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Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Engineer a Dam

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...
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Unit Plan
University of Virginia

University of Virgina: Structural Behavior and Design Approaches

For Students 9th - 10th
From the Introduction to Structural Design web site. A page of well-written lecture notes on the various structural qualities of building materials. A comparison is made of the strength, stiffness, stability and ductility of materials,...
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Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Critical Load

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...
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Lesson Plan
Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University: Rumble Blocks

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A game where students must create a stable structure for a friendly alien to use to reach its spacecraft. Students manipulate the blocks to learn that wider bases, symmetrical structures, and creating a lower center of mass result in a...
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Website
University at Buffalo

University at Buffalo: Mceer: Earthquake Engineering to Extreme Events

For Students 9th - 10th
Information from the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research guided toward enhancing the ability of communities to survive and rebuild after an earthquake. Includes current news and conferences, and information about...
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Activity
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Ruff Ruffman Show: Build It Up, Knock It Down

For Students K - 1st
Explore structural science and compete in a building contest where each team builds a structure without using tape and then tries to knock the other one down using only paper.
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Activity
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Ruff Ruffman Show: Tower Time

For Students K - 1st
Explore structural science and try to stack a tall, stable tower in this building activity.
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Activity
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Ruff Ruffman Show: Architecture Scavenger Hunt

For Students K - 1st
Explore structural science and look for shapes around your school or in the buildings in your neighborhood.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: The Ruff Ruffman Show: Teacher's Guide: Structures

For Teachers K - 1st
Learn about structures alongside Ruff Ruffman.
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Article
A&E Television

History.com: 10 World Engineering Marvels

For Students 9th - 10th
These remarkable feats of design and construction transformed the ways that people travel, communicate and live. For thousands of years, mankind has engineered remarkable structures such as the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of...
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Activity
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Cup Tower Experiment

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Observe some of the issues that structural engineers encounter by building a tower with paper or plastic cups and then reporting on your experience.
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Website
University of California

University of California, Berkeley: Civil and Environmental Engineering

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information about civil and environmental engineering.
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Website
Other

Bridge Sight Software: The Bridge Site: Software

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides links to a wide variety of Bridge Engineering Software. Click on the link to learn about the software.
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Handout
Other

Structurae: Sydney Opera House

For Students 9th - 10th
Some basic information on the Opera House, including a listing of its designer and architects. A photo of the structure accompanies the information.