DiscoverE
Design a Shoe
Engage young scientists in a project where high fashion meets engineering! Using foam core and hot glue, partnered pupils design and create a functional, fashionable pair of shoes. Groups then put the footwear through its paces using a...
Curated OER
Carve That Mountain
Learners investigate major landforms (e.g., mountains, rivers, plains, hills, oceans and plateaus). They build a three-dimensional model of a landscape depicting several of these landforms. Once they have built their model, they act as...
Scholastic
STEM Challenges and Activity Sheets for Grades 6–8
From 3-D cities to building bridges, young engineers engage in innovative STEM challenges that promote brainstorming and collaboration. Learners take on the roles of different types of engineers as well as become familiar...
Teach Engineering
Ranking the Rocks for Desired Properties
Math rocks! Cavern design teams determine the rankings of rock types based upon desirability points. The points are connected to the properties of the rocks and their usefulness in building a cavern.
Curated OER
Bridges
Students compare and contrast the three primary types of bridges. In this technology lesson, students design and build a bridge that spans 25 cm. They test their design and present the results to class.
Curated OER
Construction Technologies: Construct the Strongest Bridge
Students investigate how engineers use different types of bridges for different places. In small groups they design and construct bridges for three different scenarios, and answer a series of investigating questions applied to the...
Curated OER
The Golden Gate Bridge
In this comprehension worksheet, students read and respond to five multiple choice questions about the story. Then they explain in a short answer response why there were people who opposed to the building of the Golden Gate Bridge and why.
Curated OER
Bridges
Students are introduced to the different types, designs and nature of bridges. They observe a historical look at the bridges in and around the Pittsburgh area through a video presentation. Connections are made between science and...
Curated OER
Hey Kid, Want To Buy A Bridge?
Students study the building of the Brooklyn Bridge and the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison. They design an infomercial to sell a product or a service for an invention. They create an invention that improves the world and write an...
Curated OER
Strong as the Weakest Link
Students apply knowledge of stresses and forces by building model structures. In this force instructional activity, students consider skyscrapers and bridges in the world around them and the stresses that these structures endure. They...
Curated OER
Spaghetti Bridges: Student Worksheet
In this math worksheet, learners will create a "bridge" out of spaghetti and test it's strength with pennies. Students will record their results on a table and then graph the results.
Curated OER
Building Challenges
Students work together to complete different building challenges. They use prior knowledge to build tunnels and different types of bridges. They share their creations with the group.
Curated OER
Young Engineers: Understanding Engineering Through Cooking
Second graders explore different engineering careers. In this math lesson, 2nd graders create a winning cooking recipe. They role play a mock cookie sale during the culminating event.
Curated OER
Engineering Pop-Ups
Students explore the art of paper engineering and pop-up-books. They listen to a teacher-led lecture on pop-up books, discuss the process of paper engineering, and plan, design and construct an original pop-up book.
Curated OER
Bridge Construction
Students build a model of a bridge and test the amount of weight it support. They identify different types of bridges: suspension, arch, girder, truss, cantilever, cable-stayed and moveable.
Curated OER
Many Kinds of Bridges
Middle schoolers examine how there are many elements that need to be considered before building a bridge. Groups are given materials and they are to make a structure that can hold an object in suspension.
Teach Engineering
Show Me the Money
Class members learn how to estimate the total costs involved to design and build a bridge by including design, material, equipment, and labor costs. The activity includes a discussion about the trade-off between cost and aesthetics.
Discovery Education
STEM Camp—Urban Infrastructure
Build a bridge to learning in a STEM-aligned unit about urban infrastructure. Young engineers explore the many aspects of civil planning and design in a five-day unit. Content includes the challenging aspects of balancing building with...
Teach Engineering
Protecting Our City with Levees
Teams use the design process to design, build, and test a model levee to protect the town from a wall of water. A handout provides a price list for the materials learners can use to build their levee within a budget.
Scholastic
STEM Challenges and Activity Sheets 3–5
How can engineers help their communities? Three challenges in the first unit explore why STEM is important to communities and how neighborhoods are engineered to experience those benefits. The second unit prompts groups to plan an...
Curated OER
Spaghetti Bridge
Middle schoolers work together to build their own spaghetti bridge. They test the bridge to see how much weight it can hold before breaking. They discover how engineers use this type of information to design bridges.
Curated OER
Building a Bridge
Third graders discover architecture and functionality by constructing a bridge. In this bridge engineering lesson, 3rd graders utilize cardboard, straws, towel tubes and plastic bottles to create a model bridge similar to ones seen in...
Curated OER
Designing a Safe City Like a Civil Engineer
Students study civil engineering, safety apparatuses in their city, and design their own city. In this civil engineering activity, students discuss their towns safety apparatuses and define civil engineers. Students then design their own...
Curated OER
Let's Build
Students observe and discuss a picture of Curious George building a bridge and discuss what it means to build, plan and design a project. As a class, they list things they need to do in oder to build something and explore how a compass...