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Organizer
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TerraCycle

What Can Nature Teach Us about Sustainable Design?

For Students 6th - 8th
Talk about Velcro®, Gecko Tape, WhalePower turbine blades, and other innovations that mimic nature to inspire your STEM or engineering class. This set of worksheets gets them thinking about imitating nature in terms of sustainable...
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Activity
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Teach Engineering

Design Inspired by Nature

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Let nature guide your engineering designs. By taking apart a flower, pupils learn about reverse engineering. They use the results to brainstorm designs for new products or ideas. This is the seventh installment of a nine-part Life...
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Activity
Teach Engineering

Amusement Park Ride: The Ups and Downs in Design

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Designing a Spectroscopy Mission

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
In this mind-bending activity, young engineers explore this question of whether or not light actually bends. Using holographic diffraction gratings, groups design and build a spectrograph. The groups then move on research a problem...
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Lesson Plan
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Robot Basketball

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Hold a free-throw shooting challenge in your engineering class! Each team must design a contraption that will fire off a "robot arm" or, more specifically, a catapult, to send a Ping-Pong ball into a basket. Use this as an opportunity to...
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Lesson Plan
North Carolina State University

Construction

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...
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Activity
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Teach Engineering

Earthquakes Living Lab: Designing for Disaster

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Build and design to rock and roll. Pairs research building design in earthquake areas and use computer simulations to see the effects of earthquakes on buildings,. They then sketch and explain a building design that would withstand...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Keep it Cool

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
This cool lesson plan is ideal for elementary engineers or physical scientists, especially when learning about heat transfer and insulation. After reading a page of background information, engineering teams collaborate to design and...
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Lesson Plan
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Life Vest Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
After reading about the history and science of personal floatation devices, patents, and intellectual property, engineering teams design a life vest for a can of soup. To evaluate which groups considered the need for waterproofing, hold...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Solar Structures

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
It's time to soak up the sun! Youngsters read about active and passive solar heating systems, then they collaborate to create a miniature solar-heated building. Provide a variety of materials for them to incorporate and watch their...
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Activity
Lincoln Public Schools

Cereal Box Project

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Challenge your class with this fun and engaging engineering design project. The goal, to create a brand new cereal complete with a list of ingredients, a name and logo, and a box to hold it in. Starting with a survey to determine the...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Working with Wind Energy

For Teachers 2nd - 12th
After reading about how wind turbines work to collect clean energy, groups brainstorm and design their own windmill. Within the provided financial and physical constraints, groups must build a working windmill using only the materials...
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Lesson Plan
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Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Shake it up with Seismographs!

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Shake things up in your STEM or earth science classroom when you have small groups construct their own seismographs. A reading assignment on the history of seismographs, the Richter scale, and current technology sets the stage for the...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Chair Lift Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
During the Winter Olympics, this would be an engaging task to include in your STEM instructional activity. Design teams plan, construct, and test a miniature ski lift that can carry a pingpong ball up and down a rope line without falling...
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Lesson Plan
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Kenan Fellows

Engineering Skills Through Problem Based Learning

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Navigate the ups and downs of learning about energy. Future engineers consider how potential and kinetic energy apply to roller coasters. They design a roller coaster of their own and then use computer design software to showcase their...
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Activity
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Teach Engineering

Designing a Robotic Surgical Device

For Teachers 10th - 12th
The engineering design process meets laparoscopic surgical robots with an activity that is the last part in a series of 10 and brings all the lessons of the unit together. Teams design and build a remotely controlled laparoscopic device....
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Unit Plan
Intel

Designer Genes: One Size Fits All?

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
In this STEM group of 10 activities, lesson two focuses on the question, "Just because we can, should we?" when considering genetically engineered food. Classes hear a scenario and, as young scientists and geneticists, must determine if...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Arduino Blink Challenge

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Emerging engineers read about Arduino software and how it can be used. Then they follow a nine-step tutorial to connect an Arduino board to a computer and put it to work! The objective is to code a program that will cause an LED to...
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Lesson Plan
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Purdue University

Design of an Earthen Dam for a Lafayette Neighborhood

For Teachers 3rd
How do dams support bodies of water? Scholars engage in a hands-on STEM activity where they design, build, and test dams to learn about bodies of water and how humans use natural resources. They learn how criteria and constraints affect...
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Activity
DiscoverE

Art and Engineering Activity Packet: Grades 6-8

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Build an appreciation of engineering. Pupils in grades 6-8 learn about science and engineering in a set of three engaging activities. They build spinning tops, construct wind structures, and create recycled paper as part of an engaging...
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Lesson Plan
Serendip

Genetic Engineering Challenge – How Can Scientists Develop a Type of Rice That Could Prevent Vitamin A Deficiency?

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Brown rice contains vitamins B and E, while white rice lasts longer in storage. The availability of rice around the world makes it a great candidate for genetic engineering. Scholars apply their knowledge of genetic engineering to solve...
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Lesson Plan
Kenan Fellows

Evaluating Sensors and the Impacts of Physiological Stress: Designing a Wearable Device for Rescue Workers

For Teachers 6th - 12th
A long-term project has scholars consider ways in which sensors help monitor physiological stress levels of rescue workers. They design and create a portable device for this purpose. Techies to the rescue!
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

An Exploration of Cradle-to-Cradle Design Thinking

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Introduce cradle-to-cradle design thinking. Scholars first discuss the importance of natural laws and rights. They then use a variety of online and print resources to research eco-efficiency and cradle-to-cradle design.
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Lesson Plan
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Purdue University

Field Trip Snack Holder

For Teachers 3rd
Is light related to insulation? An informative hands-on STEM activity demonstrates how light affects temperature. First, the class investigates how light passes through different mediums and how that relates to temperature. Then,...

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