Idea Sheets

Make a self-supporting bridge designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Be amazed by the ingenious simplicity of his creation! Use Leonardo's idea to inspire a student design challenge.
Subjects: Physical Science

This St. Patrick's day organize a fun, holiday-themed design challenge that gives your students an opportunity to brainstorm, prototype, and test leprechaun traps.
Subjects: Physical Science, Social Studies

Students love anything that glows! Use light-sticks (a.k.a. - glowsticks) to illustrate how chemical reactions can produce light and how temperature can affect reactions!
Subjects: Physical Science

Students can observe how natural and man-made materials break down and decompose by experimenting with different materials and environmental variables.
Subjects: Life Science

This simple model of a car can be used to experience and to explore the science of motion. The low friction wheel and axle combination, one of the six simple machines, can be used with an inclined plane to collect data on the effects of different surfaces and of varying the weight in the car on the distances traveled.
Subjects: Physical Science

The repelling magnetic force between magnets with the same poles facing each other is the basis for this scientific toy. Students can explore and "feel" how the strength of magnetic repulsion increases as the distance decreases.
Subjects: Physical Science

Construct a simple device that allows students to combine the colors of light, creating a multitude of colors across the visible color spectrum.
Subjects: Physical Science

Teachers have used candle-making activities in the classroom for years as a fun, art activity. However, candles can be used as an integral part of the academic curriculum. Candles are a wonderful interdisciplinary activity combining science and social science content, as well as increasing observation and comparing skills.
Subjects: Physical Science, Social Studies

Closed, parallel, and series circuits can be easily explored with inexpensive materials including this easy-to-make bulb holder.
Subjects: Physical Science

Investigate material properties and improve manual dexterity and fine-motor skills with this fun, ring-linking challenge.
Subjects: Physical Science, Math

In this game children develop their memorization skills while strengthening their discrimination skills by finding common pictures.
Subjects: Math, Language Arts

"Tall and thin" or "short and fat"? Which will hold the most? Explore a question that develops math and measurement skills while challenging our perceptions.
Subjects: Physical Science, Math

Teachers can easily recreate the classic and simple game of Ring Toss for their classroom using RAFT materials. In this version, students get points for a "ringer", but also get points for getting close (like in horseshoes). To get their score, students need to measure distance to the rings in Metric.
Subjects: Physical Science, Math

Explore forces, trajectories, and flight stability with straw "rockets" shot from an easily made adjustable launcher.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Explore the magic of flight with a cylinder that will soar and could do a loop-de-loop!
Subjects: Physical Science

This "magic" trick is an entertaining way to introduce the concept of resonance.
Subjects: Physical Science

This curious surface is called a Mobius Strip has only one side and one edge.
Subjects: Math

Make a bookmark that stays put even if the book is opened or turned upside down!
Subjects: Physical Science, Language Arts, Art

This activity provides an engaging opportunity to be creative while investigating the magnetic properties of various materials. Children will create new colors as they move the magnetic items through the paint.
Subjects: Physical Science

This clever design allows students to investigate the magnetic properties of different materials in a fun, hands-on fashion.
Subjects: Physical Science

This clever assembly allows your students to investigate the magnetic properties of different materials in a fun hands-on fashion.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

This easily-made device allows a magnet's unseen magnetic field to become "visible" in 3 dimensions. Iron filings are contained between a pair of clear lids joined at the rims and held apart by a trapped bubble of air. This simple tool can reveal the patterns due to invisible forces created by magnets.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

Capture the imagination of young students with this inexpensive, engaging activity. They will to explore how magnets work as they move a playing piece through a maze.
Subjects: Physical Science

Explore the interactions of magnetic fields as a swinging magnet weaves an intricate path influenced by the variable placement of other magnets on a coordinate grid.
Subjects: Physical Science

A variety of scientific concepts can be demonstrated by using this unique combination of magnets.
Subjects: Physical Science

Create a weightless "environment" and see how magnets would react in outer space.
Subjects: Physical Science, Earth/Space Science

These materials will greatly aid students in designing basic electrical circuits. Open (off) and closed (on) circuits can be modeled with the lit and unlit symbols.
Subjects: Physical Science

By using Ellison die-cutting machine you can cut regular polygons with tabs on them out of folders. Your students can investigate polyhedra by assembling them with rubber bands or glue. They can put together regular polyhedra, semi-regular polyhedra and others. The models can also be used to display photographs.
Subjects: Math

This modeling activity can be used to teach topographic map-reading skills. Students draw a fictitious topographic map, and then build the mountain represented by the map's contour lines.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science

Students will gain a physical sense of the relationship between energy and wavelength as they generate waves by shaking a rope or string.
Subjects: Physical Science

People from around the world play games of strategy. Most popular games, like Mancala, have roots going back hundreds of years. Using these games in the classroom is not only enjoyable for students, but also teaches logic, mathematical reasoning, and problem solving skills.
Subjects: Math, Social Studies

Even out of date local maps can guide students in explorations of their surroundings.
Subjects: Social Studies

Students use a linear equation, slope, and X-Y intercept to aim a marble launch tube so the marble will cross a specified set of Cartesian coordinates and hit the "target"!
Subjects: Math

Students will love this hands-on exploration of forces and motion!
Subjects: Physical Science

Marbles are mostly about fun! But "kids" are experiencing and investigating motion and forces during every single game.
Subjects: Physical Science, Social Studies

Everybody loves Mars! These little globes of Mars are fun to make, and they introduce students to some of the main geographic features of the Martian surface.
Subjects: Earth/Space Science

A chemical matching game with a twist, this game makes learning chemical symbols and properties fun!
Subjects: Physical Science

Match Equivalent Fractions, Decimals, Percents, and 100's charts in this fast-paced game! Playing this game reinforces recognizing different forms of equivalent numbers and parts of a whole.
Subjects: Math

This activity gives pre-school and primary school age children an opportunity to explore sounds by investigating sounds made by small objects. It helps develop observation skills and encourages attention to detail.
Subjects: Physical Science, Life Science

Being able to match an item to its counter part is an essential strategy that can help promote behaviors necessary for later academic success in both literacy and math.
Subjects: Math, Language Arts

Drill with worksheets and flashcards is boring! Games engage young minds and enhance memory.
Subjects: Math

Reinforce the concept of slope while playing checkers!
Subjects: Math

Playing games is an enjoyable activity for children which helps them explore mathematical concepts.
Subjects: Math

Integrate African culture with concepts of mathematical ratios and proportions in the ceremonial Akuaba figures.
Subjects: Math, Social Studies, Art

Combine traditional Native American culture and modern mathematical concepts to explore geometric shapes and patterns!
Subjects: Math, Social Studies, Art

Combine geometry with Native American Indian culture to create a figure inspired by the Hopi Kachina doll!
Subjects: Math, Social Studies, Art

Explore Japanese culture, properties of shapes, and transformations on the plane while creating figures based on a traditional Japanese Kokeshi doll!
Subjects: Math, Social Studies, Art

Explore Russian culture and mathematical properties of proportion, scale, surface area, and self-similarity while creating a version of this nesting Matryoshka doll!
Subjects: Math, Social Studies, Art

Students create symmetrical models that are self-representational. Designing the model facilitates students' cultural exploration. Completed models can be used as the basis of a story and/or play.
Subjects: Math, Social Studies, Language Arts, Art

Any standardized measurements (even metric units) are arbitrary, just agree upon. For young learners, measuring is the important thing, not what they use as a "ruler".
Subjects: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth/Space Science, Math