Other
Cabaret Mechanical Theatre
These wooden, puppet-like machines operate on simple engineering: a turn crank. Watch them in action and see them in a full 360 degree view.
Other
Bridge Sight Software: The Bridge Site: Software
This resource provides links to a wide variety of Bridge Engineering Software. Click on the link to learn about the software.
![Fuel Our Future Now: Grade K 2 Module: Vroom! Vroom! What Makes Cars Go? [Pdf] Lesson Plan](https://d15y2dacu3jp90.cloudfront.net/images/attachment_defaults/resource/large/FPO-knovation.png "Fuel Our Future Now: Grade K 2 Module: Vroom! Vroom! What Makes Cars Go? [Pdf] Lesson Plan")
Other
Fuel Our Future Now: Grade K 2 Module: Vroom! Vroom! What Makes Cars Go? [Pdf]
In this K-2 teaching module, students explore motion, gravity, friction, and energy using objects and model cars. They investigate using hands-on activities with vehicles, as well as online interactives and videos. The culminating event...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Werner Von Siemens
In 1866, the research of Werner von Siemens would lead to his discovery of the dynamo electric principle that paved the way for the large-scale generation of electricity through mechanical means.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Understand Shock Levels and Packaging Principles
When you open up your presents on your birthday, you probably don't spend a lot of time admiring the wrapping-you'd much rather see what's inside. It can be the same way with the packaging that products come in, but packaging is...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Bomb's Away! A Ping Pong Catapult
With this project you'll send ping pong balls flying through the air with a rubber-band powered catapult. This catapult makes it easy to reproduce the launch angle, and to measure the amount of force applied to the projectile. Armed with...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Give Yourself a Lift: Lightening the Load With Pulleys
Before the Industrial Age, people relied on muscle power for moving and lifting heavy objects. Here's a project that shows you how you can use your head to make heavy lifting easier on your muscles - and your back.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Explore the Forces of Friction
We all recognize what friction is, but do you really understand what causes it? This project focuses on friction, its causes and forces and specifically how it affects how fast you can slip down slides.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Effect of Friction on Objects in Motion
The funny thing about friction is that you couldn't get anywhere without it, yet it still acts to slow you down as you're getting there. Here is an easy project to measure the effects of friction.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Effect of Trebuchet Arm Length or Counterweight Mass on Project
A trebuchet is a catapult that uses a counterweight to supply the energy for throwing. They were used in the Middle Ages for attacking castle walls. In this project, you build your own model trebuchet and investigate how design changes...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Measuring Vibrational Frequency With Light
Strike a key on the piano, and you hear the string vibrating. Just about any object vibrates when it's knocked, but how much and how fast? This project helps you find out. You'll build a simple light-sensing circuit for measuring the...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Rubber Bands for Energy
If you've ever been shot with a rubber band then you know it has energy in it, enough energy to smack you in the arm and cause a sting. How can the energy of a rubber band be put to work? In this experiment you will find out how the...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Which Simple Machines Do I Use the Most?
When you think of a machine, you probably think of computers or robots. Try this experiment to see how simple machines are used everyday around your house.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Applying Hooke's Law: Make Your Own Spring Scale
Hooke's law says that the opposing force of a spring is directly proportional to the amount by which the spring is stretched. How accurately Hooke's law describe the behavior of real springs? Can springs be used to make accurate scales...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Rubber Band Elasticity and Temperature
Many materials expand when heated and contract when cooled. What do you think will happen to the elasticity (stretchiness) of a rubber band when it is heated or cooled to various temperatures?
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Veggie Snap! Modifying Bending Stresses in a Flexible Rod
Examples of the effect of bending stresses on flexible rods could include a large tree bending over to the ground, or a fishing pole bending till it snaps. Scientists actually study this phenomenon and discover ways to prevent breakage,...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Slinking Slinkies
Want to do a project with a toy your parents, or even grandparents, might have played with? Slinkies are fun toys that also make great science fair projects. In this experiment you can build an inclined plane to compare the walking speed...
Other
University of Delaware: Major Resource Kits
Major Resource Kits link academic majors to career alternatives by providing information on career paths, sample job titles, and a short bibliography of Career Resource Center materials available to students in a particular major....
Robin Chew
Lucid Cafe: Nikola Tesla
Learn here about Nikola Tesla, nventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, and futurist best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current electricity supply system.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Steam Machine
Explore NOVA Online's interactive steam engine and discover how this machine can convert heat to mechanical energy.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Lego Robotics
A robotics curriculum using LEGO robotics that includes projects, tools, and resources. The unit allows students to investigate the use of robotics, mechanical systems, electronics, and programming.
University of Wisconsin
The Why Files: On the Wing: Birds, Skeeters, Jet Planes
Evolution through natural selection governs the "design" of flying creatures. Engineers design flying machines. But flying is about physics, and physics is the ultimate arbiter of both processes, and that produces parallels in mechanical...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: The 'Ultimate' Science Fair Project: Flying Disk Aerodynamics
Tossing a Frisbee with your friends is a great way to have fun in the sun. As you practice your throws and become more accurate, you're learning about the aerodynamics of Frisbee flight intuitively. You're learning the body mechanics...
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Science of Everyday Life: 3 M Wind Energy Virtual Lab
Do you think you can design a wind turbine that supplies energy to 400 homes at the highest efficiency and lowest cost? Try your hand at turbine design in this interactive activity that allows you design, build, and test a device to...