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  • Grades K-2

    Engineering Design

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

Performance Expectations

  1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool. K-2-ETS1-1

    Clarification Statement and Assessment Boundary

A Peformance Expectation (PE) is what a student should be able to do to show mastery of a concept. Some PEs include a Clarification Statement and/or an Assessment Boundary. These can be found by clicking the PE for "More Info." By hovering over a PE, its corresponding pieces from the Science and Engineering Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts will be highlighted.

By clicking on a specific Science and Engineering Practice, Disciplinary Core Idea, or Crosscutting Concept, you can find out more information on it. By hovering over one you can find its corresponding elements in the PEs.

Planning Curriculum

Common Core State Standards Connections

ELA/Literacy

  • RI.2.1 - Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. (K-2-ETS1-1)
  • W.2.6 - With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers. (K-2-ETS1-1)
  • W.2.8 - Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question. (K-2-ETS1-1)

Mathematics

  • 2.MD.D.10 - Draw a picture graph and a bar graph (with single-unit scale) to represent a data set with up to four categories. Solve simple put-together, take-apart, and compare problems using information presented in a bar graph. (K-2-ETS1-1)
  • MP.2 - Reason abstractly and quantitatively. (K-2-ETS1-1)
  • MP.4 - Model with mathematics. (K-2-ETS1-1)
  • MP.5 - Use appropriate tools strategically. (K-2-ETS1-1)

Model Course Mapping

First Time Visitors

Resources & Lesson Plans

  • More resources added each week!
    A team of teacher curators is working to find, review, and vet online resources that support the standards. Check back often, as NSTA continues to add more targeted resources.
  •   Students will design and make bridges out of folded pieces of paper, and test how much weight they can hold using pennies. Students will be able to explain how a bridge’s shape can make it stronger and perform tests to compare differe ...

  • Biomimetics is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. In this lesson, students identify a human problem and use biomimicry to develop a possible solution.

  • This is a 5E lesson plan from the book Picture Perfect STEM Lessons, K-2 Using Children's Books to Inspire STEM Learning by Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry. The books Beep! Beep! Go to Sleep! by Todd Tarpley and National Geographic Kids: Robots b ...

  • In this unit, students must identify and define a problem posed in a real-life, probable scenario. They conduct research, design and test probable solutions to the problem, and engage in literacy, math, and engineering activities in order to solve th ...

  • Students are introduced to a fictional problem (the need for a new hamster habitat in a pet store) and are invited to solve the problem through an engineering design (a hamster habitat). They work through a series of lessons to learn about the n ...

  • This resource contains directions on how to create a solar eclipse box that works exactly like a pinhole camera.  Teachers can use this resource to help students observe and predict sun and moon patterns. To truly make this an engineering design ...

  • This 5-E lesson plan uses the backwards-design approach integrated with literacy to expand upon children's knowledge of fireflies and light.  Students will able to gather evidence to develop the understanding that at night objects can be see ...

  • This article discusses how students were engaged in a year-long project that integrated science, mathematics, and literacy.  Utilizing a project-based learning (PBL) format entitled garden-based learning (GBL) students  participat ...

  • This resource is an introductory kindergarten STEM unit that focused on building a trap to catch a gingerbread man.  This activity integrates STEM with literacy as students read, write, learn about pushes and pulls, and design a trap for th ...

  • This resource is a 5-E lesson based on the book "All the Water in the World" by George Ella Lyon and Katerine Tillotson.  In this lesson students describe ways they use water and how they can reduce their water consumption.   ...

  • Please note this resource is an article found in the January 2016 Volume 53 Number 5 edition of NSTA's "Science and Children" Journal which can be accessed for free in the NSTA Learning Center for NSTA members.  The article is enti ...

  • A lesson plan based on the book Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming where bunnies keep getting a farmer’s vegetable garden and eating his vegetables. Students will design and build something to prevent the bunnies from getting into the veget ...

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Planning Curriculum gives connections to other areas of study for easier curriculum creation.