Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Magnetic Nanoparticle Coating
Interested in nanoparticles? Use this challenge to design a coating for a magnet that will pick up different surfaces. Challenge includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Introducing Engineering
There is something gross under the cafeteria table. Do you pick it up? Gross! How about we mimic a bird's beak to solve the problem of picking up our trash? This lesson models walking through the first few steps of the Engineering Design...
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Science of Everyday Life: 3 M Wind Energy Virtual Lab
Do you think you can design a wind turbine that supplies energy to 400 homes at the highest efficiency and lowest cost? Try your hand at turbine design in this interactive activity that allows you design, build, and test a device to...
NASA
Nasa: Light but Strong
Use these lessons from NASA to teach multiple Next Generation Science Standards for grades K-5. Properties of matter and engineering design are the focus of these lessons. Detailed plans and student handouts are included. [PDF]
PBS
Pbs Kids: Design Squad: Ets1 1:activities and Videos: Health and Improving Lives
This PBS site contains activities that are hands-on challenges, animations, career profiles, and videos that focus on the engineering design process. They use simple materials, allow for multiple solutions, and are ideal for ages 9-12.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Bird Beak
In this challenge, students will construct a beak that will allow them to pick up as much food as possible in one try without using their hands. This website includes the challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Disperse Seeds Far and Wide
Students are challenged to engineer a device that will carry a seed at least 3 feet from where it is launched. Students are given access to a site that gives them tips, and a place to document their engineering design process. Also, a...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Space Tool
Using common household items, make a tool that an astronaut could use to pick up an object in space. This site also includes tips, lesson plans, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Crank Mechanism
In this challenge, students will transfer rotational motion into linear motion by building a simple machine. The site also includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a 3 D Object Out of Tetrahedra
Can you build a 3-D object out of tetrahedra that is as big as you are? With this challenge, students will be using common household items to build their tetrahedra structure. Site contains the challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Cantilever
Make a cantilever that can hold 5 marbles at least 12 inches away from its base structure with this engineering challenge. The site contains the challenge, a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Safe Stopping Robot
A challenge for students to design and engineer a robot that turns itself off when it leaves a safe area. This challenge contains tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make Identical Quantum Dots
Using different materials students will create spheres that are all the same size. This website contains the challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Nanopipe
In this design challenge, students will build walls within a tube so different objects are separated as they travel through the tube. The site contains tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Make a Nanostamp
On this challenge, students will create a stamp to reproduce a drawing from a meter away quickly and accurately. This challenge includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Goody Goody Gumdrop! Building Structures Are Fun!
In this lesson, the children will be building a physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object, such as triangles, helps it function. At the end, the children will test their gumdrop structures and the class will collectively...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Toy Vehicle Design
In this instructional activity, students prepare their design plans for building their own toy vehicle from local manufacturers' discards. They start to conceptualize what may help the vehicle roll straight and far as they discuss ideas...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Thousands of Tiny Pieces Can Create Something Big!
Simon Rodia built the Watts Towers by gathering fragments of "junk" he found in the neighborhood. He put all of these small pieces together to build a spectacular tower. Students will observe that something BIG can be created from lots...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: "Let Go of My Lego"
Junior scientists use their imagination to create a Lego car. This investigation allows scientists to see that they can put items together to create some new product. Videos of the lesson in action and examples of student's journal...
Other
University of Cincinnati: Project Step: Build a Bridge
In this two-period lesson, students work in teams to focus on the real-world application of bridge design and construction based on capacity, cost, and aesthetics.
Other
Minnesota Department of Transportation: Bridge Up! Engineering [Pdf]
In this activity, students learn about the difference between human-made and natural components in our world. They will then identify natural and human-made items using photos. They will learn about the Engineering Design Process, why...
NASA
Nasa: An Educator's Guide to the Engineering Design Process: K 2 [Pdf]
The NASA BEST Activities Guides were designed to teach students the Engineering Design Process. This is one of three guides targeting different grade groups. All follow the same set of activities and teach students about humans' endeavor...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Be "Cool" With Popsicle Engineering
Beginning kindergarteners are introduced to science and engineering concepts through questions such as "What is a Scientist?" and "What is an Engineer?", and go on to compare and contrast the two. They are introduced to five steps of the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Naturally Organized
Students work in teams to design a tabletop supply organizer inspired by the natural home of an insect species. Their prototype stores the group's classroom supplies (scissors, crayon boxes, pencils, and glue sticks). In addition to...