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  • Designing Effective Science Instruction: What Works in Science Classrooms

    NSTA Press Book |

    Science teachers, like all teachers, start each school year with high hopes and expectations for students to succeed. They plan their lessons, scramble to get the necessary equipment, and work hard to engage their…

  • Creating Engineering Design Challenges: Success Stories From Teachers

    NSTA Press Book |

    If you’ve ever wished for advice you can trust on how to make science and math more relevant to your middle or high school students, Creating Engineering Design Challenges is the book for you. At its core are 13 units…

  • Design Talks: Whole-Class Conversations during Engineering Design Units

    Journal Article |

    Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide…

  • Conservation Meets Design Thinking

    Journal Article |

  • Inquiry and Design

    Journal Article |

  • Designing Scientific Tests and Investigations

    Book Chapter |

    Designing tests to evaluate scientific models and explanations is one of the hardest—and at the same time one of the most creative—aspects of science. This chapter is devoted to the process of designing tests and…

  • Bungee Jumping Cord Design

    Book Chapter |

    In this activity, students use mathematical models to create solutions for a successful bungee cord for different conditions. This selection highlights the physics concept of energy formation, as well as the core…

  • Designing a Sound-Reducing Wall

    Book Chapter |

    In this chapter, students explore engineering with a fun challenge. To help students better understand sound in a fun and engaging way, an engineering design–based science learning activity was conducted that is…

  • Focusing on the Engineering Design Process

    Book Chapter |

    Chapters 4–7 contain sections written by individual secondary math and science teachers (grades 6-12) who focus on different aspects of implementing design challenge units. In this chapter, the three teachers detail the…

  • Roller Coaster Design Challenge

    Book Chapter |

    In this lesson, students work in teams to use the engineering design process (EDP). They apply their learning from previous lessons to design, build, and test various marble track roller coasters. We recommend reading…

  • Designing Innovative STEM Units

    Book Chapter |

    This chapter discusses an innovative strategy for the design, development, and implementation of STEM units. The strategy for state and local leaders is described, along with the critical connection between the…

  • Designing, Selecting, and Adapting Tools

    Book Chapter |

    This chapter walks you through processes for selecting, adapting, and designing tools to use in the Feedback Loop. It provides ideas for tools teachers can use to explore selected science practices in classrooms. The…

  • Packaging Design, Grade 6: STEM Road Map for Middle School

    NSTA Press Book |

    Packaging Design outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while grounding them in integrated STEM disciplines. As are the other volumes in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series,…

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