OpenSciEd middle school is NGSS-aligned science curriculum. Designed for all students and teachers, OpenSciEd includes student-facing materials as well as teacher guides. As with most instructional materials, excellent professional learning for teachers should be provided. For more information in Michigan contact the Michigan Mathematics and Science Leadership Network, starrm@mimathandscience.org

With encouragement and ideas from his family, Papa, based on the real-life inventor Lodner Phillips, builds a working submarine that takes his family on a ride to the bottom of Lake Michigan. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Students will use materials on hand to design a solution to a problem they see in their school or at home. The invention should meet the needs of fellow students, teachers, bus drivers, principals, siblings, friends, or even parents.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

A complete introduction to scientific investigation and the scope of physical science. Includes: states of matter, atoms, periodic table, chemical bonding, chemical reactions, carbon chemistry, chemistry of solutions, nuclear chemistry, motion, forces, Newton's Laws of Motion, work and machines, energy, waves, sound, electromagnetic radiation, visible light, electricity, and magnetism.

New York City in the 1860s was a mess: crowded, disgusting, filled with garbage. You see, way back in 1860, there were no subways, just cobblestone streets. That is, until Alfred Ely Beach had the idea for a fan-powered train that would travel underground. On February 26, 1870, after fifty-eight days of drilling and painting and plastering, Beach unveiled his masterpiece—and throngs of visitors took turns swooshing down the track. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Think about the way most people in your community travel. Invent a new way of traveling around your community that takes into account the following: helpful to the community, economical to those who use it, convenient for users. What would your new travel system look like? Sketch a new design, and then create a physical prototype of the new design to scale. Keep in mind: Where the system travels, how it is powered, why it is helpful to the community, and any features that make it special.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.

Emma Lilian Todd was a self-taught engineer who tackled one of the greatest challenges of the early 1900s: designing an airplane. As an adult, typing up patents at the U.S. Patent Office, Lilian built inventions in her mind, including many designs for flying machines. However, they all seemed too impractical. Lilian knew she could design one that worked. She took inspiration from both nature and her many failures, driving herself to perfect the design that would eventually successfully fly. The resource includes a lesson plan/book card, a design challenge, and copy of a design thinking journal that provide guidance on using the book to inspire students' curiosity for design thinking. Maker Challenge: Design a new mode of transportation (air, sea, or ground) or select a current mode of transportation and improve it then use household items to create a prototype of your new or updated invention.

A document is included in the resources folder that lists the complete standards-alignment for this book activity.