TEKS ELA Standard: 3.13.A

Iceberg Simulator

Watch how four different molds grow

Recursive Island

Vulcan Point Island is an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island

A Full-Size Lego Car

It’s a car made out of Lego with a working engine.

Dinosaur Optical Illusion

Why does this dinosaur keep looking at me…

Notice, Wonder: Fountain

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Dazzle

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Burton Island

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Tenzing

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Order to Chaos: Dominoes or Dam?

Sometimes outside forces turn order into chaos. But sometimes chaos comes from within.

Order and Chaos Hide Inside Each Other

Chaos can contain order. Order can contain chaos! Is chaos ever truly random?

Who has more power: the Queen Bee or the Hive?

Who really runs the hive: the queen, or the thousands of bees around her?

Indirect Power – Lighthouse vs Magnetism

Students explore the idea of indirect power – which can be both visible (a lighthouse) or invisible (magnetism).

Power – Blue Whale vs Krill

Sure, a Blue Whale is huge. But does a tiny krill have more power?

Power Can Be Fast, Slow, Loud, or Quiet

Power may seem loud and fast, but it can also be slow and quiet.

Two Animals Switch Biomes

What if a capybara and a kangaroo rat switched homes? Would their adaptations be helpful at all?

Lego Paper Shredder

Can you shred paper using just Lego?

Notice, Wonder: Brooklyn

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

New Uses For A Cardboard Tube

So, what can a cardboard tube be used for other than holding wrapping paper?

Emoji Stories 🚗

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Emoji Stories 🏰

Five emoji. One story. Where will your imagination take you?

Natural Disasters Tournament

Earthquake vs. hurricane. Tsunami vs. wildfire. Students set the criteria, argue their case, and crown a champion. Warning: it gets heated.

Slow Motion Popcorn

What surprises can you spot when a kernel pops in super slow-mo?

Changing Baby Names

You won’t believe how fascinating it is to watch a map of the most popular baby names by US state.

Frozen Bubble

What happens when you blow a bubble in below-freezing temperatures?

Notice, Wonder: Sombrero

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Create A Civ: Capital City

Every great capital is part geography, part human design. Research real ones, then build your own from scratch.

Notice, Wonder: Silver Torch

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Barringer

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Rosetta

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Phrases to Join a Discussion

Want your classroom discussions to go a bit more smoothly? Train students to use a few simple phrases and it’ll make all the difference in the world.

Categorize and Re-Categorize Animals

Put these animals into groups. Then do it again. Then… do it one more time. How does re-re-grouping the same creatures reveal new patterns and give new insights?

Discussing An Important Decision from History

How would people with two different perspectives discuss a decision from history?

Notice, Wonder: Critter

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A House

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: SLS Test

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Butterball

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Ramses

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Craters

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Bloom

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Skylight

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Microchess (Chess Variant)

What if we played chess on a board that’s only 4×5?

Horde Chess Variant

What if one player had, say, 32 pawns?

Notice, Wonder: Krzywy Las

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Scales

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Vortices

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Swirls

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Witch’s Fingers

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Not Like The Others: Deserts

Which of these deserts is not like the others?

Create A Civilization: Design A Flag

What makes for a good flag? What makes a bad flag?

Looping Grid Art

Pick a few numbers, draw some corresponding lines on grid paper, and you’ll end up with some interesting, looping math-y art!

Notice, Wonder: Green Circles

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

A Lunar Survival Mission

A favorite of mine! This task is delightfully complex and ambiguous, forcing students to make choices without enough information and with no right answer. How will they survive on the moon for three days?

Notice, Wonder: An Orange Thing

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Paradox: Rebuilding A Ship

What if we completely rebuild something slowly? What if we completely rebuild it all at once? Is it still the same thing?

The Pros and Cons of Producers and Consumers

Sure, students might know the difference between a producer and a consumer… but have they considered how they feel about each other? What, in a producer’s opinion, are the pros and cons of a consumer?

Notice, Wonder: Kuiseb

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A Long Line

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Blood Falls

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Think Like A Philosopher

What would Socrates have thought if he watched Frozen?

Change Leads to More Change

Can you think of a time in your life when “Change lead to more change?”

Order Can Be Natural or Constructed

When is order natural and when is it designed by people?

Generalization: Problems Lead to New Rules, Which Lead to New Problems

Problems create rules. Rules create new problems. Can you trace the cycle in history, stories, and your own life?

What’s In My Brain: May vs May

The word “may” can be used for possibility or permission. It’s a modal auxiliary verb!

How Renewable Is That Resource?

Which resource is more renewable? And which is easier to find?

Notice, Wonder: Forest

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Akron

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Electronics

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Turbine

Your students will be surprised by the size of this turbine… and by what’s hanging from it!

Notice, Wonder: Z-Machine

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Climber

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A River

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: The Cliff

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Michael

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: Etna

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Game: Order and Chaos

Imagine Tic-Tac-Toe if both players could play as both Xs and Os!

Upgrade Research Questions With Depth and Complexity

Ever ask students to create research questions? Were their ideas a bit… blah? My own students had a very hard time writing questions they didn’t already know the answer to! This video is how I solved that problem: upgrade research questions with depth and complexity.

Notice, Wonder: Plateau

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Notice, Wonder: A Ship

A mysterious image. Reveal it slowly. Let your students wonder!

Investigating Christmas Trees

Start with facts about Christmas trees. Group them. Label them. Can you boil it all down to one big idea?

Paradox: Crocodile Dilemma

A crocodile makes a deal. But the deal creates a paradox. Can your students untangle a 2,000-year-old logic puzzle?

Paradox: The Liar’s Paradox

Nothing like a paradox to get your kids brains exploding 🤯! This one starts with five simple words: “This statement is a lie.”

Game: Notakto

What if you only played Tic-Tac-Toe with Xs and you could play on multiple boards?

Dots and Boxes

Who can make the most boxes from dots in this strategy game?

Content Imperatives: Paradox

How can one idea pull in opposite directions, being both true and false or right and wrong at the same time? It’s time to explore Paradoxes!

Create A Civilization: From Hunter Gatherers to Farmers

What happens when your civilization suddenly has a surplus of food? Think of the possibilities!

Content Imperatives: Contribuition

Pull on one thread and watch the whole topic move. Contribution asks: what single factor is quietly shaping everything else?

Content Imperatives: Origin

Take students back to the beginning by using the Content Imperative ⏺️ Origin.

Depth and Complexity: 📈 Trends

Has something been changing recently? What might be causing that? What are the effects?

Depth and Complexity: ❓ Unanswered Questions

This underutilized tool focuses students on what we don’t yet know and even what we can’t know.

Depth and Complexity: ⏳ Change Over Time

Want to get students thinking about how a topic has changed or might change in the future? The ⏳ Change Over Time thinking tool is just what you need!

Create A Civilization Introduction

Your students build a civilization from scratch — rivers, flags, calendars, currency, government. Social studies, science, and writing woven into one year-long project.

Creating A Realistic Flower and Pollinator

Your students will create a new flower, designed to attract a specific pollinator.

Historic Social Media

How would people from history have interacted online? Students will develop a conversation online between people involved in the same event from history.

Engineering: Build A Bridge

Using real bridges as their starting point, students will construct bridges out of straws and paperclips.