TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Using Graph Theory to Analyze Drama
Students analyze dramatic works using graph theory. They gather data, record it in Microsoft Excel and use Cytoscape (a free, downloadable application) to generate graphs that visually illustrate the key characters (nodes) and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Efficiency of an Electromechanical System
Students use Lego motors and generators to raise washers a measured height. The work done by the motor-generator systems is compared with the energy inputs to calculate efficiency.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Intelligence Agency
This activity provides an active way for students to discover a few critical facts about how we use energy and how much energy we use. Each student has a "clue", some of which are pertinent energy facts and others are silly statements...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Forms and States Demonstrations
Demonstrations explain the concepts of energy forms (sound, chemical, radiant [light], electrical, atomic [nuclear], mechanical, thermal [heat]) and states (potential, kinetic).
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Watt Meters to Measure Energy Consumption
Students use watt meters to measure the power required and calculate energy used from various electrical devices and household appliances.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Renew a Bead
A quantitative illustration of how non-renewable resources are depleted while renewable resources continue to provide energy. The activity requires students to remove beads (units of energy) from a bag (representing a country). A certain...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Efficiency of a Water Heating System
Students use a watt meter to measure energy input into a hot plate or hot pot used to heat water. The theoretical amount of energy required to raise the water by the measure temperature change is calculated and compared to the electrical...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy in Our Lives Carousel
This activity is a way for students to discover that they already know a lot about energy through their own life experiences. As active consumers of various forms of energy, they are aware of energy purchases for electricity, home...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Conversions
Students evaluate various everyday energy conversion devices and draw block flow diagrams to show the forms and states of energy into and out of the device. They also identify the forms of energy that are useful and the desired output of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Sources Research
Fact sheets are provided for several different energy resources as a starting point for students to conduct literature research on the way these systems work and their various pros and cons. Students complete a worksheet for homework or...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Household Energy Audit
Students review the electrical appliances used at home and estimate the energy used for each. The results can help to show the energy hogs that could benefit from conservation or improved efficiency.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Choices Game
Use this board game to introduce the concepts of energy use in our lives and the very real impact that personal choices can have on our energy consumption, energy bills and fuel supply. The game begins as students select cards that...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Systems
Posters are provided for several different energy conversion systems. Students are provided with cards that give the name and a description of each of the components in an energy system. They match these with the figures on the diagram....
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Light vs. Heat Bulbs
Students measure the light output and temperature (as a measure of heat output) for three types of light bulbs to identify why some light bulbs are more efficient (more light with less energy) than others.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Energy Perspectives
Students utilize data tables culled from the US DOE Energy Information Agency to create graphs that illustrate what types of energy we use and how we use it. An MS Excel workbook with several spreadsheets of data is provided. Students...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Catching the Perfect Sar Waves!
Students learn the importance of the Pythagorean theorem as applied in radar imaging. They use a sensor unit with IRED (infrared emitting diode) to measure triangle distances and the Pythagorean theorem to calculate and verify distances....
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Human Power
Students do work by lifting a known mass over a period of time. The mass and measured distance and time is used to calculate force, work, energy and power in metric units. The students' power is then compared to horse power and the power...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Solving Energy Problems
The culminating energy project is introduced and the technical problem solving process is applied to get students started on the project. By the end of the class, students should have a good perspective on what they have already learned...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Splash, Pop, Fizz: Rube Goldberg Machines
Refreshed with an understanding of the six simple machines; screw, wedge, pully, incline plane, wheel and axle, and lever, student groups receive materials and an allotted amount of time to act as mechanical engineers to design and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: What to Bring?
In this activity, students are provided with a list of supplies that survived their plane's crash in the Amazon jungle. They will organize the supplies to classify which items are useful for surviving in the Amazon. Students will use...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Home, Sweet Home!
In this activity, the students will use wax paper shaped as leaves and kite string to build a shelter to protect them from the rain. The students will then test the shelters for durability and water resistance.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Built to Last?
In this activity, the students test the shelters they built in Lesson 3, Activity 1 for durability and water resistance.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Finding Food in the Amazon
In this activity, the students will investigate a variety of plants and animals common to the Amazon through research. They will determine the plant or animal characteristics that make them edible or useful for the trip and learn to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Anchors Away
In this activity, the students will discover the relationship between an object's mass and the amount of space it takes up (its volume). The students will learn about the concept of displacement and how an object can float if it...