Teach Engineering
Earthquakes Living Lab: Designing for Disaster
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...
Teach Engineering
Trash to Treasure!
One person's trash is another man's treasure. Challenge your class to build something useful out of the trash they throw away on a regular basis. Groups design and build a practical item from trash they collect, allowing the class to...
Teach Engineering
Weather Alert
Every time a bell rings ... there is lightning in the area. The activity provides directions to build a model of a lightning detection system. Similar to a system designed by Benjamin Franklin, the system uses static...
Teach Engineering
Maker Challenge: Adding Helpful Carrier Devices to Crutches
Make breaking a leg a less troublesome experience. Groups brainstorm designs for crutches that have devices that help carry items. They build prototypes of their devices to test out their designs.
PBS
Robo Arm
Future engineers create robotic arms like those on rovers built by NASA in the second lesson of the series. They test their devices by attempting to pick up and move cups to a specified location.
Purdue University
Simple Machines
What's the best way to use a simple machine to solve a real-world problem? Scholars construct their own simple and complex machines to explore the concepts of work and force. They discuss examples of simple machines they have found in...
Teach Engineering
Solar Water: Heat it Up!
Young engineers are instructed to design and build their own solar water heaters. Then, they calculate the efficiency and cost and compare them to commercially available models. This is a full unit for pupils to apply their knowledge.
Curated OER
Simple Machines and Modern Day Engineering Analogies
Students apply the mechanical advantages and problem-solving capabilities of six types of simple machines (wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, pulley) as they discuss modern structures in the spirit of the engineers and...
Curated OER
What Is Engineering Design
Students investigate the concepts related to the practice of designing and building large scale buildings. They conduct research using the internet and other resources in order to apply mathematics and architectural design principals in...
Teach Engineering
Design Step 3: Brainstorm Possible Solutions
Our young scientists have now specifically identified a problem, and this step helps them think of possible solutions. An outline, including guidelines, for brainstorming helps scholars stay on the right path. The resource includes...
Teach Engineering
Model Heart Valves
Small groups use the knowledge learned about the heart to design and build a prototype of an artificial heart valve. The teams demonstrate the functionality of their valve. They are also responsible for creating a pamphlet that describes...
Teach Engineering
Scale Model Project
Try your hand at scale models. Scholars create a scale model of an object using a scale factor of their choice. As part of the project, they give presentations on their processes and calculations. This is the last installment of the...
NASA
Lunar Colonization
A five-lesson unit challenges teams to design a complex to allow people to colonize the Moon. The teams first work in order to understand the challenge before becoming experts. Expert teams learn about different aspects needed to survive...
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...
DiscoverE
Tape Dispenser Challenge
Help your class get out of a sticky situation! Future engineers explore existing tape dispensers and then design a new system for dispensing tape. To put these systems to the test, they build and evaluate prototypes of their designs.
DiscoverE
Textbook Support Challenge
Textbooks are heavier than a sheet of paper, so how can paper hold up a textbook? Young engineers create a structure out of paper that can support a textbook. To add another wrinkle, they must stay within budget and time constraints.
Mascil Project
Parachute Food Drop
Drop a perfect project into your lesson plans. Groups use different building materials to create models of parachutes for food drops. After testing out their prototypes, they make improvements to their designs.
Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Marshmallow Catapaults
After a brief lecture on levers, torque, projectiles, and the five-step engineering design cycle, young physical science learners or engineers build catapults out of craft sticks. This is an open-ended exploration of what works and what...
Kenan Fellows
Electricity: Sources, Usage, Challenges, and the Future
What does the future of energy look like? Junior engineers collaborate to discover a solution to the global energy crisis during a very hands-on lesson plan. The unit focuses on learning through collaboration to develop a deep...
DiscoverE
Bridges, Buildings and Beyond Activity Packet: Grades 3-5
The road to a better understanding of engineering lies with bridges and tunnels. A set of four engaging activities teaches learners about engineering concepts related to construction projects. They perform an experiment to find the...
Edmond Public Schools
8th Grade Science Resource Book: Unit 2 - Physics
Get things moving with this extensive collection of physical science resources. Covering the fundamentals of measurement, graphing, lab safety, and experimental design as well as the specific scientific concepts...
Curated OER
Tower Investigation and the Egg
Students build three types of towers, engineering them to hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds. They discover that engineering designs are subject to constraints such as time, money and size specifications. In this activity students...
Curated OER
Designing a 2-liter Pop Bottle Piece to be Used for Water Rockets
Learners design and create water rockets using recycled materials. In this technology lesson, students measure and sketch their project design before drawing them using SolidWorks. They construct the bottle as accurately as possible.
Discovery Education
Future Fleet
Turn your pupils into engineers who are able to use scientific principals to design a ship. This long-term project expects pupils to understand concepts of density, buoyancy, displacement, and metacenter, and apply them to constructing a...