Elementary Inquiry

This week-long STEM challenge integrates science and music lessons about sound, pitch, volume, and vibration. Students investigate properties of sound, use the engineering design process to build pitched and non-pitched musical instruments, and write, notate, and perform a short musical composition to demonstrate their understanding of pitch, volume, and vibration. A differentiated reading passage and quiz about the use of gourds as a material in traditional musical instruments will set the

Have fun finding Pi by measuring the circumference and diameter of circles of all sizes! Students will calculate the ratio of the length of a circle’s diameter to its circumference. They’ll discover that the circumference is always a little more than three times as long as the diameter. This full lesson plan and teacher script will help you lead an inquiry based investigation and class discussion. It’s perfect for an introduction to these geometry concepts, or for a fun Pi Day activity. A full,

Students will read about the design of prairie schooners and engineer covered wagons that can traverse a model of landforms representing the overland trails used by pioneers. This mini-unit integrates STEM skills with geography and history content, along with reading, writing, and oral communication standards. Several options for sharing student work via oral presentations and writing assignments are included. These 8 sessions are designed to follow or supplement classroom instruction on US geog

This lesson about the difference between observations and inferences is guided by the question “How do scientists learn about the world around us?” Students look at a paper cube and note as many details as they can think of. During a guided class discussion, they determine which ideas are observations and which are inferences about the bottom of the cube. As an inquiry lesson, the key vocabulary words are defined after the experiential activity. A full, free preview is available above to help yo