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.

STEMEdhub: Supporting STEM Education Initiatives via the H U Bzero Platform

07 Apr 2015 | Contributor(s): James Daniel Lehman, Peg A Ertmer, Ann Bessenbacher

Built as one of 60+ hubs on the HUBzero platform, STEMEdhub was developed in 2011 as a resource for research, education, and collaboration in STEM education. The hub currently supports 82 different groups. In this article, the authors describe two specific groups (SLED and AAU) that are taking...

Bio-Inspired Paper Flowers

03 Jun 2014 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): Bryan Hubbard, Kari Clase, Alyssa Panitch, Evan Rebar, Tahira Reid, Nancy Tyrie, 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.

Save the Wolf (Simple Machines)

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

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

PBL to the Rescue: Using PBL in a Human Anatomy and Physiology High School Class

17 Sep 2013 | Seminars | Contributor(s): Brian Duncan

This one hour video presentation given by Brian Duncan, an Attica, Indiana Jr./Sr. High School science teacher. He presents his experience using PBL to teach Human Anatomy and Physiology High School class to the Research Goes to School workshop in Summer 2013. Be sure to look at the supporting...

Biofuel Candle Comparison Lab

20 Jun 2013 | Lesson Plans | Contributor(s): Kathy Daniels

This basic lab was developed to be used in a non-science classroom to help start student thinking about energy densities of different fuels in mathematical terms. The main objective is to get middle and high school math students to quantify observations of candles made from petroleum based fuels...

Drink Pouch

11 Jun 2013 | Lesson Plans | 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.

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...

Cooking with the Sun - Creating a Solar Oven

17 Feb 2012 | Downloads | Contributor(s): Kari Clase, Peg A Ertmer

RGS Summer 2011 Supplemental MaterialFor this activity, students will be given a set of materials: cardboard, a set of insulating materials (i.e. foam, newspaper, etc.), aluminum foil, and plexiglass. Students will then become engineers in building a solar oven from the given materials, keeping...

Problem Based Approach to Instruction

17 Feb 2012 | Downloads | Contributor(s): Kari Clase, Peg A Ertmer

RGS Summer 2011 Supplemental Material:This chapter examines the problem-based learning approach to instructionfrom the perspective of instructional design theory and synthesizes the current knowledge and theory into some universal methods, situational methods, and principles for a theory of...

PBL Learning Meets Case-Based Reasoning in the Middle School Science Classroom: Putting Learning by Design Into Practice

17 Feb 2012 | Downloads | Contributor(s): Kari Clase, Peg A Ertmer

RGS Summer 2011 Supplemental Material:This article tells the story of the design of Learning by Design™ (LBD), a project- based inquiry approach to science learning with roots in case-based reasoning and problem-based learning, pointing out the theoretical contributions of both, classroom issues...

PBL Developing a Driving Question

17 Feb 2012 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s): Peg A Ertmer

RGS Summer 2011 PBL: Developing a Driving Question

Calculating the Potential Energy of Flowing Water

17 Feb 2012 | Teaching Materials | Contributor(s): Kari Clase

RGS Summer 2011 Week 1 Material: Student Activity

PBL Summer 2011 UV Activity Notes

17 Feb 2012 | Downloads | Contributor(s): Kari Clase, Peg A Ertmer

RGS Summer 2011 UV Bead Activity Experimental Design Notes

PBL Facilitation and Questioning Strategies

17 Feb 2012 | Seminars | Contributor(s): Kari Clase, Peg A Ertmer

RGS Summer 2011 Supplemental Material