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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Remote Control Using Bluetooth

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Building on what they learned about wired and wireless electrical connections in the associated lesson, students use Android phones to take advantage of Bluetooth wireless connections to remotely guide LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots through...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Master Driver

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students learn how rotational sensors measure distance, how mathematics can be used for real-world purposes, and about potential sources of error due to gearing when using rotation sensor readings for distance calculations.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Music by Touch

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Through a hands-on design challenge involving LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots, students learn programming skills and logic design as they program robot computers to play sounds and rotate a wheel when a touch sensor is pressed, and then...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Follow the Light

For Teachers 4th - 8th
A lesson involving LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots and light sensors, student pairs program the robots to follow a flashlight as its light beam moves around.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Don't Bump Into Me!

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students' understanding of how robotic ultrasonic sensors work is reinforced in a design challenge involving LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots and ultrasonic sensors.
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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Mission to Mars

For Teachers 6th - 8th
The Mission to Mars curricular unit introduces students to Mars-the Red Planet. Students discover why scientists are so interested in studying this mysterious planet. Many interesting facts about Mars are revealed, and the history of...
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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Robot Design Challenges

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Through the two lessons and five activities in this unit, students' knowledge of sensors and motors is integrated with programming logic as they perform complex tasks using LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots and software.
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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Is a Computer Program?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Through four lesson and four activities, students are introduced to the logic behind programming using LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots.
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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Humans Are Like Robots

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Four lessons related to robots and people present students with life sciences concepts related to the human body (including brain, nervous systems and muscles), introduced through engineering devices and subjects (including computers,...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Are Gears? What Do They Do?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students are introduced to an important engineering element- the gear. This prepares them to apply this knowledge in four associated activities in order to create successful solutions to design challenges that use LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Is a Program?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Using a few blindfolds and a simple taped floor maze exercise, young scholars come to understand that computers rely completely upon instructions given in programs and thus programs must be comprehensive and thorough. Then students learn...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: How Do You Make Loops and Switches?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students learn how to program using loops and switches. Using the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots, sensors and software, student pairs perform three mini programming activities using loops and switches individually, and then combined.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Is Bluetooth?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students learn about electrical connections, how they work, and their pervasiveness in our world. Two specific skills explored are Morse code and the function of Bluetooth. Using bluetooth, they control LEGO robots remotely from Android...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Is a Robot?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
This lesson introduces students to the major characteristics of robots. The associated activity uses the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT system as an example. Before studying robots in more detail, it is important for students to consider the many...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Is a Motor? How Does a Rotation Sensor Work?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students learn about electric motors and rotational sensors. They create a basic program using the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT interface to control a motor to move a small robot.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: How Does a Sound Sensor Work?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students learn about how sound sensors work, reinforcing their similarities to the human sense of hearing. This lesson and its associated activity enable students to appreciate how robots can take sensor input and use it to make...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: How Does a Light Sensor Work?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
A mini-activity, which uses LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT intelligent bricks and light sensors gives students a chance to investigate how light sensors function in preparation for the associated activity involving the light sensors and taskbots.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Curiosity Killed the App

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students gain experience with the software/system design process, closely related to the engineering design process, to solve a problem. First, they learn about the Mars Curiosity rover and its mission, including the difficulties that...
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Article
CNN

Cnn: Student News April 25, 2014

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
News program reports on the current events of the day. Includes a video, transcript and critical analysis questions.
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Lesson Plan
Other

Exploring Computer Science: Scope and Sequence

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Exploring Computer Science is one year course consisting of six, six week long units. The course was developed around a framework of both computer science content and computational practice where assignments and instruction are...
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Article
DOGO Media

Dogo News: Week of 10 21 13: Meet Rex, the World's First Bionic Man

For Students 6th - 8th
Article introduces readers to the world's first bionic man, a robot named Rex with approximately 60% - 70% of the functionality of a real human. Includes two brief videos.
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Website
Government of Canada

Canadian Space Agency: Canadarm

For Students 9th - 10th
A concise description of the development, function and history of Canada's most famous robotic and technological achievement.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Foucault Pendulum

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students learn about the Foucault pendulum, an engineering tool used to demonstrate and measure the Earth's rotation. Student groups then create small experimental versions, each comprised of a pendulum and a video camera mounted on a...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Timing a Speedbot!

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Students strengthen their communication skills by first learning the meaning of base units and derived units. Then, working in groups, students measure the time for LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots and calculate the robots' average speeds at...