STEM Scholar Library

Students use SeaPerch, an underwater robotics program, to design and modify a remotely operated vehicle that targets, retrieves, and sorts aquatic debris such as plastic, aluminum, and iron. Applying concepts of density, magnetism, and filtration, students test and refine their designs in simulated underwater environments. Recovered materials become a collaborative recycled art installation, and students reflect on water conservation and the ethical impact of engineering decisions through literature, film, and writing.

Students tackle a real-world problem: replacing petroleum-based plastics with biodegradable alternatives made from natural materials. They research how plastics fragment into microplastics that persist in soil and water, then design bioplastic formulas from starches and proteins, heating, mixing, and molding prototypes. Students test their bioplastics for strength, flexibility, and durability, and observe how microbes in soil and compost break them down over time.

Sixth-grade students investigate how the Mississippi River has changed over time and what its water reveals about its health today. Anchored by the novel Minn of the Mississippi, students test river water samples, examine native macroinvertebrates, and compare their findings with partner classrooms studying rivers in other states. Field trips to the Lower Mississippi River Museum and Vicksburg National Military Park connect the river’s ecology to its history, and students translate their data into pour paintings and tapestries shared with families and educators.

Students become a research team hired by a fictional T-shirt company, Root & Hue, to develop a line of natural plant-based fabric dyes. After exploring the history of natural pigments, students grow selected plants and investigate soil, photosynthesis, transpiration, and how plant pigments interact with different wavelengths of light. They use chromatography to separate plant pigments, explore conservation of mass in closed systems, and finally use their dyes to tie-dye T-shirts.

Students build two identical aquarium ecosystems modeled on Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, then add fluorescent microplastics to one tank to create a controlled experiment. Over the school year, they monitor water quality and organism behavior, discovering that while water chemistry stayed similar, zebrafish reproduced successfully only in the tank without microplastics. The tanks become a year-long storyline that connects lessons across the curriculum and builds student confidence in water testing, microscopy, and field research in the lagoon itself.

Students design, build, and launch instrumented high-altitude balloons that carry their experiments into the stratosphere. After a five-day project-based lab on the vocabulary and challenges of balloon flight, students plan payload layouts and design a power-management experiment to determine which batteries perform best in extreme cold and altitude. Flight data on altitude, temperature, speed, and climb rate are analyzed to improve each successive launch and are shared with Tennessee Technological University’s Electrical Engineering Department to support ongoing research.

Students design and evaluate biodegradable plastic wrap made from plant-based materials, beginning with a campus litter survey that grounds the problem locally. Groups mix and cast bioplastic films, then test tensile strength, water permeability, biodegradability, and light-induced degradation, comparing results with conventional plastic wrap. Their findings spark independent science fair projects, such as exploring how composite films might improve performance while staying biodegradable.

Inspired by the unsolved 1990 theft at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, students become forensic investigators who analyze clues using real scientific techniques, from pigment chromatography to body-proportion analysis, and simulate escape routes using sensor-equipped robots. Students then flip roles, designing their own mini “Escape Room” mysteries for classmates, complete with original storylines, science-based puzzles, and a final code to unlock. The project blends critical thinking, storytelling, and engineering into a self-directed inquiry experience.

Students transform an outdoor campus space into a garden of “living fossils,” ancient plant lineages such as cycads, ginkgo, ferns, and horsetails that have endured for millions of years. Comparing these plants with fossil specimens, students explore what they reveal about Earth’s past environments and how some species have remained remarkably resilient. Students use environmental sensors to track light, temperature, and humidity, and use an indoor ecosystem model to investigate photosynthesis, gas exchange, and energy transfer.

Introduction: Students design and test custom frisbees made from unconventional materials, including cement, to explore how material properties, density, and motion affect performance. Students manipulate mass and density, measure distance, time, and G-force, and calculate speed to compare their designs against a standard plastic frisbee. They then create videos or posters explaining how each of Newton’s three laws appeared during testing, supported by their own data.

The queen has dropped a key into the castle moat, and the Oak Knoll Knights have to get it back. Students research, plan, and build autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that they can steer, balance with ballast, and use to take photos underwater. After the rescue, students partner with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, the Rappahannock Oyster Company, and a classroom on Tybee Island, Georgia, using their submersibles to study the declining oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay.

Hurricane Ian badly damaged the mangroves around Sanibel Island, and sixth and seventh graders set out to help bring them back. Working with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, student pairs grow red mangrove propagules in substrates they choose. They then test how factors like fertilizer and algal blooms affect growth and record observations all year. At the end of the year, students plant their mangroves at a restoration site, helping the island recover and building their own resilience.

How can DNA can be used to determine what pathogenic bacteria are causing a food borne illness

Analyze a topographical map to choose a water source for multi-year tracking of chemical analysis

Design and build a greenhouse to grow native plants for coastal restoration

Using engineering design process to construct a bridge with given size limitations

Designing wind turbines for maximum power output

Designing a greenhouse and building a hydroponic solution to address global hunger

Using Wood Ducks to study habitat management and wildlife interaction

Designing a sustainable energy house for a specific biome.

Using temperature, light, and g-force data from data loggers to develop a model representing how light, depth, substrate and stream depth impact microhabitats.

Coding Ozobots and using stream tables to learn about the rock cycle and erosion.

Using Edison Robotics technology to program robots using text and icon-based code.

3D printing for prosthetics, medical assistive devices and other engineered solutions to solve real-world challenges.

Development of an engineering unit to study wind and solar power as effective alternative sources of energy.

Demonstrate mastery of various coding programs through creating “steps” for a robot to dance.

Using Vex Robotics to build and code an Ozobot.

Explore the role of bees in our ecosystem and learn how to combat honeybee decline

Designing and building a mid-powered rocket to safely launch a marshmallow astronaut in a space suit designed to ensure his survival.

Measuring the impact of agricultural fertilizers on a local watershed.