TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Conveyor Engineering
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate a conveyor system made with everyday items than can move pieces of candy 4 feet including a 90 degree turn. The objective of the instructional...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineer a Dam
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a dam structure in a classroom water trough. The objective of the lesson is to learn about the different types of dams and to build one that has the...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Water Tower Challenge
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a water tower made with everyday items. The objective of the lesson is to work in teams to learn about water delivery systems and create one that will...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Smooth Operator
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, construct, test, and evaluate surgical instruments using everyday materials. The objective of the design is to see how well they can perform a simulated "surgical...
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology
Ciese: How Does Your Garden Grow?
Based on the book Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming. Students must use the engineering design process to plan and build a barrier that will keep hungry bunnies out of a garden.
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology
Ciese: Scratch My Back
Starting with the book Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup, learners use the engineering design process to design a solution to the bear's problem of not being able to scratch an itchy back.
Ruth Patrick Science Education Center
Ruth Patrick Science Education Center: Shaking It Up With Earthquake Engineering
Students will learn basic information about earthquakes and their impact. They then follow the engineering design process as they construct earthquake-resistant buildings using toothpicks and marshmallows. The buildings are tested using...
Exploratorium
Exploratorium: Science Snacks: Marshmallow Puff Tube
An engineering design process project where you will try different lengths of cardboard tubes to see how far you can blow a marshmallow. Project uses Newton's principles of unbalanced force to shoot the marshmallow far.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Those Darn Squirrels! Brainstorming Ideas
A silly read-aloud captures the attention of students who must jump right into action applying the engineering design process in an effort to stop the squirrels from eating the birdseed. To complete the brainstorming students will work...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Engineering Solutions
Anyone who has attempted one of those "claw machine" games at local restaurants or retailers knows how impossible it seems to win. This activity will get students using the engineering design process to develop a claw that will actually...
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology
Ciese: Wonderful World of Weather: Whichever Way the Wind Blows
Students use the Engineering Design Process to create a windosck that can determine which way the wind is blowing.
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology
Ciese: Square of Life: Ant Day Care Center
For this lesson, students use the engineering design process to create a home for ants where they can be observed for one day.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineering Ups and Downs
Engineering design lesson plan examines the principles behind working elevators. Teams of students explore how elevators work, then design, build, and evaluate their own elevator to service a toy car garage.
Other
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Junior Solar Car Competition
A design challenge through which students design and construct a solar-powered model car to compete in a road race. Students work in teams using the engineering design process to select the optimal gear ratio and components.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Critical Load
This lesson plan looks at critical load, the amount of weight a structure can hold beyond which it would collapse. Student teams will design and test a structure using playing cards that has to meet specific criteria. Afterwards, they...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Olympic Engineering
The lesson plan begins by introducing Olympics as the unit theme. The purpose of this lesson plan is to introduce students to the techniques of engineering problem solving. Specific techniques covered in the lesson plan include...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Tower Investigation and the Egg
Towers have been a part of developed society for centuries. Towers serve a variety of purposes, from lookouts to cellular towers. In this activity student groups will build three types of towers, engineering them to hold an egg one foot...
Other
Bloodhound Ssc: Engineering Adventure
An engineering adventure for registered schools that allows students to participate in the research, design, building and testing of a car. Registration for schools is free and gives teachers access to school resources and lesson plans.
The Wonder of Science
The Wonder of Science: 2 Ps1 3: Objects and Pieces
This NSTA vetted source includes resources to show that an object made up of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object. Included are assessment ideas, videos, examples, lesson plans, and photos of student work.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Design Solutions Engage, Explore
Third graders illustrate and write out notes for a plan (or several plans) to mitigate the effects of a local weather hazard.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Building Things in Different Ways
This lesson poses the question "can you always take something apart and put it together in different ways?". Students will take part in designing an investigation using snap cubes to help figure out an answer. Videos of the lesson in...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Take It Apart, Put It Together
The purpose of this lesson is to reinforce the idea that things are made up of small parts that can be recombined in novel ways. It also shows that the shape of certain parts dictates their function. Students delight in taking things...
Other
American Society for Engineering Education: E Gfi: Jingle Bell Silencer Challenge
Can you muffle the sound of a jingle bell using a variety of Christmas-themed items? Explore your sense of hearing in this simple activity. Includes a video of Gemini astronauts playing Jingle Bells while in space in 1965. [1:22]
Other
Discover E: Shoo Bird, Shoo! [Pdf]
In this activity, students work in teams with a range of materials to choose from to design and build a mobile that warns birds away from a window or a building.