Curated OER
Design a Green Rooftop Garden
Design and construct buildings with rooftop gardens. Junior engineers work in groups to build two buildings and then perform experiments to determine whether or not a garden affects the building temperatures. They graph and interpret...
DiscoverE
Design a Folding Solar Panel
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...
American Chemical Society
Chemical Reactions and Engineering Design
Construction leads to habitat loss and local wildlife suffers. Scholars must build a reptile egg incubation device that meets many constraints. Various experiments help them discover the chemical reaction needed to reach the proper...
Curated OER
Turn It Upside Down: Introduction to Computer-Aided Design
Students explore a computer-aided design program. Students chart out roller coaster design, computer graphics and architecture. Students focus on understanding the connections between mathematics, science, technology and innovation.
Curated OER
Design and Build a Road Sign Support
Emergent engineers plan, construct, and experiment with a spaghetti noodle structure that could be used to hold a load. Set them up for success by first showing them a four-minute video on engineering design and a slide show of different...
North Carolina State University
Construction
Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...
Teach Engineering
Design a Flying Machine
Wrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...
Purdue University
Can You Design and Construct a Better Candy Bag?
Bag the sweet resource for later use! Pupils learn about engineering design by developing a new, improved bag for candy from thin plastic sheets or from paper. The bags are to be visually appealing, but should also be functional. To...
NASA
Building for Hurricanes: Engineering Design Challenge
"By the hair on your chinny-chin-chin, I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in," says the big, bad wolf! Engineering hopefuls are challenged to design and construct a hurricane-proof building from simple office and craft...
Museum of Science
Parachute Design
Deploy an activity that requires deploying a parachute. An engaging lesson challenges learners to design and construct parachutes. They test out their creations and consider what changes should be made to improve the parachute's...
eGFI
Design a Thermostat
Using a thermostat is an eco-friendly way to control indoor climate. Young engineers practice building electric circuits by designing and constructing a thermostat. Plenty of background information, a vocabulary list, links to the...
Curated OER
Design and Construct a Road Sign Support
Students design, build, and test a model of a free-standing structure used to support overhead road signs.
Curated OER
Design Your Dream Stadium
Students raise their design awareness about construction considerations for large public facilities including safety, accessibility, funding, construction materials, and space, use geometry and other mathematical skills to calculate size...
Curated OER
Wind Effects on Model Building: Pre-Lab for Truss Design and Testing
Emerging engineers perform pre-lab calculations in this first of a three-part lesson plan on model building. They determine the forces of tension and compression in a truss. After completion of the worksheet, pupils will draw a draft of...
Science NetLinks
Green Roof Design
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...
Curated OER
Student-Designed Desks
Students research school room from the past. They create a design for a school desk that is tailored to the specific needs of today's students. They evaluate group work and create a presentation.
Curated OER
Equations in Motion: Design and construct a mobile
Students participate in a lesson that covers the concepts of solving equations and inequalities. To master the concept they must demonstrate visually and verbally how both sides of an equation must be balanced. They construct a balanced...
Messenger Education
Design Challenge: How to Keep Items Cool in Boiling Water
Keeping items cool in boiling water... what? This engaging activity challenges high school learners to build a container that keeps butter in a solid state when placing the container in boiling water. Groups use previous knowledge and...
Curated OER
Design and Construction of an Eco-House
Students are able to design, construct, evaluate and recommend materials for planned Eco-house to be built on campus. They investigate about good design and plan for construction. Students have a greater knowledge and appreciation of...
Skyscraper Museum
Building a Skyscraper
Creating buildings that reach hundreds of feet into the sky is no easy task. The third instructional activity in this series begins with four activities that engage young architects in exploring the major challenges that are faced when...
Perkins School for the Blind
Casting with Plaster
What a fun lesson! Your class can experience the design and construction process by creating a mold and a duplicate for an engraved image. The lesson is specifically written for learners with visual impairments and allows them to create...
WindWise Education
How Can I Design Better Blades?
Small groups use information they have learned about blade construction to design, build, and test their own concepts. The teams compete in order to determine which design has the best average power output.
Curated OER
Design Space
Students will develop an understanding design space. The arrangement of shapes is taught to create simple perspective. The differences in the size of shapes is shown in order to help learners see how they should be arranged in...
Teach Engineering
Design Step 5: Construct a Prototype
Enough with the talking, let's build something! In the fifth step in the engineering design process, young engineers build a prototype to test their ideas. The lesson walks them through the process of evaluating it step-by-step....