Learn about Rube Goldberg Machines, set imaginations on fire! Wonderopolis targets a 5th grade reading level and is aligned to Common Core Standards and <sci/ss standards>. We have Immersive Reader embedded for each Wonder of the Day--which means accommodations are available and translations can be provided with a few mouse clicks. <--come up with some standard content for after the overview of the individual Wonder. 

In this activity, students determine their own eyesight and calculate what a good average eyesight value for the class would be. Students learn about technologies to enhance eyesight and how engineers play an important role in the development of these technologies.

Make a 3D printed bracelet holder using files from Thingiverse, Cura, and a Lulzbot Mini 2 printer

Step by step instructions to print numbered dice for games using a 3D printer and TinkerCad design.

Design and create your own custom, 3D printed zipper pull! This project utilizes Tinkercad and some simple tools.

Students learn how 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is revolutionizing the manufacturing process. First, students learn what considerations to make in the engineering design process to print an object with quality and to scale. Students learn the basic principles of how a computer-aided design (CAD) model is converted to a series of data points then turned into a program that operates the 3D printer. The activity takes students through a step-by-step process on how a computer can control a manufacturing process through defined data points. Within this activity, students also learn how to program using basic G-code to create a wireframe 3D shapes that can be read by a 3D printer or computer numerical control (CNC) machine.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"3D-printed with microscale precision, these tiny architectural marvels could be the key to making high-temperature ceramics less vulnerable to fracture. The implications could span across the numerous areas these materials are used, from aerospace to tissue engineering. The blueprint for these hardy structures is reported in the Journal of Materials Research Volume 33, Issue No. 3, earning honors as the 2018 JMR Paper of the Year. Researchers built the miniature trusses layer by layer using a technique called projection microstereolithography. In this process, a UV-light pattern is scanned across a polymer bath composed of photo-active ceramic building blocks. The silicon-based polymer solidifies at every point traced by the UV beam. Subsequent heating in a high-temperature furnace activates the polymer structures, baking off volatile organics, to produce silicon oxycarbide structures. The team then put these structures to the test..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

This resource is a video abstract of a research paper created by Research Square on behalf of its authors. It provides a synopsis that's easy to understand, and can be used to introduce the topics it covers to students, researchers, and the general public. The video's transcript is also provided in full, with a portion provided below for preview:

"When modern 3D printing was invented in the early 1980s, few could have predicted the influence it has today. At no other time in history has it been this easy to transform a sketch into the real thing. And while that feat has proven immensely useful for constructing complex machines, it is unlikely more meaningful anywhere else today than in the field of biomedicine. With the ability to churn out standard or custom prosthetics, devices, and even test models, the 3D printing of biomaterials is revolutionizing medical care. One of the greatest conveniences afforded by biomedical 3D printing is the ability to manufacture parts on demand. Common load-bearing prosthetics, such as those for knee or hip replacements, no longer have to be built in bulk and benched before use. Virtually stored print files can be called upon and processed into parts as soon as they are needed in the clinic, with the printing material and method suited to the part’s function and placement..."

The rest of the transcript, along with a link to the research itself, is available on the resource itself.

In this lesson, students expand their understanding of solid waste management to include the idea of 3RC (reduce, reuse, recycle and compost). They will look at the effects of packaging decisions (reducing) and learn about engineering advancements in packaging materials and solid waste management. Also, they will observe biodegradation in a model landfill (composting).

Mrs. Rowhani's third graders learn about matter and energy by building a Spout bot with Khan Academy. Special thanks to: Santa Rita's volunteer parents, Kami Thordarson, Karen Wilson and of course Laleh Rowhani the class teacher. Created by Karl Wendt.

In this video we hack apart a bread board to create a 5 volt power distribution strip. The 5 volts comes from the center pin in the motor controller and the negative or ground comes from the ground pin on the motor controller. Created by Karl Wendt.

Vicki Lombardi's 6th grade students at Santa Rita Elementary in Los Altos School district learn how to build a Spider robot. Read more at: http://lasdilearn.blogspot.com/2013/02/third-graders-building-robots-mission.html. Created by Karl Wendt.

In this 21-day unit, students are introduced to the anchoring phenomenon—a flameless heater in a Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) that provides hot food to people by just adding water. Students explore the inside of an MRE flameless heater, then do investigations to collect evidence to support the idea that this heater and another type of flameless heater are undergoing chemical reactions as they get warm. Students have an opportunity to reflect on the engineering design process, defining stakeholders, and refining the criteria and constraints for the design solution.

This unit is part of the OpenSciEd core instructional materials for middle school.

How does changing an ecosystem affect what lives there? This unit on ecosystem dynamics and biodiversity begins with students reading headlines that claim that the future of orangutans is in peril and that the purchasing of chocolate may be the cause. Students then examine the ingredients in popular chocolate candies and learn that one of these ingredients--palm oil--is grown on farms near the rainforest where orangutans live. This prompts students to develop initial models to explain how buying candy could impact orangutans.

This unit is part of the OpenSciEd core instructional materials for middle school.

This eBook was written as the sequel to the eBook titled DC Circuits, which was written in 2016 by Chad Davis.
This eBook covers Alternating Current (AC) circuit theory as well us a brief introduction of electronics. It is
broken up into seven modules. Module 1 covers the basic theory of AC signals. Since only DC sources are used in
the first eBook, details of AC signals such as sinusoidal waveforms (or sine waves), square waves, and triangle
waves are provided. Module 2, titled AC Circuits Math Background, covers the mathematics background needed
for solving AC circuit problems. The background material in Modules 1 and 2 are combined in Module 3 to solve
circuits with AC sources that include resistors, inductors, and capacitors (RLC circuits).

In this professional development session, we will develop a shared understanding of how formative assessment works and different approaches that have been developed. The material for this resource come from a series of PD sessions on formative assessment developed by the ACESSE team: Philip Bell, Shelley Stromholt, Bill Penuel, Katie Van Horne, Tiffany Neill, and Sam Shaw.We will be updating this Facilitator's Guide for ACESSE Resource A with the most up-to-date information about this resource over time. If you encounter problems with this resource, you can contact us at: STEMteachingtools@uw.edu

The NRC Framework for K-12 Science Education and the resulting Next Generation Science Standards focus on an integrated three-dimensional view of science learning in which students develop understanding of core ideas of science and crosscutting concepts in the context of engaging in science and engineering practices.How is assessing three-dimensional science learning different than how we have thought of science learning in the past? How can we design assessment tasks that elicit student’s current understanding of specific aspects of the disciplinary core ideas, science and engineering practices, and crosscutting concepts in order to shape future instruction? In this workshop, participants will learn how to interpret and design cognitive formative assessment to fit a three-dimensional view of learning.This resource originates from a series of PD sessions on 3D formative assessment developed and provided by Katie Van Horne, Shelley Stromholt, Bill Penuel, and Philip Bell. It has been improved through a collaboration in the ACESSE project with science education experts from 13 states. Please cite this resource as follows:Stromholt, S., Van Horne, K., Bell, P., Penuel, W. R., Neill, T. & Shaw, S. (2017). How to Assess Three-Dimensional Learning in Your Classroom: Building Assessment Tasks that Work. [OER Professional Development Session from the ACESSE Project] Retrieved from http://stemteachingtools.org/pd/SessionB

How can science instruction be meaningfullyconnected to the out-of-school lives of students? In this professional development, we will consider how to design formative assessments that build on learners’ interest and knowledge, promoting equity and social justice in the process. The material for this resource comes from a series of PD sessions on formative assessment originally developed by Philip Bell and Shelley Stromholt.We will be updating this Facilitator's Guide for ACESSE Resource C with the most up to date information about this resource over time. If you encounter problesm with this resources, you can contact us at STEMteachingtools@uw.eduThis resource was refined through a 13-state collaboration to make the resource more broadly useful. If you choose to adapt these materials, please attribute the source and that it was work funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Abstract: This session provides a step-by-step process to support participants as they design a 3D assessment task for the science classroom. Along the way, they learn how to define 3D learning performances for specific lessons—and how to use a range of tools to support their assessment design work. A key goal of the session activity is to improve the connection of intended learning goals to assessment practices. Participants build their 3D assessment design capacity by designing and workshopping tasks—before piloting them in their classrooms. The approaches learned in this workshop can be used with any curricula, at any grade level, and across all subjects of science. 

Overview: In this workshop, we will build our capacity to identify the range of intellectual resources students use as they make sense of phenomena. We will first explore how equity and justice relate to culture-based approaches to pedagogy—and then focus on how to identify and leverage the resources students use in moments of sensemaking. This resource can also be used by individuals wanting to learn how equity involves promoting the rightful presence of all students across scales of justice, desettling inequities, and supporting expansive learning pathways. This workshop provides participants with an opportunity to explore important theoretical ideas by exploring examples of how learners engage in diverse sense-making. Participants will learn about some of the challenges that less expansive learning environments can cause for learners from non-dominant communities. This resource is estimated to take between 161-268 minutes (2 ⅔ - 4 ¾ hours), depending on the choices of the facilitator in scenario selection.