Cake County contest is destroyed by an earthquake—except Leonardo's, which he claims proves there was no earthquake at all. Students follow Mosa as she investigates earthquake damage patterns across the county and consults a volcanologist 100 miles away. By the end, they discover that earthquakes and volcanoes share a common cause: the gradual buildup of pressure between slowly moving tectonic plates that suddenly releases energy.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Four hands-on stations with graham crackers as tectonic plates and Cool Whip (dyed red) as magma. Students model convergent boundaries (plates crash together, mountains form), divergent boundaries (plates pull apart, magma rises), transform boundaries (plates slide past, earthquakes happen), and subduction zones (one plate dives under another, volcanoes erupt). Mini marshmallow "houses" ride on top so students can see what happens to structures during each interaction. Data collection reveals which boundary types create earthquakes, volcanoes, or both.
⏱ 100 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design protection for a village threatened by either earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. Students research mitigation strategies (earthquake-resistant building designs, lava diversion channels, early warning systems, evacuation routes), choose one natural hazard, engineer a solution, and build prototypes using paper, tape, and various construction materials. Presentations explain how their designs reduce damage and save lives—applying geological knowledge to real-world hazard preparedness.
⏱ 120 minutes
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Food Webs
Students discover organisms interconnect through feeding relationships where energy flows from producers through consumers to decomposers. Through solving disappearing prey mysteries or investigating ecosystem crashes, designing visual food webs with organism cards showing energy flow arrows from food sources to consumers, and engineering cafeteria waste reduction systems using decomposer knowledge creating composting solutions, students learn removing one species disrupts entire ecosystem networks.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Frank the bullfrog lives near a temperate forest and loves chomping on crickets and worms—but they've all vanished! Students follow Mosa as she interviews a singing cricket and a defiant earthworm, discovering that changes in one part of an ecosystem ripple through the entire food web. If plants die, herbivores starve, then carnivores that eat herbivores disappear too. By the end, students understand interdependence: organisms in ecosystems rely on complex feeding relationships where removing one link affects everything connected to it.
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Design a visual food web showing feeding relationships in an ecosystem. Students receive organism cards (producers like plants and algae, consumers at different levels, decomposers like fungi and bacteria) and a web background. They arrange organisms, draw arrows showing energy flow direction (from food source → to eater), and color-code different trophic levels. Key insight: arrows point from what's being eaten to what's eating it (grass → grasshopper → frog → hawk). The completed web reveals how multiple food chains interconnect, creating complex ecosystem networks where energy flows from sun → producers → consumers → decomposers.
⏱ 75 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Use food web knowledge to reduce cafeteria waste sent to landfills. Students observe their school cafeteria, identify types of waste (uneaten food, packaging, organic scraps), research how decomposers break down organic matter and return nutrients to ecosystems, then engineer solutions: maybe composting bins with specific decomposer organisms, worm farms processing food scraps, anaerobic digesters, or vermicomposting systems. They build models, test decomposition rates with different materials, and present proposals showing how their designs mimic natural decomposition cycles to reduce waste.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Rock Cycle & Earth's History
Students master how heat, pressure, weathering, and erosion transform rocks through continuous cycles. Through solving treasure hunt mysteries or investigating amazing formation changes over time, conducting Crayon Rock Journey experiments modeling igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic processes through melting and compacting, and engineering protection solutions for famous monuments threatened by weathering and erosion, students learn rocks constantly change over geological timescales.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
At an estate sale, Mosa discovers a lifetime treasure—an ancient guide book with directions to the Sunset Topaz, the world's most wanted crystal! Students follow her wild adventure through erupting mountains (witnessing igneous rock forming from cooling magma/lava), crumbling cities (observing weathering breaking rocks down), and ancient rivers (seeing sedimentary rock forming from compacted sediments), all while being chased by evil Zog seeking the same treasure. Mosa explores the rock cycle, discovering three rock types and the forces creating them (metamorphic rock forms under heat and pressure), using this knowledge to outsmart Zog and keep the Sunset Topaz.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students shave colored crayons into "sediments," compact them under pressure simulating sedimentary rock formation (pressing with books on wax paper), apply heat transforming them into metamorphic rock (floating aluminum foil boats in hot water, melting and changing crayon structure), then witness complete melting and cooling creating igneous rock (liquid crayon solidifying). Safety precautions include careful knife handling and supervised hot water use. They create annotated diagrams depicting each rock type and transformation process, explaining how rocks cycle between forms through different geological forces over millions of years.
⏱ 120 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Choose a famous monument threatened by weathering and erosion (Taj Mahal suffering acid rain damage? Sphinx nose eroded by wind and sand? Statue of Liberty corroding? Easter Island statues weathering? Mount Rushmore cracking from freeze-thaw cycles?), then engineer protection solutions. Students research specific weathering threats affecting their chosen monument, design prevention or mitigation strategies (protective coatings, drainage systems, climate-controlled enclosures, chemical treatments, restoration protocols), create technical diagrams or 3D prototypes, and present solutions explaining how designs protect monuments from ongoing geological processes destroying cultural heritage.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Diabetes
Students investigate diabetes understanding how bodies regulate blood sugar. Through animated mysteries exploring insulin's role or live investigations testing glucose levels, conducting experiments modeling pancreas function and insulin response, and engineering solutions helping diabetics manage their condition through monitoring devices or dietary planning tools, students discover how body systems maintain homeostasis and what happens when regulatory mechanisms fail.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Jaylene eats constantly but stays hungry—her cells report they haven't seen glucose in ages! Students follow Mosa to the cellular level, then to the pancreas, discovering that insulin is the key hormone that allows cells to absorb glucose from the bloodstream. When insulin production fails or cells stop responding to it (diabetes), glucose can't enter cells, leaving them starving even when blood sugar is high. By the end, students understand the critical interaction between glucose and insulin.
⏱ 45–80 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students diagram two pathways side by side: healthy glucose metabolism (insulin works, glucose enters cells, energy is produced) versus diabetic metabolism (insulin doesn't work, glucose stays in blood, cells starve). Then they research prevention strategies—healthy food choices and exercise regimens that help regulate blood sugar—and design a diabetes prevention app with meal plans, exercise routines, and educational screens explaining how glucose and insulin work.
⏱ 150 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a "smart" insulin pump with advanced technology. Students research Type 1 diabetes (pancreas doesn't produce insulin) versus Type 2 diabetes (cells resist insulin), then engineer an insulin pump prototype with features like automatic glucose monitoring, scheduled insulin delivery, and patient alerts. They create detailed user manuals with diagrams, instructions, and explanations of how the pump helps patients manage blood sugar—determining which diabetes type benefits most from pump technology.
⏱ 150 minutes
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Earth's Spheres
Students discover Earth consists of four interconnected spheres constantly interacting in complex ways. Through investigating volcanic eruptions affecting all spheres or examining environmental disasters, exploring how geosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere connect through hands-on models, and engineering monitoring systems tracking sphere interactions during natural events, students learn when one sphere changes, ripple effects cascade through all others creating environmental relationships.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Students work together to complete a Earth’s Spheres Vocabulary Mind Map before helping JoJo and Felix solve the mystery of how Earth’s spheres are connected. By the end of The Solve, students discover that an event that occurs in one sphere does not exist in isolation since Earth’s spheres interact in a variety of ways. (75 mins)
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Four hands-on stations investigating sphere interactions. Station 1: "Mine" chocolate chips from cookies with toothpicks (coal mining impacts geosphere, creates waste, pollutes water). Station 2: Coral Reef Card Game mapping connections (coral depends on clean water, fish, and temperature—lose one, the whole system collapses). Station 3: Mosa Mack Times newspaper analyzing real environmental events. Station 4: Spray colored water ("pesticides") on artificial plants with perforated cups below (pesticides contaminate soil and groundwater—hydrosphere pollution from agriculture). Students create infographics showing how each event impacts multiple spheres simultaneously.
⏱ 200 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
First, a water distribution demonstration showing that usable freshwater is incredibly scarce. Then students tackle an oil spill! They design and test two devices: (1) containment booms to stop oil from spreading (using cardboard, straws, foam, pipe cleaners), (2) cleanup tools to remove oil from water (sponges, cotton balls, pantyhose). They measure success using graduated cylinders, analyzing how much oil they removed. Real engineering meets environmental crisis.
⏱ 220 minutes
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Interaction of Organisms
Students discover organisms interact through symbiotic relationships and predator-prey dynamics maintaining ecosystem balance. Through solving coral reef murder mysteries or investigating kelp forest collapses when keystone predators vanish, creating Ecosystem Tours presentations highlighting mutualism, competition, and predation drama using videos and organism cards, and engineering invasive species monitoring and removal solutions, students learn interaction types shape healthy ecosystems.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
The clownfish comedian was the life of the party—until he vanished on his way to his final booking. His assistant finds only remains on the ocean floor. Students follow Mosa underwater, encountering various coral reef organisms and learning different interaction types: mutualism (clownfish and sea anemones protect each other), competition (multiple species fighting for limited food or space), and predation (hunters eating prey). After examining evidence and abiotic factors (water temperature, pH, pollution), Mosa identifies the Clownfish Killer—revealing how organism interactions determine survival in ecosystems.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Your summer job at Ecosystem Tours is failing—business is slow, you might lose your job! Your brilliant idea: instead of just pointing out animals, highlight the dramatic interactions between organisms—the friendships, the competition, the predation! Students analyze videos, images, and reading passages from multiple ecosystems, work through stations with organism interaction cards identifying mutualism pairs (oxpeckers cleaning hippos, bees pollinating flowers), competition scenarios (lions vs. hyenas for prey), and predation relationships (hawks hunting mice). They create presentations showcasing these dramatic ecosystem stories—customers will love the drama!
⏱ 190 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Research an invasive species threatening North American ecosystems (zebra mussels? Burmese pythons? kudzu vines? Asian carp? emerald ash borers?) and design solutions to monitor, contain, or remove them before they spread further. Students investigate how invasives disrupt native organism interactions (outcompeting natives for resources, preying on species with no defenses, spreading diseases), then engineer plans or devices: traps, barriers, biological controls, monitoring sensors, removal technologies. They build models and present solutions explaining how their designs prevent invasive species from devastating additional ecosystems.
⏱ 200 minutes
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Evidence of Evolution
Students investigate evolution evidence discovering three types prove common ancestry across species. Through examining Evie Loo's Natural History Wing fossils or analyzing transitional form mysteries, rotating through stations comparing anatomical structures, embryological development, and fossil sequences, and engineering devices monitoring ongoing evolution like antibiotic-resistant bacteria, students master analyzing evolutionary relationships using fossil, embryological, and comparative anatomy evidence lines.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Evie Loo's will names Pongo the orangutan, P-Jon the bird, and Lil' Swimmy the fish as her family. Lawyers declare it invalid—they're not related! Students follow Mosa through Evie's mansion's Natural History wing, gathering three types of evidence: fossil evidence (transitional forms showing evolutionary changes), embryological evidence (all vertebrate embryos look similar early on, sharing gill slits and tails), and comparative anatomy (homologous structures like human arms, bird wings, and whale flippers share the same bone arrangement). The verdict: all species share a common ancestor, making them technically family. The Will stands!
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Three evidence-gathering stations. Station 1: Anatomical Structures—Students compare bone arrangements in human arms, bird wings, whale flippers, and bat wings, discovering homologous structures that prove common ancestry despite different functions. Station 2: Embryos—Students examine vertebrate embryo cards (fish, birds, turtles, humans) at different developmental stages, identifying shared early features (pharyngeal arches/gill slits, tails, limb buds) that later diverge. Station 3: Fossils—Students arrange whale fossil sheets chronologically, reconstructing evolutionary history from land-dwelling ancestors with legs to modern aquatic whales. They complete Evidence Journals explaining how each evidence type supports evolution.
⏱ 145 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Design a device to monitor that evolution is still happening within a species right now. Students research modern examples of observable evolution (antibiotic-resistant bacteria? pesticide-resistant insects? climate-adapted animals?), identify traits that are changing, then engineer monitoring devices—maybe automated cameras tracking beak sizes in finch populations, sensors measuring wing length changes in moths, or sample collectors tracking bacterial resistance rates. They present designs explaining how their devices gather data proving evolution continues in real time, not just ancient history.
⏱ 175 minutes
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Oceans & Climate
Students learn how unequal heating, Earth's rotation, and ocean circulation determine regional climates worldwide. Through solving drift pattern mysteries or investigating current dynamics and formation, conducting six discovery days testing latitude heating, ocean currents, density, geography, and heat capacity effects, and engineering ocean current energy harvesting devices choosing optimal locations, students discover oceans act as climate regulators distributing heat globally.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Secret nuclear plans hidden in garden gnomes spill overboard near the Philippines—now they're floating across the Pacific! Mosa helps Interpol agents track down the "Air-Quote Gnome" by investigating ocean current dynamics. Students discover that ocean currents follow predictable patterns influenced by: Earth's rotation (Coriolis effect), wind pushing surface water, land masses redirecting flow, and density differences (cold salty water sinks, warm fresh water rises). General pattern: cold water moves from poles toward equator, warm water flows from equator toward poles. By combining these factors accurately, they locate and recover the missing gnome with nuclear plans.
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Six discovery-based investigation days exploring factors affecting ocean movement and regional climate. Day 1: Latitude—Test how sunlight angle affects heating at different latitudes (equator receives direct rays, poles receive angled rays). Day 2: Ocean and Wind Currents—Map how wind patterns drive surface currents, creating global circulation. Day 3: Density—Investigate how temperature and salinity affect water density, causing cold salty water to sink and drive deep ocean currents. Day 4: Geography—Examine how land masses redirect ocean currents and create regional climate patterns. Day 5: Heat—Compare how land vs. water absorbs and releases heat (water changes temperature slowly, land changes quickly). Day 6: Assessment—Students present comprehensive understanding of how all factors interact.
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The Engineer
Design Challenge
Harness clean energy from ocean currents! Students review forces impacting ocean circulation, brainstorm energy capture methods, then choose optimal locations for devices based on maps showing surface temperatures, current speeds, and wind patterns. They design either surface current generators (capturing energy from fast-moving Gulf Stream, Kuroshio Current, or Antarctic Circumpolar Current) or deep water current devices (harvesting energy from density-driven thermohaline circulation). Final presentations include either physical models or technical diagrams showing device placement on world maps with engineering explanations of why their chosen location maximizes energy capture.
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Plant & Animal Structures
Students master how internal and external structures support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction in organisms. Through investigating giraffe-Acacia tree relationships or examining structural adaptations across environments, visiting stations featuring plant and animal specimens from different U.S. regions identifying survival structures creating field guide booklets, and using biomimicry designing products inspired by nature's solutions, students learn structure determines function.
What Your Students Will Experience
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
These giraffes are in trouble. Some people are convinced the giraffes are destroying their Acacia trees—and they want them removed. Students follow Mosa as she studies structures of both species. Giraffe structures: long necks reach high leaves, long tongues grab around thorns, tough mouths handle spiky branches, strong legs cover distances finding food. Acacia tree structures: thorns deter most animals (but not giraffes), leaves provide nutrition, seed pods need distribution. The revelation: giraffes and Acacia trees have a mutualistic relationship! Giraffes get food, Acacia trees get seed dispersal when giraffes eat pods and deposit seeds elsewhere. They help each other survive—removal would harm both species.
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Station activities around the classroom featuring photographs, videos, and possibly physical specimens of plants and animals from different environments. Students visit each station, identify structures supporting growth, survival, or reproduction, and document findings. Examples might include: desert plants with water-storing stems, birds with specialized beaks for different foods, fish with fins for swimming, flowers with bright petals attracting pollinators, mammals with fur for temperature regulation. Students compile knowledge into field guide booklets, illustrating structures and explaining how each supports the organism's survival in its specific habitat.
⏱ 140-145 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Study plant and animal structures, then use biomimicry—copying nature's solutions—to design products solving human problems. Students examine resource cards showing adaptations (gecko feet stick to surfaces, lotus leaves repel water, whale fins provide efficient swimming, bird wings enable flight, spider silk creates strong lightweight material). They choose one organism's structure as inspiration, identify a human problem it could solve (sticky tape from gecko feet? waterproof fabric from lotus leaves? efficient propellers from whale fins?), design products using those principles, build prototypes with cardboard, paper, tape, and craft materials, then present biomimicry solutions.
⏱ 200 minutes
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Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Earth's Place in the Universe
Students explore Earth's position in cosmos investigating how movements create observable patterns. Through tracking shadow positions changing throughout days or examining why different constellations appear different seasons, conducting investigations graphing daylight length changes and observing constellation movements with planispheres, and engineering solar tracking devices or seasonal planning tools, students discover daily phenomena result from Earth's rotation, revolution, and tilt in space.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Students review Sun-Earth System vocabulary in a mind map before helping Mosa Mack solve the mystery of why Neve’s snowboard vacation in New Zealand is foiled by mysteriously summery weather. By the end of The Solve, students discover that seasons differ across the globe because of Earth’s tilt and the angle that the Sun’s rays hit the Earth. (75 mins)
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students track daily and seasonal patterns collecting evidence of Earth's movements. Shadow investigations using meter sticks and chalk reveal patterns—shortest at noon, longest morning/evening. Constellation observations with planispheres show how star positions change seasonally, proving Earth's revolution. Sun path tracking records sunrise/sunset times across months, graphing daylight length changes. All data compiles into graphical displays revealing patterns in shadows, day/night cycles, and seasonal star appearances.
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The Engineer
Design Challenge
Students design solutions harnessing Earth's movements. Teams might engineer solar tracking devices like sundials or panel positioning systems, seasonal planning tools like agricultural calendars or energy predictors, or educational models like mechanical orreries or augmented reality apps demonstrating rotation and revolution. Projects show how Earth's movements create practical patterns people can use—from maximizing solar energy capture to planning optimal planting times or stargazing schedules.
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Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Energy Transfer
Students investigate energy existing in multiple forms (light, heat, electrical, motion, sound) transferring between types. Through solving twin communication mysteries using energy forms or exploring magnetism and invisible forces, rotating through five energy stations investigating electrical circuits and sound waves, and constructing Rube Goldberg machines demonstrating chain reaction energy transfers with labeled blueprints, students master how energy travels through space and matter.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
JoJo and Felix are heartbroken—their twin parents fight, forbidding communication between families! Desperate to connect, JoJo uncovers the Mosa Files exploring various energy forms. He attempts communication using: sound energy (waves traveling through air), light energy (flashlight signals), heat energy (thermal transfer), electrical energy (circuits powering devices). Many attempts fail until JoJo and Felix construct a successful plan using multiple energy transfers working together—electrical energy powers a light bulb (conversion to light energy), light creates patterns (information transfer), sound confirms receipt. They unravel a secret twin message, breaking family silence through understanding energy transfer and conversion!
⏱ 40–75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Five station investigations discovering different energy forms and transfers! Station 1: Electrical Energy—circuits with batteries, wires, bulbs showing electrical energy flowing and converting to light/heat. Station 2: Light Energy—flashlights, prisms, mirrors demonstrating light traveling as waves, reflecting off surfaces, refracting through materials. Station 3: Heat Energy—thermal transfer through conduction, convection, radiation. Station 4: Motion Energy (kinetic/potential)—moving objects, ramps, pendulums showing energy of motion and position. Station 5: Sound Energy—tuning forks, speakers, drums creating vibrations traveling as sound waves. Compete in "Energy Transfer Competition"—develop and share unique examples of energy transfers combining multiple forms creatively!
⏱ 140–145 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Construct Rube Goldberg machines demonstrating chain reaction systems with at least two energy transfers! Students design complex systems where initial action triggers sequential energy transformations: marble rolls down ramp (potential energy → kinetic energy), hits domino chain (kinetic energy transfer), final domino pulls string (mechanical energy), string releases ball (potential to kinetic), ball hits switch (kinetic to electrical), circuit lights bulb (electrical to light energy). Create blueprint diagrams labeling each energy transfer, build working machines using household materials (ramps, dominoes, string, pulleys, levers, marbles), present demonstrations explaining evidence of multiple energy type transfers in action!
⏱ 170–215 minutes
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Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Matter and its Interactions
Students discover matter transforms during chemical changes but total mass stays constant—matter rearranges without being created or destroyed. Through investigating whether substances create new matter or exploring particle behavior in sealed systems, conducting Alka-Seltzer experiments in sealed bags measuring mass before and after reactions proving conservation, and engineering chemical reaction-powered devices or separation techniques, students master conservation of mass principles.
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Students work together to complete a Matter and Its Interactions Vocabulary Mind Map before helping Felix and JoJo solve the mystery of the missing Ralf - the world's first slime bot. By the end of The Solve, students will discover that it's not magic causing Ralf Snax to turn into slime - but a simple chemical reaction. (40-75 mins)
⏱ 40-75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Students rotate through stations exploring chemical versus physical changes. Chemical stations: baking soda plus vinegar creates gas, iron rusts, eggs cook, sugar burns. Physical stations: ice melts, salt dissolves, paper cuts. They record observations and measure mass before and after. Pattern emerges: chemical changes create new substances with different properties; physical changes only alter appearance. Both conserve mass, proving matter stays constant even when transforming.
⏱ 200 minutes
The Engineer
Design Challenge
Students design solutions using matter interactions. Teams might engineer chemical reaction-powered devices like baking soda rockets or instant cold packs, separation techniques like filtration systems or chromatography setups, or material transformation processes like composting systems. They build prototypes, test effectiveness, and explain which specific matter interactions—chemical changes, physical changes, dissolution, precipitation—make their solutions work, reinforcing that understanding matter behavior opens problem-solving possibilities.
⏱ 290 mins
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Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
Earth's Processes & Mapping
Students explore Earth's constantly changing surface through erosion, deposition, weathering, and tectonic activity. Through investigating landscape transformations or mysterious shifting scenery, analyzing topographic maps identifying contour lines and landforms calculating elevation differences, and engineering solutions managing erosion or mapping wilderness areas, students learn why landscapes transform over time and how maps reveal Earth's surface features.
What Your Students Will Experience
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The Solve
Mystery Investigation
Students review Earth’s Processes & Mapping vocabulary in a mind map before helping Felix and JoJo find their grandfather’s mystery location in the Caribbean. By the end of The Solve, students decipher clues in order to successfully read maps and uncover a variety of landforms and natural events on Earth before finding their grandfather. (75 mins)
⏱ 75 minutes
The Lab
Hands-on Experiment
Become a global pattern detective. Students observe slideshow images of major landforms (mountain ranges, oceanic trenches, earthquakes, volcanoes), then plot actual coordinate data for each feature type onto a World Landform Coordinate Map using color coding: brown for mountains, blue for oceanic trenches, red for earthquakes, green for volcanoes. Next, they trace tectonic plate boundaries onto their maps by layering a plate boundary transparency over their landform map. The pattern emerges strikingly: almost all major Earth features align directly with plate boundaries. Real data reveals real patterns.
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The Engineer
Design Challenge
April 2015: A devastating earthquake strikes Nepal. Students watch footage of the destruction, research earthquake science and building failures, then engineer earthquake-resistant structures. They test designs on shake tables—elastic-banded baskets that simulate seismic motion. Buildings must survive the shaking. Students analyze class data to determine which design features work best (triangular bracing? wide bases? flexible joints?), combining successful characteristics into improved solutions.
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Everything You Need Is Included
Complete lesson plans & student guides
Pre & post assessments / State test practice
Supporting educator videos
Student worksheets & data collection sheets
Detailed lesson plans, materials list & assignment options
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