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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Urban Stormwater Management

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Through the two lessons in this unit, students are introduced to green infrastructure and low-impact development technologies. Student teams take on the role of stormwater engineers through five associated activities.
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Why Do We Build Dams?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students are introduced to the concept of a dam and its potential benefits, which include water supply, electricity generation, flood control, recreation and irrigation. This lesson begins an ongoing classroom scenario in which student...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Off the Grid

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of renewable and non-renewable energy sources. They also learn about our nation's electric power grid and what it means for a residential home to be "off the grid."
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Passive Solar Design

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars are introduced to passive solar design for buildings--an approach that uses the sun's energy and the surrounding climate to provide natural heating and cooling. They learn about some of the disadvantage of conventional...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Hurricanes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn what causes hurricanes and what engineers do to help protect people from destruction caused by hurricane winds and rain. Research and data collection vessels allow for scientists and engineers to model and predict weather...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Capillarity Measuring Surface Tension

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars are presented with a short lesson on the difference between cohesive forces (the forces that hold water molecules together and create surface tension) and adhesive forces (the forces that causes water to "stick" to solid...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Skyscrapers: Engineering Up!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Skyscrapers are one of the most glorified products of Civil Engineering and contain an interesting history of progress and development. For this lesson, the students will learn about the history of the world's tallest free standing...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Natural and Urban Stormwater Water Cycles

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Through an overview of the components of the hydrologic cycle and the important roles they play in the design of engineered systems, students' awareness of the world's limited fresh water resources is heightened. The lesson lays the...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Green Infrastructure & Low Impact Development Technologies

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students are introduced to innovative stormwater management strategies that are being used to restore the hydrology and water quality of urbanized areas to pre-development conditions.
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Website
University of Florida

University of Florida: Civil and Coastal Engineering

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is about civil and coastal engineering. The site has links to research, people, programs, news, etc.
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Handout
Other

World Wide Web Virtual Library: Civil Engineering

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is an online library of information about civil engineering.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Survive That Tsunami!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students use a table-top-sized tsunami generator to observe the formation and devastation of a tsunami. They see how a tsunami moves across the ocean and what happens when it reaches the continental shelf. Students make villages of model...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Breaking Beams

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students learn about stress and strain by designing and building beams using polymer clay. They compete to find the best beam strength to beam weight ratio, and learn about the trade-offs engineers make when designing a structure.
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Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Implementing Biomimicry and Sustainable Design

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This unit provides students with an opportunity to study ecological relationships with an emphasis on the Sonoran Desert. Students appreciate the complexity and balance that supports the exchange of energy and matter within food webs....
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: All About Water!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students learn about the differences between types of water (surface and ground), as well as the differences between streams, rivers and lakes. Then, they learn about dissolved organic matter (DOM), and the role it plays in identifying...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Shapes of Strength

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students are introduced to brainstorming and the design process in problem solving as it relates to engineering. They perform an activity to develop and understand problem solving with an emphasis on learning from history. Using only...
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Fence That Farmland!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students develop and solidify their understanding of the concept of perimeter as they engage in a portion of the civil engineering task of land surveying, using the technology of a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robot to automate this task.
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Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Construction Technologies: Construct the Strongest Bridge

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students will work in pairs to create three simple types of bridges. They will observe quantitatively how the bridges work under load and why engineers use different types of bridges for different places. They also will...
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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Building the Tallest Tower

For Students 3rd - 5th
Skyscrapers are impressive structures. What does it take to design a building so tall? Engineers use strong materials and innovative design to push the limits of gravity. In this experiment you will use LEGO components, rubber balls, and...
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Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Construct and Test Roofs for Different Climates

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
We design and create objects to make our lives easier and more comfortable. The houses in which we live are an excellent example of this. Depending on your local climate, the features of your house will be different to satisfy your...
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Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Solving a 'Windy' Problem

For Students 3rd - 5th
The wind is a powerful force, enough to erode whole hillsides over time. Building structures in windy environments challenge civil engineers with special safety concerns. A wall in a windy area can either shield you from the cold or fall...
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Lesson Plan
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Build an Earthquake Resistant House

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this project, students will build model earthquake-resistant buildings and measure their movement during a simulated earthquake using a mobile phone and a sensor app.
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Unit Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Roads, Highways, and Ecosystems

For Students 9th - 10th
An interesting look from the National Humanities Center at the progression of roads in America. Author looks at the ecological impact of the road system.
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Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Pipeline Challenge

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students become "engineers" as they learn how to develop pipeline systems for transportation. In this lesson, they work in teams to design, develop, and execute a pipeline plan to transport both a golf ball and a ping pong ball from one...