Download Instructions
We're happy to provide these lesson plans created by our Boeing Fellows for free – all we ask is your name and email address.
To download your free lesson plans:
- Browse the list below
- Click the title of the lesson plan you want
- Enter your contact info, and then get access to download any lesson plan listed below
Plan Summaries
To the Skies!
- Jared Alosio, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 2nd – 4th Graders
There are four basic forces that explain the motion of an aircraft during flight – Weight, Lift, Thrust, and Drag. Weight is the downward force on the airplane from gravity. It is made up of the gross weight of the aircraft, the payload, the fuel, and the passengers combined. Lift is the upward force underneath and above the wings, pushing and pulling the plane up off of the ground. Thrust is the forward force in the direction of the airplane’s motion, which is driven by the propeller or the jets, depending on the type of plane. Drag is the backward force which opposes motion of the plane, due to friction between air and the aircraft.
Students will learn these forces and how to design an aircraft to accomplish several flight purposes, primarily through building differently shaped paper airplanes. After completing the lesson, students will have a base understanding of aircraft flight and why planes are designed in the way they are.
Charged Up
- Sydney Jeffs, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 3rd – 4th Graders
In this lesson, through inquiry and discussion, students will explore basic principles and topics regarding electricity such as the components of an atom, the associated charges, and static electricity.
Go With the Flow
- Sydney Jeffs, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 3rd – 4th Graders
This lesson will provide a brief introduction to simple water filtration systems and global challenges acquiring clean drinking water. Students will test filtration systems that they design and attempt to quantify their results. At the end of the lesson, students will have completed independent research on water accessibility, designed a water filter, and present their project to the class in a 5-minute presentation in a format of their choosing.
Marshmallow Tower – An Introduction to Civil Engineering
- Benjamin Schoenleber, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 3rd – 5th Graders
This lesson plan is designed to help middle school students understand the concepts of civil engineering and the thought process behind building design. It will also teach them the principles behind the engineering design process and will describe just who engineers are and what they do. The goal of this plan is for students to design and construct the highest and most stable tower possible comprised of only marshmallows and toothpicks.
States, What’s the Matter?
- Mark Chen – Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 3rd – 5th Graders
There are three main states of matter that surrounds us: solid, liquid, and gas. Each one of these states has their own unique properties that distinguish it from the others. Students should be able to determine the properties of each state, and how these properties can interact with one another. Specifically, students should predict and observe how energy can be transferred.
Students will first be exposed to the molecular configurations of different states of matter. They will draw out how “close” molecules are to one another, and how that distance affects the state of matter. They will also build their own device to record energy transfer.
Roller Coaster – Ups and Downs of Energy
- Jared Alosio, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 3rd – 5th Graders
Energy cannot be created or destroyed – however, it can be transferred from one form to another. This is the law of conservation of energy; one of the paramount laws which govern our universe. From it, numerous studies in engineering, physics, chemistry, and biology have emerged, as have all Grand Challenges of Engineering. Every Grand Challenge involves studying energy in closed systems, so foundational knowledge about what energy is and how it transfers between forms is important to establish.
Biomes
- Jenna Freedman, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 3rd – 5th Graders
This lesson is created to stress the idea of interrelationships among organisms and their environment. This lesson helps the students to compare and contrast the five major biomes: tundra, desert, forests, aquatic, and grasslands. Students build a model biome within their groups and document and investigate the changes that occur over a week period.
How Big Is The Solar System?
- Nicholas Danyluk – Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 3rd – 5th Graders
This lesson is an attempt to give students a sense of the scale of the planets in the solar system. There are two parts of the lesson. The first will demonstrate the scale of the planets to the sun. The second will show students the relative distances between the planets.
Light Properties
- Robert Vogel, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 4th – 5th Graders
The goal for the lesson is for students to recognize that light travels in a straight line until it strikes or an object or travels from one medium to another and that light can be reflecting, refracted, and absorbed. Students will do inexpensive and simple activities involving reflection, refraction, and absorption of light to explore these concepts. Students will then discuss results as a group and apply these concepts to phenomenon experienced in their own lives.
Momentum
- Robert Vogel, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 4th – 5th Graders
Students will be able to observe the conservation of momentum and explain its relation to the masses and velocities of objects in a 1 dimension system. They will reinforce these concepts by conducting a momentum lab themselves. The students will learn why Newton’s cradle, a commonly seen yet often misunderstood object, works and then be able to experiment with momentum themselves.
Speed, Distance, and Time Forensics
- Mark Chen – Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 5th Graders
Speed, distance, and time form a fundamental relationship that builds the foundation for future scientific and mathematic explorations. This lesson plan allows students to conduct a forensic investigation. After being exposed to the speed equation, students will apply the speed equation to see which of three cars actually was part of a crime scene. Students will use “evidence” such as police speed camera photos and individuals’ “testimony” to determine a car’s speed and infer how far the car has travelled. Students will also graph this motion to demonstrate visually location of each car.
Solar Cooker
- Benjamin Schoenleber, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 6th – 8th Graders
This lesson plan is designed to help middle school students understand the concepts of heat and energy. It will also teach them the principles behind the engineering design process and describe just who engineers are and what they do. The goal of this plan is for students to design and construct an oven that will increase the temperature of the contents using only the Sun as an energy source.
The Pop-Pop Boat
- Benjamin Hoover, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 6th – 12th Graders
The pop-pop boat was originally designed by the Frenchman Thomas Piot in 1891. Its design capitalizes on the simple properties of liquid water and its gaseous form, and is in essence a fun toy steam engine. The water is heated inside the boiler to produce steam, which builds pressure inside the boiler forcing water out the back of the boat. As the gas expands, it cools, which causes it to shrink and suck some water back in through the exhaust pipes. This process repeats for as long as the candle is burning. While the design of the engine is relatively easy to grasp, this design easily captures the mind of young children and college students alike. How can the design be improved? How does the engine keep running? What would happen if we were to make the boiler larger? With such a simple design, there is so much room to run away with design ideas and improvements.
Applications of X-Rays
- Jenna Freedman, Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 9th – 12th Graders
This lesson is created to demonstrate the applications of some of the invisible waves found in the electromagnetic spectrum, specifically X-Rays. This lesson emphasizes wave properties and their importance as well as provides students with a hands on representation of how X-Ray imaging modalities, X-Ray machines and Computer Tomography scanners, function.
It's Only Rocket Science
- Nicholas Danyluk – Boeing Fellows Program, Duke University
- 10th - 12th Graders
Students will learn to calculate the trajectory of a real projectile. Specifically finding the initial velocity of a projectile in free fall from trajectory equations and from direct measurement. The students will compare these results and discuss what factors account for the discrepancy between the two values. Lastly, students will discuss Energy. Calculate the Kinetic and Potential Energy at different points in the trajectory.