Grade 2 Lesson plan
Barnhill's Model Water Tower: Measuring Height in Inches
A 50-minute grade 2 lesson in which students raise a model water tower, measure how far the water reaches, and solve height problems in inches within 100.
Build projects
In these projects, students construct something that works: a column filter that clears muddy water, a rain gauge that survives a storm, a model that shows why the water tower stands on the hill. Each project includes the complete materials list with quantities, step-by-step build instructions, an explanation of why the design works, and a way to test the result. Most use inexpensive or recycled materials.
29 build projects · filter them in the catalog
Grade 2
Grade 2 Classroom activity
Crabapple Pond's Floating Boom: A Grade 2 Design Station
A 35-minute grade 2 station activity in which teams build floating booms from yarn, foil, and straws to corral floating litter in a tub and compare two designs.
Grade 2 Lesson plan
Sparrowfield's Fish Tank Water Line: A Cover Design Lesson
A two-session grade 2 lesson in which students design jar covers that slow evaporation, test three setups, and argue which cover the class fish tank needs.
Grade 2 Lesson plan
Tinwick School's Downspout Puddle: A Splash Pad Design Lesson
A 45-minute grade 2 lesson in which students define the puddle problem under a school downspout, sketch a splash pad, and solve inch-length problems.
Grade 2 Classroom activity
Wheelhouse Street's Straw Pipeline Build Challenge
A 40-minute grade 2 team challenge in which groups estimate, join, and measure straw pipelines to carry water 30 inches from a model tank to a house cup.
Grade 3
Grade 3 Lab / experiment
Lumbry Bend's Water Wheel: A Grade 3 Pour-Height Fair Test
A grade 3 lab in which teams build a cork water wheel and test whether pouring one liter from a greater height makes the wheel spin more times in ten seconds.
Grade 3 Classroom activity
Build a Mini Model of an Underground Water Supply: A Grade 3 Activity
Grade 3 teams pack two soil cups differently, pour equal water on each, and time which soil lets the water soak in faster in a fair test.
Grade 4
Grade 4 Classroom activity
Design a Filter for Pinegrove's Cloudy Water: A Fair-Test Build
A grade 4 build activity where teams design a layered gravity filter within a layer limit and a time limit, then test it.
Grade 4 Classroom activity
Lifting Water at Redbridge: Build a Model Waterwheel Pump
A grade 4 build activity where small groups construct a spinning paddle wheel that scoops and lifts water, then run a fair test comparing angled and flat paddle cups.
Grade 5
Grades 5–6 Lab / experiment
Gravel, Sand, and Charcoal: Building a Column Water Filter
Teams build two column water filters in different layer orders, pour standardized muddy water through each, and compare clarity data in a fair, science-fair-ready test.
Grade 5 Classroom activity
Lifting Water Uphill: A Grade 5 Timber Ridge Hand-Crank Lift Challenge
A grade 5 build activity in which groups lift a cup of water uphill on a narrow pencil axle and a wide tube axle, then compare turns and spills.
Grade 6
Grade 6 Lab / experiment
Choosing a Weir Notch Shape for Wilmot Brook
Students build three weir plates, read the water height at a slow and a fast flow, and pick the notch shape that meets a fictional gauge's three rules.
Grade 6 Lab / experiment
Testing Three Pipe Bedding Materials for Oskett Lane
Students load a model pipe on soil, sand, and pea gravel, then measure settling, drainage, and soil movement to pick the bedding a fictional water main job needs.
Grade 6 Lab / experiment
Pellham Flats Well Screen Gravel Pack Design Lab
Students build three model well screens with different gravel pack depths, time how fast each drains, and measure how much sand each lets through before choosing one.
Grade 6 Lab / experiment
Amberton's Cloudy Water: Building and Testing a Sand Filter
A grade 6 science lab where students build a layered bottle filter, run muddy water through it, rate cloudiness on a 0-to-10 scale, and calculate the percent removed.
Grade 6 Lesson plan
Cutter Hollow Erosion Barrier Design and Sediment Test
Teams model a hillside in a tray, measure sediment reaching a downstream cup, then design and test a barrier that reduces erosion for the fictional town of Cutter Hollow.
Grade 6 Lesson plan
Millbrook Creek Household Filter Design Challenge
Teams define a clarity target and a 20-credit budget, then design, build, and test a three-layer household water filter for the fictional town of Millbrook Creek.
Grade 6 Lesson plan
Sable Ridge Water Tower Height and Stability Challenge
Teams design, build, and test a straw-and-tape model water tower across two rounds, meeting a height and load requirement for the fictional town of Sable Ridge.
Grade 7
Grade 7 Lab / experiment
Braycott Basin Baffles: Testing Three Layouts for Clearer Water
A grade 7 lab where teams test three baffle layouts in a model settling basin, then build a fourth that combines features from their best layout and a partner team's.
Grade 7 Project
Ravensgill Creek Shade Structures: Cooling a Trout Reach
A five-session grade 7 build-and-test project where teams design bank shade structures on a model reach, run three timed heat trials, and combine the best features.
Grade 7 Lab / experiment
Ashford Mills Filter Trade-Off: Flow Rate Versus Clarity
Students build three filter designs, time how fast each runs, rate how clear the water is, and find the trade-off between speed and clarity.
Grade 7 Lab / experiment
Saltcrest Ridge Fog Catcher: Testing Mesh Panels for Water Capture
A grade 7 lab where students build three mesh panels, spray them under identical conditions, and use the collected volumes to design a better fog-catching panel.
Grade 7 Classroom activity
Emberlynn Creek Silt Fence: A Design-Build Erosion Challenge
Grade 7 teams build a model silt fence, test it against a no-fence control with a measured water pour, then redesign and retest to reduce sediment reaching a model creek.
Grade 8
Grade 8 Project
Hollins Row Rain Gauge Network: How Rain Varies by Block
A five-session grade 8 science project in which students build and site rain gauges, log two weeks of storms, and report findings to a fictional stormwater board.
Grade 8 Classroom activity
Model Check Dam for Quarry Hollow: A Design-and-Test Activity
A grade 8 build-and-test activity where teams construct a model check dam, measure how much simulated stormwater it holds back, and iterate for a second trial.
Grade 9
Grade 9 Lab / experiment
Building and Testing a Multimedia Water Filter Column
A grade 9 engineering lab where students build a gravel, sand, and charcoal filter column, then test it by measuring water clarity and flow rate across two trials.
Grade 10
Grade 10 Lab / experiment
Comparing Column Filter Media: A Grade 10 Turbidity Design Lab
A grade 10 engineering lab where students build column filters, change the media, and test which design clears cloudy water best while keeping an acceptable flow rate.
Grade 11
Grade 11 Project
Quillhaven Slow Sand Biofilter: A Build-and-Test Design Project
A grade 11 engineering build project where teams design, construct, and iteratively test a slow sand biofilter for the fictional Quillhaven field station within a budget.
Grade 12
Grade 12 Lab / experiment
Build and Test a Bench-Scale Sand Filter: Loading Rate and Clarity
A grade 12 engineering lab where students build a sand filter column, measure its flow, and compute the loading rate in gpm per square foot against the design range.