Project Based Learning – or PBL – is an important instructional strategy that many teachers use to engage students. These featured resources can enhance PBL lesson and inspire creative, new activities. Sign up for PBS LearningMedia to create interactive activities using quality multi media from PBS and partners.
Design Squad Nation | Collection | Grades 1-8
Design Squad gives students a stronger understanding of the design process, and the connection between engineering and the things we all use in everyday life. The results of engineering are all around us: from cars to cameras and everything in between. Design Squad Nation equips kids with science and math skills, inspires them, and lays the foundation they need to participate in engineering activities later in life. Use these Design Squad Nation resources to explore the world of science and engineering.
Scaling the Solar System | Video | Grades 5-8
This video segment from Teaching Earth and Space Science shows how teacher Mark Goldner uses a classroom scaling activity to give eighth-grade students a physical feel for the vast spatial scale of the solar system. Goldner has his students approximate the size of the planets and the Sun using familiar objects; for example, Earth is represented by a peppercorn and the Sun is represented by an 8-inch beach ball. Goldner helps his students work out the scale of the model (1 inch equals 100,000 miles), and they think about both the sizes and distances between the planets in the solar system.
The Heat Loss Project | Video | Grades 5-12
In this project-based learning activity, science students use digital technologies to measure heat loss in the home. Teacher Lawrence Perretto explains the engineering skills students acquire as well as the larger implications the project has for teaching students about environmental conservation.
A School Project with a Purpose! | Curriculum and Videos | Grades 9-12
This project explores community landscapes and how land is developed for aesthetic and safety concerns. Based on the “Flagship Project” for Message to the Future Foundation (M2tf.org).