The following is a list of activities that work great at the start of the semester to build classroom culture, introduce the nature of science, and reinforce positive group work norms.
Use the patterns found on five sides of a cube to predict the design of the missing side
Practice working collaboratively and communicating productively in a team by completing a series of cup stack challenges using a rubber band and strings.
​Decode secret messages that have been encoded using a variety of different methods to solve a mystery
​Determine the rules of a board game by making observations from watching the game as it's played
​Predict the design of the missing card by studying patterns on the other 23 cards in the deck
Reflecting on identity and the role that students take when working in groups
Using shared google docs in a scavenger hunt that requires students to navigate the school in groups
​Practicing different techniques to communicate information by communicating the design of a lego structure so that somebody else can recreate this work

Multi-day Projects

​Engineering design project where students work in groups to design, build, and test a modular building toy that can satisfy a variety of consumer requests

Engineering and Teamwork Unit

An introductory unit that was used for the first two weeks of our 9th grade physical science course. We found it to be a great way to build classroom culture, set group work expectations, and weave in engineering concepts right away at the beginning of the year.