H2 Oh No! A City Pb Astray Using Flint’s water emergency as the back story, student teams will design, build, test, and evaluate a two-stage filter to remove lead from contaminated water. The 1st stage precipitates out the lead; the 2nd stage removes the precipitate from the water. Understanding and applying chemistry principles of molecular…
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The Body Guardian In this unit, students will investigate the effects of an impact force on the human body system, and design a method of protection from harmful contact. Students will apply knowledge of human tissues and genetic disorders, impact forces, and materials analysis to design a protective gear system that can withstand the effects…
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Sunshades and Shadows Students participate in hands-on inquiry-based centers and guided activities to increase their knowledge of shadows and light. Students explore and manipulate light, using a light source to simulate the sun at various times of day and observe shadows, create and measure shadows, and test how various types of media block light. Students…
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Concussions are a Headache Microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, are a crucial, yet little-understood part of our everyday lives. MEMS are very small devices that can be found in printers, airbags, smartphones, game controllers, TVs, and many other types of household items. This STEM unit will introduce students to the world of MEMS through a very…
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Universal Cell Phone Sound Amplifier Student teams are challenged to create an energy-free speaker system for any hand-held device. In order to effectively complete the design challenge, students will explore the wave behaviors and transfer of energy in a sound wave. Students will also analyze the volume of the device and the speaker system as…
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Bending Light to Communicate Lasers can be used for many purposes such as targeting and communication. Light is refracted (“bent”) as it travels from one medium to another. This can be demonstrated by a straw appearing to be “bent” when placed into a glass of water. Throughout this inquiry STEM lesson, student will have students…
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Moving On Up Teams of students will design and build a model for a transportation system in the Virunga Mountains. Student learning will focus on science (physics of simple machines), math (statistics and modeling), language arts (technical writing) and history (African people and mountain ranges) to solve this problem. Engineering Design Challenge Members of a…
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