Science Legacy Kits are available in a limited quantity on a first come, first serve basis.
For more information, please contact: Leigh_Leyva@caboces.org
(716) 376-8272 |
Kindergarten
wATERPLAY
The Waterplay kit provides students with the opportunity to observe the properties of water and explore with water. Students will observe objects that sink and float in water, compare volumes of water in different size containers, describe the states water is found in, observe water absorption, and objects dissolving in water. The unit ends with an exploration of how soap effects water and making bubbles. The science skills emphasized in Waterplay are observing, discussing, describing, predicting, gathering data, questioning, and interpreting data. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
CLASSROOM pLANTS
This unit introduces elementary students to the life cycle of plants through observing, growing, and caring for common plants under a variety of conditions. Opportunities are provided for plants to be grown from seeds, cuttings, and roots. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
sUNSHINE & sHADOWS
Sunshine, Shadows, and Silhouettes allows students to explore shadows. Students will observe how shadows form, how light effects objects, and how shadows change throughout the day. Through the use of the skills of observing, communicating, and manipulating, students will investigate the properties of shadows. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
sHAPES, fORMS & COLORS
Shapes, Forms, and Colors introduces students to both two dimensional shapes and three dimension forms. Students are also given the opportunity to work with primary colors to form secondary colors. Color tints and shades are also explored. The skills of observing, discussing, describing, predicting, and classifying are used throughout the unit. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
MY BODY
The My Body kit will develop body awareness through the use of different body parts. Students will learn about the different ways we care for our body and how to keep our bodies healthy. The senses are explored in-depth, as well as the body part associated with each sense. This kit is aligned to the NY State Standards. Pre-kindergarten and kindergarten.
iNSECTS
Insects introduces students to the cricket and the ant. Students create habitats for these insects in their classroom. Students then investigate the cricket's and ant's home, food preferences, body structure, and life cycle. Students identify the body parts necessary for an animal to be an insect and classify animals based on their characteristics. The skills of observing, discussing, describing, predicting, comparing, and classifying are used throughout the unit. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
rON'S RAMP ADVENTURE
ADVANCING STEM KITS
Spot the Differences: Changes to the Environment
Unit Overview Students build on their intuitive sense of patterns as they sort a variety of collections noting similarities, differences, and repeating patterns within animals’ and plants’ needs. Students explore patterns in their daily activities and in the world around them, and discuss patterns that repeat in longer cycles of time. From these patterns, students will communicate solutions and ideas of how humans can reduce the impact of their environment. It's a Matter of Pushing or Pulling: How objects move
Overview Students will explore patterns in different systems that move and how they operate, as each system moves in a different but predictable pattern. Students will then design and build a contraption to change the speed or direction of an object with a push or a pull. As a result, students build a grade-level-appropriate concept of systems and an understanding of moving objects. One Under the Sun: Plant and Animal Interactions with the Sun and their Environment
Overview Students will make observations about plants and animals to learn that they need food, light, and water to live and grow. Students will also learn that these essential needs are provided by the environment where they live. Using knowledge learned, students will design a structure that helps protect plants, animals, or humans from the heat of the sun. Eyes to the Sky: Investigating Weather Patterns
First grade
ROCKS, FOSSILS AND DINOSAURS
The learning experiences in the Rocks, Fossils, and Dinosaurs kit supports the New York State Elementary Science Core and its focus on understanding the living environment and physical setting. Through the use of the skills of observing, classifying, collecting data, interpreting data, and manipulating data, students will investigate the properties of rocks, fossils, and dinosaurs. Students will observe and classify rocks and fossils for the basic properties of color, size, shape and texture. Many of the rocks and fossils in this kit have their origin in New York State. This kit is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
FROM SEED TO PLANT, EGG TO ADULT
This unit introduces students to the life cycles of plants and animals. Students will classify seeds by properties, plant seeds, care for plants, observe and record plant growth, and participate in classroom projects. Students will also observe the life cycle of a ladybug and participate in the care of a living creature. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
PROPERTIES
In the Properties kit, through the use of the skills of observing, classifying, and communicating, students will investigate the properties of objects. Students will observe and describe objects by their color, shape, texture, size, weight, and ability to sink or float. Students will observe that objects can exist in different forms, and that solids, liquids, and gases are objects. A variety of teaching strategies are incorporated in this unit. The science skills emphasized are collecting data, manipulating, observing, and predicting. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
HABITATS
Students will identify habitats as the place where basic needs are met for the organisms that live there. A study of the plants and animals of the five major biomes of the world will be studied. Plant and animal adaptations are a focus. Special emphasis will be placed on observing, discussing, describing, predicting, gathering and interpreting data. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
HEALTH: MY BODY WORKS TOGETHER
Students will identify major body parts and their functions, identify basic needs of living things, describe how senses help the body, describe the location of the heart and lungs and how they contribute to body function, skeletal parts, and examine how healthy food and exercise contribute to a healthy body. The kit is aligned to NY State Standards. Grade 1.
MAGNETS
The Magnets kit allows students to explore magnets. Students will investigate which objects are magnetic/not magnetic, the strength of various types of magnets and the magnetic attraction through different fuilds. The science skills emphasized in Magnets are observing, discussing, describing, predicting, gathering data and interpreting data. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
ADVANCING STEM KITS
Traits and Behaviors: Plants and Ants
It's just a phase: patterns in the sky
Unit Overview What objects are in the sky and how do they seem to move? During this unit, students will learn, observe, and describe the sky, as well as the concepts of patterns in the motion of Sun, moon, and stars. Through collecting data of the Sun, moon, and stars, students will be able to predict future motion and determine patterns of these celestial bodies. Lend me your hears: discovering sound properties
Unit Overview How are sounds made and how does sound travel from one place to another? During this unit, students will explore sounds and vibrations and relate simple terms like loud, soft, high and low to the concepts of volume and pitch. Students will make a model of a wave and learn that sound travels through air, liquids, and solids. When sound waves bounce off large, hard surfaces, they create echoes. Students will investigate echoes and learn how animals use echoes to communicate and survive. Watt's so bright?: discovering light properties
Unit Overview Students will explore the physical science concept of light, and investigate how the phenomena travels. Students will use flashlights to collect evidence of how light travels and how it interacts with different materials as they manipulate the path of light and experiment with several materials. They will design a device to help communicate with light by the concept of a lighthouse. Second Grade
MEASURING
In this unit students will use standard and non-standard units of measurement and measuring tools to compare various measurements of objects in terms of mass, length, capacity, and area. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs. Grade 2.
pHYSICAL sCIENCE
This unit provides students with the opportunity to observe two major types of phenomena in physical science, the states of matter, and magnets. Students observe the three states of matter and how they change from one to another. Students will also explore the properties of magnets. The science skills emphasized in Physical Science are observation, prediction, classifying, creating models, gathering and organizing, and interpreting data. Integrated hands-on math activities are also included in this kit. This kit aligns with the New York State standards, and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
WEATHER
This unit provides students with the opportunity to observe weather phenomena. Students will use instruments to gather weather data on temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation. The water cycle is also demonstrated and discussed. Students will also investigate the relationship between the earth's rotation, revolution, time, and seasons. The science skills emphasized in the Weather kit are observing, collecting data, organizing data, interpreting data, and discussing. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in groups.
PLANTS AND aNIMALS
Students will complete an in-depth study of plants by examining their stems, roots, and leaves. A study of animals will also be completed. Animals will be grouped according to their major characteristics. Special emphasis in Plants and Animals will be placed on observing, classifying, collecting data, and predicting. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
bODY sENSES
GRADE 2 ASSESSMENT
Students will rotate through stations that help assess a student's level of knowledge and understanding after completing the second grade science kits. Special emphasis is placed on observing, classifying, manipulating, measuring, communicating, and collecting data. One kit will be provided per school and should be shared by all 2nd grade level teachers in the building.
ADVANCING STEM KITS
Matter matters: Properties of matter
Unit Overview In this unit, students will consider the states of matter. Students will explore firsthand that solids and liquids may have different states based on their temperatures, and that changes may happen when they are heated or cooled. Students will also investigate different ways of separating mixtures in different states of matter. A Bird's Eye View over land and water: Models, Maps, and Patterns
Unit Overview Students focus on identifying and creating various land and water forms. The strand also layers mapping objectives that will teach students to not only identify landforms and bodies of water, but also locate them on a map of New York State. The kit culminates with a Project-Based Assessment where students create a relief model and map of a fictitious New York State park that includes major landforms and bodies of water. lean on me: How Plants and Animals depend on each other
** Please note this kit contains Live Materials.
Unit Overview During this unit, students will explore the needs of plant life and how plants depend on water and light. This unit will also look the different habitats on the earth and how they compare to each other. Lastly the students will examine the important role that insects play in pollination and will design and build a hand pollinator. Weathering the change: Erosion Processes
Unit Overview After students build age-appropriate understandings of earth materials, students compare how water and wind interact with different landforms. Using this information, students are able to provide evidence that these events can happen quickly or slowly. As a culmination, students will compare designed solutions for building a structure to prevent a riverbank from eroding. Third grade
sCHOOLYARD sTUDIES
In this unit students will develop a better understanding of the interdependence of the natural world through careful observation of a given area in the school yard. Special emphasis will be placed on observing, describing, collecting data, interpreting data and discussing. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
bOUYANCY
This unit provides students with the opportunity to observe the phenomena of buoyancy. Students will engage in inquiry about why some things sink and some things float. Students will explore properties of materials, and construct their own boats. Students will experiment with their boats and the concepts of displacement. Students will also measure the buoyant force in water using fishing bobbers and a rubber band scale they construct out of Knex. The science skills emphasized in Buoyancy are collecting data, manipulating, observing, and predicting. Integrated hands-on math activities are also included in this kit. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
hAND ME DOWN GENES: LIFE CYCLES AND tRAITS OF bUTTERFLIES
This unit covers the life cycle of a butterfly and then expands upon that concept. The students will journal the development of the Painted Lady from egg until butterfly. The kit also covers inherited vs. acquired traits and how the traits are exhibited in an organism. Students will explore how traits can cause or lead to natural selection within a species. Subjects: Science Kits, STEM, Advancing STEM. Traits, Inherited Traits, Acquired Traits, Life Cycles, Butterflies, Caterpillars, Natural Selection, Invasive Species, 3-LS1-1, 3-LS3-1, 3-LS3-2, 3-LS4-2.
eNERGY fORMS AND iNTERACTIONS
This unit utilizes a popcorn theme. It was developed to provide an opportunity for students to have enjoyable science experiences focused on Energy Forms and Interactions. This unit will help students recognize that energy and energy interactions cause many of the changes that happen around them. Students will participate in teacher directed experiences where several energy forms and interactions occur including the popping and sprouting of popcorn kernels. The science skills emphasized in the Energy Forms and Interactions kit are observing, collecting data, organizing data, interpreting data, and discussing. Integrated hands-on math activities are also included in this kit. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
NUTRITION AND DIGESTION
Students will examine the parts of the USDA Food Plate, journal their food choices and analyze those choices, identify the variety of foods to be eaten from each food group, and read and compare food labels for nutritional value. They will also identify parts and functions of the digestive system. They will examine how a healthy digestive system works and make decisions about the nutritional habits that will keep it healthy. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs. Grade 3.
GRADE 3 ASSESSMENT
Students will rotate through stations that help assess a student's level of knowledge and understanding after completing the third grade science kits. Special emphasis is placed on observing, classifying, manipulating, measuring, communicating, and collecting data. One kit will be provided per school and should be shared by all 3rd grade level teachers in the building.
ADVANCING STEM KITS
Forced to stick with it: motion and magnetism
Unit Overview In this unit, students will explore the role of forces. They will discover the impact gravity, electric, and magnetic forces have on objects in the world. Using this knowledge, students will apply ideas to solve a real-world problem. This is part of the Engineering Design Challenge and will task students with creating a system to propel and stop a train at specific locations using magnets. Hand-me-down genes: life cycles and traits of butterflies
Unit Overview This unit covers the life cycle of a butterfly and then expands upon that concept. The students will journal the development of the Painted Lady from egg until butterfly. The kit also covers inherited vs. acquired traits and how the traits are exhibited in an organism. Students will explore how traits can cause or lead to natural selection within a species.
Weather around the world: Data trends, Climate, water cycle, and hazards
Unit Overview Students are introduced to the causes of weather and climate, and also study how the water cycle plays an important role in a region’s climate. They begin the unit by building mystery weather tools (thermometer, anemometer, psychrometer, and barometer) and examine the tools as they learn to collect weather data. Students will deduce, by comparing their collected weather data using scientific instruments, which mystery tool their group has created. Throughout the unit, students collect weather data and graph their data on charts. Students also build a water cycle model and relate their new learning of the water cycle to weather conditions. They explore how different regions of Earth can be heated unevenly, causing specific weather patterns in different climates. By the end of the unit, students make the connection between the effects of weather on humans and how we can predict and prepare for hazardous weather. I will survive: Organisms surviving in different environments
Unit Overview Students explore the diversity of living organisms, a significant element of a healthy environment. Students explore changes among living things on Earth when the environment changes by exploring different fossils. Throughout the unit, they observe and investigate how characteristics, such as living in groups, can help animals/plants around the world survive in different environments. Fourth Grade
POWDERS & CRYSTALS
Powders and Crystals introduces students to chemical and physical properties of familiar substances. Students perform experiments with chemical and physical reactions and chemical indicators. Students learn rules for proper use of chemicals, and eye safety. Skills emphasized are observing, classifying, collecting, interpreting data, communicating, discussing, manipulating, making decisions, generalizing, and formulating hypotheses. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
DENSITY
This unit provides students with the opportunity to observe the property of density. Students will engage in inquiry about why and how some objects (solids and liquids) display the property of density. Students will measure the mass of solids and liquids, and experiment with solids and liquids of different densities. The science skills emphasized in Density are collecting data, manipulating, observing, and predicting. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in groups of three.
SIMPLE MACHINES
Machines are devices that help make the work of society easier. Machines make work easier by changing the size and/or direction of the force that is applied. There are six simple machines: inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, and wheel-and-axle. Simple Machines can be combined in all kinds of ways to create the machines we use everyday. The science skills emphasized in Simple Machines are collecting data, manipulating, constructing models, observing, and predicting. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in groups of three.
ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS
This unit provides opportunities for students to carry out learning experiences such as lighting a bulb, constructing a circuit, testing for conductivity, and testing objects for magnetic properties. Psychomotor skills are enhanced through the construction of circuits. Science skills emphasized in this unit are: observing, predicting, manipulating, and replicating. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
MOVE YOUR BODY
GRADE 4 ASSESSMENT
Students will rotate through stations that help assess a student's level of knowledge and understanding of elementary science and to help prepare them for the NYS Grade 4 Science Assessment. Special emphasis is placed on observing, classifying, manipulating, communicating, and collecting data. One kit will be provided per school and should be shared by all 4th grade level teachers in the building.
ADVANCING STEM KITS
Makin' Waves: Patterns of waves and information Transfer
Unit Overview Students explore wave properties and their regular patterns of motion. Students will make a model of waves of the same type to show differences in amplitude and wavelength. They will explore the idea of how an object can be seen when light reflected from its surface enters the eyes through different mediums. As a culmination, students will generate and compare how digitized information can be transmitted over long distances using patterns of waves. full of potential: The effects of Energy
Unit Overview Students explore the effects of energy on their lives. Throughout the unit students will be asked to explore some of the basic elements of energy like conservation and transfer of energy. Students will explore these ideas through a series of four experiments and application to their lives. Students will collect evidence from these experiments to build on their overall concepts of energy and how it can be used. Finally, students will explore multiple types of energy by building a working solar updraft tower. Parts of a Whole: Internal and External Plant and Animal Structures
Unit Overview The unit is designed to enhance students’ knowledge of how plants’ and animals’ internal and external structures support their survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. Students must learn to construct an argument that explains how these internal and external structures support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. The kit will require students to engage in argument from evidence as they state their claims, provide evidence, and justify their claims with scientific reasoning. The kit culminates with a project-based assessment activity in which the students must present their choice of plant or animal to their classmates and answer the driving question, what internal and external structures do plants and animals have that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction? Centuries of change: processes that shape the earth
Unit Overview Students explore processes that shape the earth as we know it today by exploring how a variety of environmental factors. Students will look at how evidence from patterns in rock formations and fossils found in those layers help us explain changes to landscapes over a long period of time. Students will also look at how analyzing patterns in maps of Earth’s features help us to determine and predict features of plate tectonics, including continental boundaries, mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Students will also explore how elements such as weathering, erosion, and the use of fossil fuels will transform the landscape for future generations. FiFTH & SIXTH GRADE
mEET THE CREATURES
This unit stimulates students to ask questions about the observable behavior of an unfamiliar organism and then directs them to ways of finding answers for themselves. As students observe and experiment, they learn some things about the process of scientific inquiry and about the sensory perception of the mealworm. The skills emphasized in this unit are observing, collecting and organizing data, measuring, predicting, formulating hypotheses, identifying variables, and inferring. This kit aligns with the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
TERRARIUMS & vIVARIUMS
The study of plants and animals in this kit provides students with the opportunity to observe three different environments: woodland, desert, and tropical. Students will assist in building and furnishing three simulated habitats with living organisms. Students will observe the growth and interactions of plants and animals, introduce variables, and study the effect of variables on living organisms. The teacher may choose to add animals to the terraria, thus turning the terraria (an environment for plants) to vivaria (an environment for plants and animals). This kit is aligned to the New York State standards.
ELECTROMAGNETISM
This unit provides learning experiences through which students can develop an understanding of the properties of magnets and the relationship between magnets and circuits. Students will develop psychomotor skills as they construct electromagnets, buzzers, simple motors, and a more complicated motor. The science skills emphasized in this kit are: manipulating, replicating, inferring, formulating hypotheses, predicting, and measuring. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
INCUBATION & eMBRYOLOGY
The goal of the incubation and embryology kit is to help young people observe the mystery of life and learn some of the principles of reproduction. This resource kit provides an opportunity for youth to work with living, growing chick embryos. The kit is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs. This kit is only available in April due to egg availability.
Ecosystem (Pond Life)
intermediate level measurement
This unit provides students with the opportunity to measure various objects and use their data to determine area, volume, radius, diameter, and density. They will use Math rulers, protractors, and Vernier Calipers to make their measurements rounding to four different scales. They will measure the radius and diameter of a cylinder and use Pi to calculate the area of various cylindrical objects. Students will measure the circumference and determine the surface area of a sphere and using the thickness of the wall of a hollow sphere, determine the volume inside the sphere as well. The mathematical skills emphasized in Intermediate Level Measurement are measuring, collecting data, and calculating for volume, area, and density.
LOOKING AT LIQUIDS
Students will investigate the properties of various liquids (e.g. adhesion, cohesion, heaping, surface tension, mass, density) throughout the course of this unit. Special emphasis will be placed on observing, manipulating, communicating, collecting data and predicting. As the students gain experience, they will develop understanding of the properties of liquids.
NATURE'S FORCES & SIMPLE MACHINES
oUR BRAIN AND ITS SYSTEMS
OUR LUNGS, HEART & HEALTH
Students will identify parts and functions of the respiratory and circulatory systems. They will examine ways to keep these two very important systems working efficiently through nutrition, exercise, and healthy habits. Special emphasis will be placed on the negative effects of tobacco. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
ROCKETRY
Included in this kit are 24 model rockets that provide the opportunity for students to study basic concepts of electricity, aerodynamics, physics and weather. Students learn the importance of safety while dealing with rockets and launch systems. Each student learns how to build their own rocket and then is able to launch the rocket.
ROCKS, MINERALS AND LANDFORMS
Through the use of the skills of observing, classifying, collecting data, interpreting data, and manipulating data, students will investigate the properties of rocks and minerals. Students will observe and test rocks and/or minerals for color, texture, layers, cleavage, streak, reaction with hydrochloric acid, attraction to magnets, and conductivity of electricity. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in groups of three.
SOLAR SYSTEM
This unit provides students with the opportunity to research the planetary bodies of our solar system, create models of our solar system, and investigate relationships between the planetary bodies in our solar system. The science skills emphasized in the solar system kit are discussing, observing, creating models, comparing, and predicting. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
cARDSTOCK MODELING
Three dimensional models provide a basis for many interesting math, science, and design experiences. This card modeling unit provides a unique way for students to explore a variety of geometric concepts that reach out from the traditional two dimensional models typically used in instruction. This flexible system allows students to explore area, perimeter, and the properties and concepts of solid geometric shapes. It provides an opportunity to scale and compare the various sizes of planets within our solar system, and to make proportional comparisons of the distances between the planets in the solar system and the distances of objects here on Earth. This kit is aligned to the New York State Science and Common Core Math standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in pairs.
POPCORN MATH
This unit provides students with the opportunity to conduct mathematical investigations using popcorn. They will measure length and volume of popped and un-popped kernels along with the mass. They will compare and contrast their data from three types of popcorn, and calculate the average, ratio, percent, and probability. Temperature readings will be taken and graphed, and scatter and stem and leaf plots will be created to represent student results. The mathematical skills emphasized in Popcorn Math are measuring, collecting data, calculating for average, ratio, percent and probability, and graphing. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use while working in groups of three
iNTERMEDIATE lEVEL mEASUREMENT
This unit provides students with the opportunity to measure various objects and use their data to determine area, volume, radius, diameter, and density. They will use Math rulers, protractors, and Vernier Calipers to make their measurements rounding to four different scales. They will measure the radius and diameter of a cylinder and use Pi to calculate the area of various cylindrical objects. Students will measure the circumference and determine the surface area of a sphere and using the thickness of the wall of a hollow sphere, determine the volume inside the sphere as well. The mathematical skills emphasized in Intermediate Level Measurement are measuring, collecting data, and calculating for volume, area, and density. This kit is aligned to the New York State standards and is designed for 30 students to use in groups of three.
ny sTATE COMMON CORE MATH MANIPULATIVE LIST
The materials lists for P-5 Math, 6-8 Math and 9-12 Math contain necessary materials to be used in the math curriculum modules on EngageNY. These PDF documents contain columns that include information about the manipulative, a quick description, and the grade levels at which it can be used. Many of these materials are manipulatives that are currently in schools.
KINDERGARTEN - TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE: DESIGNING BRIDGES
When civil engineers design bridges, they must take into account factors like balance and motion. This unit introduces the principles behind bridge design with the storybook Javier Builds a Bridge, about a boy who needs a safe footbridge to get to his island play fort. Students will reinforce their understanding of “push” and “pull” as they explore how forces act on different structures. They’ll use what they know about balance and force as they experiment with beam, arch, and suspension bridges—and learn how bridge designs counteract and redirect forces and motion. In the final design challenge, students plan, build, and test their own bridges.
KINDERGARTEN - CATCHING THE WIND: DESIGNING WINDMILLS
Mechanical engineering involves the design of anything with moving parts. In this unit, students will think like mechanical engineers—and also use their understanding of air as wind—to design and create wind-powered machines. The storybook Leif Catches the Wind introduces students to wind turbines that generate renewable energy. Students will study how common machines such as mechanical pencils and egg beaters work, then use their mechanical engineering skills to design sailboats and windmills that catch the wind.
KINDERGARTEN - THINKING INSIDE THE BOX: DESIGNING PLANT PACKAGES
Just look at the shelves in any store: almost everything you buy comes in a package that keeps it fresh or safe from damage, or gives information for consumers. This unit introduces students to the field of package engineering. The storybook A Gift from Fadil sets the scene by introducing two children in Jordan who want to give their older sister a plant from their garden as a wedding gift. Students will use their knowledge of plants, their problem-solving skills, and their creativity to design a package that can keep a plant alive and healthy for several days.
First grade - Sounds like fun: seeing animal sounds
This unit brings new excitement to the study of sound. The storybook Kwame’s Sound introduces a young drummer from Ghana who is blind; his father, an acoustical engineer, shows Kwame that sound is vibration and can be represented with both visual symbols (such as musical notation and spectrograms) and tactile symbols. Hands-on activities in this unit lead students to explore the properties of volume and pitch, investigate ways to damp sound, and develop their own novel way to represent the key elements of sound.
first grade - Just passing through: Designing Model membranes
Membranes are thin layers that let helpful substances pass through and keep harmful substances out. In this unit, students learn to think like bioengineers as they design a model membrane to mimic the properties of real membranes in live organisms. The storybook Juan Daniel’s Futbol Frog sets the scene, as students read about a boy who engineers a membrane to keep a frog alive. Students learn how membranes function and apply their knowledge of the basic needs of living organisms to the engineering design challenge: designing a frog habitat with a model membrane that delivers just the right amount of water.
first grade - Lighten Up: Designing Lighting Systems
Optical engineers design all kinds of devices that use light to do something useful—from lasers and telescopes to fiber-optic communication systems. In the storybook that introduces this unit, an Egyptian boy uses what he learns from optical engineers working inside ancient tombs to develop an ingenious system for lighting the dancers in a school performance. This unit gets students thinking like optical engineers as they explore how light interacts with different materials. They’ll use what they’ve learned about the properties of light as they design a system to illuminate hieroglyphics in a model tomb.
second grade - The Best of bugs: Designing hand pollinators
Insects pollinate many kinds of plants. What if the right insects aren’t around to do the work? The storybook Mariana Becomes a Butterfly shows how one girl solves a pollination problem. In this unit, students become agricultural engineers. They’ll apply their knowledge of insects, insect life cycles, pollination, and natural systems as they test a variety of materials, then engineer their own technologies for pollinating plants by hand.
second grade - A Stick in the mud: Evaluating a Landscape
The water you drink is clean and safe thanks to the environmental engineers who design and manage our water supply and water treatment systems. In this unit, the storybook Saving Salila’s Turtle introduces students to the problem of water pollution—and to some solutions. Students will investigate the properties of filter materials, apply their knowledge of water, and think like environmental engineers as they plan, construct, test and improve their own water filters.
second grade - A Sticky Situation: Designing Walls
Wood, stone, metal, plastic . . . if you want to build something, materials matter! Different materials have different properties: they may be more useful for one purpose and less useful for another. This unit explores earth materials—including clay, sand, and soil—as they’re used in mortar to build a stone wall. The storybook Yi Min’s Great Wall sets the scene; Yi Min uses her knowledge of earth materials to design a rabbit-proof wall to protect the school vegetable garden. Drawing on their knowledge of the properties of earth materials, students will plan, build, test, and improve walls of their own.
third grade - A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil Spill
An oil spill can be deadly for fish, plants, and other organisms in the river ecosystem.. Through the storybook Tehya’s Pollution Solution, students learn about a spill on the Elwha River in the Pacific Northwest. Applying their knowledge of ecosystems and food webs, students will test water quality and also the oil-absorbing properties of different materials as they engineer a process for cleaning up an oil spill. This unit introduces students to the field of environmental engineering.
third grade - The Attraction is Obvious: Designing Maglev Systems
The Attraction is Obvious: Designing Maglev Systems Innovative “maglev” or magnetic levitation trains move by using magnets instead of wheels. The technological innovation behind these trains comes alive for students in this transportation engineering unit. Students will send magnets sailing, help magnets hover, and poke around magnetic fields. With their new insights into the science of magnets, students will use the engineering design process to design, test, and improve their own tabletop maglev transportation systems—just like the character in the storybook Hikaru’s Toy Troubles. Topic: Magnetism
third grade - Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier
Machines make work easier—as students learn when they read about a visit to a potato-chip factory in the storybook Aisha Makes Work Easier. This unit guides students to think like industrial engineers as they explore the surprising variety of simple machines people use every day. Students also explore the pros and cons of assembly lines compared to making things by hand, then measure the force it takes to complete a task with and without a simple machine to help. Finally, they put their data to the test, combining a series of simple machines to create an assembly-line subsystem for a model potato chip factory. Topic: Balance and Force Connections: NYSSLS • 3-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object.
Fourth grade - An Alarming Idea: Designing Alarm Circuits
How do electrical circuits work? The lessons in this unit will get students thinking like electrical engineers, starting with the storybook A Reminder for Emily, about a girl living in the Australian outback who needs an alarm to remind her when it’s time for chores around the ranch. The hands-on activities in this unit reinforce science concepts including conductors and insulators, schematic diagrams, and circuits. For the final engineering design challenge, students plan, create, and improve their own alarm circuit.
fourth grade - No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces
Apply the engineering design process to the fields of biology or medicine to solve healthcare problems, and you’re thinking like a biomedical engineer. The storybook Erik’s Unexpected Twist provides a framework for biomedical engineering in this unit with the exciting story of a rescue mission where engineering saves the day for a boy with an injured knee. Students explore the variations in human feet and use the information to make recommendations about sneaker design. They also measure the range of motion in knees as they investigate how a knee joint works. After evaluating the properties of different building materials, they design a knee brace that will restore the range of motion to a model of an injured knee.
fourth grade - Solid as a Rock: Replicating an Artifact
Students will think like materials engineers as they explore the rock cycle and the properties of different rocks in this unit. The storybook Galya and Natasha’s Rocky Adventure sets the scene, introducing twin sisters whose mother, an archaeologist, studies petroglyphs, or ancient stone carvings. Students imagine themselves as archeologists tasked by a museum to replicate a petroglyph. To succeed at this challenge, they must analyze the properties of rocks and human-made materials and reflect on how processing affects these materials.
fourth grade - Now You're Cooking: Designing Solar Ovens
In Botswana, where firewood for cooking fuel is in short supply, people are turning to solar-powered cookers as an alternative. The storybook Lerato Cooks Up a Plan introduces the idea of using the sun as a renewable energy source and sets a framework for this unit’s activities. Students are introduced to the concepts of thermal insulators and thermal conductors, then they test different materials to find the best insulators. They consider the life cycle and environmental impacts of each insulator, then design and test their solar ovens and do some solar cooking!
fifth grade - A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes
This unit introduces students to aerospace engineering—and how aerospace engineers use their knowledge of astronomy to design space technologies. Starting with the storybook Paulo’s Parachute Mission, students learn about a boy from Brazil who designs a parachute to get a large, heavy fruit down from a tree. Students apply their knowledge of drag (air resistance) and conditions on other planets to engineer a model parachute that’s “mission ready” to land a payload on a planet with an atmosphere much thinner than Earth’s.
fifth grade - A Work in process: improving a play dough process
If you’ve ever followed a recipe, you know that the amount of each ingredient and the order in which you mix them matters. Chemical engineers use these same principles when designing processes. When students read the storybook Michelle’s MVP Award, they learn about a girl who designs a better way to make play dough. The activities in this unit reinforce the science concepts “solid” and “liquid” as students explore the properties of different materials—and the properties of mixtures of materials. The final engineering design challenge? Design a process for making high-quality play dough.
fifth grade - Taking the Plunge: Designing Submersibles
To study the ocean, scientists and engineers use submersibles—small, remote-controlled underwater vessels. This unit introduces students to the field of ocean engineering through the storybook Despina Makes a Splash, about girl in Greece who designs a submersible to retrieve lost diving goggles. Students learn about sounding poles and sonar as they map a section of ocean floor. Then they apply their knowledge of density, floating, and sinking to design their own submersible, equip it with research instruments, and retrieve packages from a model ocean floor.
fifth grade - Water, Water Everywhere: Designing Water Filters
Water, Water Everywhere: Designing Water Filters The water you drink is clean and safe thanks to the environmental engineers who design and manage our water supply and water treatment systems. In this unit, the storybook Saving Salila’s Turtle introduces students to the problem of water pollution—and to some solutions. Students will investigate the properties of filter materials, apply their knowledge of water, and think like environmental engineers as they plan, construct, test and improve their own water filters.
Don't Runoff: Engineering an Urban Landscape
Through this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the eight-step Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer a solution to an environmental engineering challenge. Students will learn about stormwater runoff, and explore what technologies and methods are used to reduce polluted runoff. Students will collaborate to design ways to reduce stormwater runoff in a city model. Working with models is an important sub-goal for this unit. • Students learn about their engineering challenge and use a model city to explore what happens to polluted runoff. • Students create their own green roofs and investigate the properties of natural materials. • Students investigate permeable pavement technology by engineering pavement that will meet certain criteria. • In groups, students plan, create, and test a solution to their environmental engineering challenge. • Groups improve their designs to better meet the criteria.
Food for Thought: Engineering Ice Cream
In this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the eight-step Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer a solution to a process engineering challenge. Students will watch a video to see some different processes that are used to make ice cream. They will the investigate ice cream ingredients, flavor, and color, in order to inform their own ice cream making process. Finally, they will create a package to protect their ice cream. Working with variables is an important sub-goal for this unit. • Students engineer a process for making a tasty treat and learn that processes are engineered as well as objects. • Students learn about their ice cream engineering challenge and investigate ice cream ingredients and processes. • Students investigate ways to alter the flavor and color of their ice cream. • Students engineer a package to contain their ice cream and protect it from heat. • Students improve their ice cream process.
Go Fish: Engineering Prosthetic Tails
In this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer solutions to biomechanical engineering challenges. Students will learn about important factors to keep in mind when designing prosthetic devices as they engineer a model leg for an elephant and a model beak for an eagle. They will then learn the story of Winter, a dolphin with a prosthetic tail. This will help set the context for their final design challenge, designing a model prosthetic device for a fish, finally, students will have a chance to develop the characteristics of their fish. Working with models and have students consider what is required for a successful prosthetic device are important goals for this unit. • Students engineer a model prosthetic elephant leg. • Students engineer a model prosthetic eagle beak. • Students engineer a model prosthetic fish tail.
Growing Up: Engineering Vertical Farms
During this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer solutions to an agricultural engineering challenge. Students will explore food production problems related to population growth. They will then engineer a model vertical farm as a potential solution to current food production limitations in a fictional location: Greentown. Because vertical farms are still a new concept with only a few prototype examples worldwide, exploring vertical farms provides students with a chance to imagine what the future could bring. • Students engineer a window garden from recycled bottles. • Students engineer a water pump system that can deliver water to different locations. • Students design a lighting system to direct light to a specified area.
Here Comes the Sun: Engineering Insulated Homes
In this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the eight-step Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer a solution to a green engineering challenge. Students will watch a video that explains the huge amount of energy that people use to heat and cool their homes and why insulation is important. Then they will explore how insulation can be used to moderate the interior temperatures of a special type of model home—a shipping container home. Students will also think about the insulation used in real homes, both around the world and in their own neighborhoods. Working with models and considering how to work with variables when setting up an experiment are important sub-goals. • Students create model shipping container homes that they will insulate later in the unit. • Students test a variety of insulation materials. • Students imagine floor plan designs for shipping container homes.
It's About Time: Engineering Timers
Students will be introduced to engineering and the Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer solutions to a timekeeping engineering challenge. Students will begin by exploring their individual perceptions of time and discovering the need for engineered timekeeping devices that measure time accurately. They will then complete a series of timekeeping engineering challenges and consider the qualities of a good timer. They will use dominoes to explore how nature and gravity can be used as timekeeping tools. Then, students will engineer an hourglass. Finally, students will use what they have learned about timers and the Engineering Design Process to create and improve a water timer to time an event that is personally relevant to them. They will also be challenged to add a display or signal to their water timers. • Students will explore their own perceptions of time. • Students engineer a timer by exploring the natural rhythms of falling.
It's in the Bag: Engineering Bioinspired Gear
In this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer bioinspired bags or packs for clients. Students will explore and build upon their knowledge or how animals use camouflage, different modes of protection, and bioluminescence. They will then apple knowledge of these natural features to the technologies they create. As part of their final challenge, they will engineer bags for clients with specific criteria and constraints. • Students design patterns to camouflage a piece of fabric for scientific researchers who need to blend into a forest. • Students engineer protective gear for a roller derby client that is inspired by the diverse ways that animals protect themselves. • Student engineer a switch to turn on an LED light inspired by bioluminescence for a client who is a spy.
Outbreak Alert: Engineering a Pandemic Response
Throughout this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer a solution to a biomedical engineering challenge. Students will begin by exploring how diseases can spread from one person to another in order to introduce them to the problem of stopping the spread of viruses. They will then partake in a mock-outbreak scenario, where they will engineer an antiviral for a contagious virus, create public service announcements to inform the public, and consider what steps they should take to prevent the outbreak from becoming a pandemic. • Students investigate how bacteria and viruses can spread from one person to another. • Students learn about their biomedical engineering challenge and investigate the virus causing the mock outbreak. • Students engineer an antiviral to prevent the virus model from attaching to the cell model.
Plants to Plastic: Engineering Bioplastics
In this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the eight-step Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer a solution to a chemical engineering challenge. Students will explore problems created by traditional plastic materials and engineer bioplastics—plastics made from plant-based materials—as a potential solution to current plastic problems. • Students engineer a bouncy ball out of glue and borax and model the chemical structure by forming a human polymer. • Students explore different types of plastics in their environment and investigate some problems created by plastics. • Students create bioplastic samples out of agar and cornstarch. • Students engineer a bioplastic with properties similar to a plastic they use in their daily lives. • Students will engineer a bioplastic object using an improved recipe.
Put a Lid On It: Engineering Safety Helmets
In this unit, students will be introduced to engineering and the Engineering Design Process as they work together to engineer solutions to biomechanical engineering challenges. Students will watch a video that explains some of the functions of the brain and why protecting the brain, especially during sports and other physical activities, is important. They will also mimic the impacts of a concussion through the use of concussion goggles to better understand how brain injuries can impact people. Throughout the unit students will explore materials to see how well they protect model brains and skulls. Working with models and analyzing materials are important sub-goals for this unit.
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