NASA and Design Squad Nation aim to inspire a new generation of engineers with five hands-on challenges designed for grades four to eight. Young engineers design a landing device that protects a hard-boiled egg, create robotic arms like...

As part of a STEM renewable energy series, middle schoolers design a standard solar heater. First, they create a simple solar heater to measure the temperature change in a vial of water, then calculate the heat energy transferred to the...

Three hands-on STEM renewable energy activities lead learners through the concepts of solar and biomass heating and water pumping to design a water pumping system that uses multiple technologies to avoid water freezing in winter. They...

The 17 resources in NASA’s Rockets Educator Guide provide young scientists and engineers an opportunity to engage in experiments as they examine images of more than 2,00 years of rockets. Scholars then read articles that provide an...

The five lessons in NASA’s On the Moon Educator Guide challenge young engineers to design and build an air-powered rocket, a shock-absorbing system to protect two marshmallow astronauts, and a rubber band-powered rover. In addition, they...

Young mathematicians use their knowledge of geometry and precalculus to study the movement of the robotic arm on the International Space Station (ISS) and the flight pattern of NASA’s C-9 jet. In addition, they use spherical coordinates...

The Exploring Space Through Math series offers six geometry lessons that use NASA resources to teach learners how to use the mathematics of deductive and spatial reasoning. They use geometry to compare the dimensions of the NBL pool, the...

The three lessons in the Algebra II series Exploring Space Through Math expand learners’ knowledge of algebraic thinking and symbolic reasoning and encourage them to connect algebra and geometry. Activities include calculating the number...

Algebra I introduces high school mathematicians to fundamental concepts in mathematics curriculum and science courses. The eight lessons in the NASA Exploring Space Through Math series provide learners with the opportunity to apply...

Pupils start a Solar Transportation unit by considering why it is difficult to phase out fossil fuels. Using provided data on the energy densities and efficiencies of different fuels, they calculate the number of miles a vehicle will...

Four engaging lessons introduce scholars to the photovoltaic effect, solar cells, and electricity. After learning related vocabulary, pupils watch a video to learn why silicon is often used as a photoelectric semiconductor and how solar...

A unit on solar energy begins with pupils researching vocabulary terms related to electric currents. They then use a multimeter to measure the voltage and current for a solar module before calculating power and efficiency. Fun, hands-on...

Chicago’s Museum of science+industry presents hands-on science activities designed to keep young brains engaged over the summer. The projects, which use readily available items, include engineering a skyscraper, a gravity sewer, and...

One lesson and five activities provide scholars with the background and skills they need to conduct air quality research projects on topics they choose. Class members are introduced to air quality science, data collection, analysis, and...

Many factors affect the power output of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Four lessons and activities provide young engineers with the background information they need to design, build, and test photovoltaic systems.

A series of lessons and activities show scholars how engineers use graphs to understand large and complex systems. The first lesson provides the beginnings of graph theory by introducing set theory, graphs, and degree distributions of a...

Introduce young engineers to the software development design process used in app building. After watching a video tutorial, groups are challenged to build an accelerometer app for an Android device and design an app utilizing the GPS...

A multidisciplinary unit has young engineers explore Geographic Information Systems (GIS), an essential tool in planning any engineering projects. The lessons and activities in Part 1 of the unit look at GIS in general. Part 2 focuses on...

Two lessons teach young biomedical engineers and biologists how it is possible to visualize complex biomolecule structures. In the first lesson, scholars research specific imaging technologies, and in the second, they learn about...

Ferrofluids, quantum dots, and good nanoparticles. Young material scientists and engineers are introduced to the field of nanoscience with two lessons and four activities. Topics covered include an introduction to nanotechnology and its...

Young biomedical engineers are challenged to discover what Bone Mineral Density (BMD) is, how to obtain a BMD image, and how the process is related to the x-ray field. They also investigate how medical researchers use BMD images to...

Young engineers are challenged to design an electromagnet that can separate steel from aluminum. Taking on the role of recycling plant managers, groups research the properties of metals, magnets, magnet fields, and electric circuits. The...

To gain a basic understanding of microfluidic devices, how they are developed, and their uses in the medical field, young STEM engineers learn about how flow rates relate to the speed at which medicine affects the body. What they learn...

Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was a way to capture the energy given off by a vehicle and transform it into kinetic energy to power the vehicle? That is the challenge young engineers face in an eight resource TeachEngineering: Hybrid...