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Lesson Plan
National Sailing Hall of Fame

Sailboat Design Requirements

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Sailboat design requires more than a half-circle and triangle sketch. After viewing a slideshow presentation that outlines the requirements for sailboat design, learners draw a design, perform the needed...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Interactive Gumball Machine

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Sure, you may be able to build a better mousetrap, but what about a gum dispenser? In a fun engineering challenge, teams must design and build a working interactive gumball machine with specific constraints and criteria.
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Design Step 6: Evaluate/Manufacture a Final Product

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
This is what all of the excitement has been building up to! Young engineers create engineering drawings, use machines to manufacture their products, test, and evaluate their designs in the last step in the engineering design...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Designing a Crew Exploration Vehicle

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design lesson. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork, and...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Designing Bridges

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduces your class to the types of loads experienced by a bridge. Groups calculate the ultimate load combinations to determine the maximum load requirement. Using this information, builders then determine the amount of material...
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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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Activity
National Science Teachers Association

Paper Car Crash Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High school physical scientists collide with motion. They work in pairs to design a paper car that will protect a raw egg during a head-on collision. Measurements of distance traveled, time of run, vehicle specs, and photo gate flags are...
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Lesson Plan
Intel

Understanding the Design Process

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Can you build a better mousetrap? Broken into two sessions, this plan introduces learners to the design process. The first session has pupils look at the world through a design perspective by redesigning everyday objects. In the second...
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Lesson Plan
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Purdue University

Bio Inspired Design Paper Flowers

For Teachers 3rd Standards
Can paper flowers have some of the same properties as real flowers? First, learners investigate how water is absorbed into a flower through capillary action by using real flowers, yarn, and paper. Then, they have an opportunity to create...
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Lesson Plan
1
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University of Wisconsin

Designing a Rain Garden

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Now it's time for all of the data collected in previous lessons to be applied to the design of a rain garden. This resource can only be used as part of the greater whole, since learners will need to rely on gathered knowledge in order to...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Engineering Lessons Adapted for Special Education

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Modifying engineering lessons from NASA makes them accessible to a wider variety of learners.
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Lesson Plan
eGFI

Lesson: Zero-Energy Home Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Challenge young engineers to design a one-bedroom scale house to collect and maintain as much heat as possible. Particular constraints must be adhered to, but creativity is also allowed. Included is a diagram and background information...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wind Effects on Model Building: Pre-Lab for Truss Design and Testing

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Emerging engineers perform pre-lab calculations in this first of a three-part instructional activity on model building. They determine the forces of tension and compression in a truss. After completion of the worksheet, pupils will draw...
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Lesson Plan
NPR

Introduction to the Engineering Design Process

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Step by step is always best. In groups, future engineers create the tallest possible tower with marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Along the way, they learn about the engineering design process. 
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Activity
DiscoverE

Design a Folding Solar Panel

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Solar energy is an amazing alternative ... but, not always particularly portable! Challenge young scientists to a folding solar panel build-off with an easy-to-execute activity. Scholars brainstorm around specific design needs, construct...
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Lesson Plan
Science NetLinks

Green Roof Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Green roofs aren't just eco-friendly — they are literally green with trees. Groups learn about the concept of green roofs in order to be able to design one. The groups design a 5,000-square-foot green roof for a fictional apartment row...
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Activity
Beauty and Joy of Computing

Search Engines

For Students 9th - 12th
Which search engine is best? The last lab in a unit of five leads the class to investigate search engines. Working in groups, individuals read and discuss articles related to searching the Internet. Pupils develop suggestions that...
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Lesson Plan
Rochester Institue of Technology

Ergonomic Design

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To an engineer, the glass is never half full; it's just double the necessary size. The fifth installment of a nine-part technology and engineering series teaches pupils about the idea of ergonomic design. Measurements of popliteal height...
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Activity
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Teach Engineering

Design and Build a Rube Goldberg

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Biomimicry in Engineering

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Take a look with your class at how nature supplies inspiration to engineers. In cooperative groups, youngsters research biomimicry and then develop a system that would help support people living on the moon. Each team also considers...
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Activity
NASA

Design a Crew Exploration Vehicle

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Make a splash from space. Participants use the engineering design process to create a waterproof space exploration vehicle capable of an upright landing. Young engineers test and modify designs as needed and participate in a group...
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Lesson Plan
2
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American Chemical Society

Engineering a Floatation Device

For Teachers 5th
Classes will definitely not be sinking after a buoyant lesson! A project-based assessment helps highlight the importance of prior knowledge as individuals design a floatation device for a cell phone. They use their knowledge of chemical...
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Lesson Plan
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Bonneville

Manipulating Design Variables on Solar Heaters

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Always strive to make things better. The second of three activities in the Experimenting with Solar Heaters unit has learners design new solar heaters that are more effective compared to the simple models they used in the previous...
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Lesson Plan
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Ship the Chip

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Here is a tasty challenge, especially for middle school engineers: design a container that meets mass and volume criteria, and will safely transport a tortilla or potato chip through the mail without damaging it! Mostly, this is a crisp...

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