Curated OER
Charlotte's Web
Students create a small web to communicate a message to someone. They examine the types of spiders and how they make their webs. They design and create their own web with their message inside.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Does Weight Matter?
Pupils design and conduct experiment to determine if weight added incrementally to an object affects amount of friction encountered when it slides across a flat surface. They graph data from their experiments, and calculate coefficients...
Curated OER
Space Capsules:The Egg-stronaut Egg Drop
Learners brainstorm the factors affecting the speed at which a space capsule reaches the surface of a planet or moon and suggest how engineers might deal with each factor. They then create a model which is dropped from a high point...
Curated OER
Planets of the Solar System
Learners use the internet to research the planets in the solar system. Using the information they collect, they design and create a webpage with the data. They present their material to the class and answer any questions presented to...
Curated OER
Surveying: 19 Chains and 50 Links
Through an interdisciplinary lesson, emerging engineers explore the history of surveying systems. After discussing various systems, they perform surveys on printable pages. Using their geometric skills, they physically stake out plots...
Curated OER
Problem Solving Spiral and Intro to Research
Young scholars work in teams to choose a design and use this to learn about the problem solving spiral. In this problem solving lesson plan, students state the steps of the spiral and discuss how it relates to their experiences.
Teach Engineering
Magnetic Fields Matter
Help your young scientists learn which materials are affected by magnetic fields with an activity that presents the information about different types of materials — diamagnetic, paramagnetic, and ferromagnetic — and their interaction...
Teach Engineering
Solenoids
Metal slinkies, coils of wire, magnetic fields, and MRIs. To determine the safety hazards of MRI machines, class members use the provided formula to calculate the magnetic field along the axis of the solenoid.
Teach Engineering
The Advantage of Machines
Show your students how to make their work easier. The first lesson in a series of 10 introduces the class to work and the way simple machines can be make work easier. The simple machines scholars can find in everyday items are...
Curated OER
Build Your Own Hovercraft
Learners construct a hovercraft following specific procedures. In this technology lesson, students explain the physics principles behind hovercraft. They compare and contrast this machine with the aircraft.
Curated OER
Will Biotech Crops Solve World Problems?
Students read an online article to examine what biotechnology and agricultural biotechnology are. They answer questions and complete worksheets based on the article's information.
Curated OER
Where's the Water?
Fifth graders conduct an investigation into water purification during a role play situation in an Amazon Rainforest. They design a scientific experiment for cleaning and filtering water.
Curated OER
Water Filtration
Students work together to examine the role of water in their lives. They discover the process to clean water so it is clean for one to drink. They explore the role of environmental engineers and their problem of getting clean water to...
Curated OER
Build It Better!
Students work together to review what they know about damage during tornadoes. They design a structure that they hope protects people against tornadoes. They share their structure with the class.
Curated OER
Build a Sturdy Wall
Students read a version of "The Three Little Pigs" and then work in small groups to design a wall. They use Legos to build the wall and subject their design to a strength test.
Curated OER
Structural Stability - Legos
Students are introduced to a variety of design elements that promote structural stability including beams, joints and pins. They demonstrate the use of these elements with Lego constructions and compare the stability of several...
Curated OER
Washing Air
Students observe a model of a wet scrubber. They discuss this and other methods of pollutant recovery. They discover how engineers use this information to protect the environment.
Curated OER
I Breathe What?
Middle schoolers participate in an experiment in which they gather and examine particiles in the air. They place pollution detectors at different locations and identify problem areas. They discuss how engineers can use this type of...
Curated OER
Generators: Three Mile Island vs. Hoover Dam
Students are given a history of electricity and its development into the modern age lifeline upon which we so depend. The methods of power generation are introduced, and further discussion of each technology's pros and cons follows. ...
Curated OER
TE Activity: A Merry-Go-Round for Dirty Air
Students observe a simulation of a cyclone to examine a method of pollutant recovery in cleaning industrial air pollution. They examine how engineers develop technology to reduce air pollution and determine percentages for technology...
Curated OER
TE Activity: The Boxes Go Mobile
Young scholars create a mobile of boxes and cubes that they made in a previous lesson that can be accessed from this page. They design the mobile using method that an engineer would use to balance the items based on surface areas and...
Curated OER
Flow Rates of Faucets and Rivers
Students work together to discover the flow rates of faucets and rivers. They relate their results to engineering and applied science concepts. They make predictions on the flow rate of a nearby river in their local community.
Curated OER
What's Hiding in the Air?
Fifth graders conduct experiments to study the effects of invisible air pollutants including one with a bean plant. They examine methods of invisible air pollutants.
Curated OER
Does Contact Area Matter?
Pupils work together to design and implement an experiment on friction. They test to see if contact area affects the amount of friction. They discover how engineers use friction to make certain products better.