Designing Professional Development Template

08 Jun 2015 | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

This template is for SLED teachers to design professional development experiences for other teachers. It was developed for use during the 2015 summer institute.

SLED Unit Plan Template 2015-16

08 Jun 2015 | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

This is the SLED unit implementation plan template for the 2015-16 academic year.

Dog gone it!

08 Jun 2015 | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, Todd Richard Kelley, Chell Nyquist, James Daniel Lehman

This design challenge, for students in grade 3, focuses on simple and compound machines. The objective of the challenge is to design a compound machine to help a large breed of dog to get into and out of the back of a car.

Hot Wheels Lab

25 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Nikki Rumpler, James Daniel Lehman

This grade 4 inquiry lab lesson plan, developed by Nikki Rumpler for the 2014 SLED Summer Institute, addresses the question, "Does the height of a ramp affect the speed and distance a Hot Wheels car will travel?"

Bio-Inspired Paper Flowers

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Bryan Hubbard, James Daniel Lehman

This grade 3 lesson introduces students to the basic structures of plants and their functions. Students are challenged to create paper flowers that turn colors through processes that mimics how real plants function.

Design of a Green Roof

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Bryan Hubbard, James Daniel Lehman

This grade 4 lesson addresses standards related to plant adaptation and response to the environment. Students are challenged to construct a model of a green roof for a house.

Designing Safer Roadways

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Kendra A Erk, James Daniel Lehman

This grade 4 design task focuses on forces, motion, and transportation systems by challenging students to design a roadway that will slow and then stop vehicles from running off the road.

Save the Wolf (Simple Machines)

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Kendra A Erk, James Daniel Lehman

This grade 3 design lesson introduces simple machines and challenges students to use simple machines to create a device to capture a wolf.

Earthen Dam Design Task

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Venkatesh Merwade, James Daniel Lehman

This grade 3 design task focuses on earth materials and the construction of an earthen dam.

Water Canal Design Task

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Venkatesh Merwade, James Daniel Lehman

This grade 4 design tasks focuses on erosion and the construction of a canal to bring water to a water park.

Short version-SLED Unit Plan Template 2014

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

The short version of the SLED Unit Plan Template for 2014-15.

Long version-SLED Unit Plan Template 2014

03 Jun 2014 | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

The long version of the SLED Unit Plan Template for 2014-15.

Light Just Right

13 Jun 2013 | Contributor(s): James Daniel Lehman

This 4th grade design activity focuses on electrical current and resistance. Students design a way to make a bulb light with differing brightnesses.

SLED Unit Implementation Plan Rubric 2013-14 2014-15

12 Jun 2013 | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

This rubric will be used to assess teachers' unit implementation plans for the SLED project.

Summer 2013 SLED Unit Plan Template

12 Jun 2013 | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

This is the template teachers should use during the 2013 SLED Summer Institute to prepare their lesson implementation plans.

Drink Pouch

11 Jun 2013 | Contributor(s): Bryan Hubbard, Alyssa Panitch, Kari Clase, Tahira Reid, Nancy Irene Tyrie, James Daniel Lehman

This 3rd grade design activity is focused on creating a drink pouch that can keep a drink cool in the hot sun.

Slow Boat

11 Jun 2013 | Contributor(s): Bryan Hubbard, Alyssa Panitch, Tahira Reid, Kari Clase, Nancy Irene Tyrie, James Daniel Lehman

This 4th grade design task lesson focuses on the concept of drag by asking students to develop ways to slow down a boat.

Design of a Door Alarm

10 Jun 2013 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): David C Eichinger, Erin K Doherty, James Daniel Lehman, Venkatesh Merwade

This grade 4 design task helps students learn about simple circuits by designing a door alarm.

Design of Musical Instruments for a Rock Band

10 Jun 2013 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): David C Eichinger, Erin K Doherty, James Daniel Lehman, Venkatesh Merwade

This grade 3 design task helps students to learn about sound by designing a stringed musical instrument.

Sound Absorption

09 Jun 2013 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): James Daniel Lehman

This grade 3 lesson plan focuses on a design task to create a wall to absorb sound.

Exploring Whirligigs

09 Jun 2013 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

This inquiry lesson, for grades 3-4, involves students conducting a fair test investigation to determine the way an object (a whirligig) falls through the air and how this fall depends on its mass, surface area, and other factors. This lesson is an adaptation of a lesson developed by...

Lifeguard Chair

09 Jun 2013 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): Brenda Capobianco, James Daniel Lehman

This lesson, for grades 3-6, involves an introductory design activity to build a lifeguard chair from note cards and tape. It is an adaptation of a design lesson introduced by Engineering is Elementary called “Tower Power.”

The Case of the Pilfered Pin

29 May 2013 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): James Daniel Lehman

This is an inquiry activity for grades 3-4. Students must measure temperature, mass, and length in order to solve a mystery.

Design Team Developed: Plastic Water Bottle Design

30 Nov 2012 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): James Daniel Lehman

This lesson plan, intended for grade 6, focuses on using mathematics to design the shape of a plastic water bottle to optimize the surface area to volume ratio and so reduce the amount of plastic used to make the bottles.

Design Team Developed: Reasons for Seasons

30 Nov 2012 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): James Daniel Lehman

The Reasons for Seasons lesson, designed to meet 5th grade standards, addresses an important science concept involving the movements of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis.