Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design activity. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork, and...

Make a splash from space. Participants use the engineering design process to create a waterproof space exploration vehicle capable of an upright landing. Young engineers test and modify designs as needed and participate in a group...

Here is a lesson that offers a great hybrid of forming new skills and using current knowledge to come up with a plan. The class brainstorms information they would need to know or already know about hybrid vehicles. They then group...

Budding scientists collect and compare particulate exhaust from four different vehicles. They discuss how cars contribute to air quality. To get the most mileage out of this resource, have learners complete the optional step 5, in which...

After hearing about the 2006 PHAEDRA mission that explored the Aegean Sea, middle schoolers work in groups to create a robotic vehicle. They must consider power, propulsion, and other vital systems. Use the multitude of external...

Small groups use the engineering design process to build and test a vehicle capable of carrying 250 grams a distance of five meters. The design must allow for the storage of potential energy and turn it into motion,...

Meant to be a simulation of a deep-sea exploration, this requires that another lesson be completed first. In that lesson, titled "Animals of the Lost City," marine biology buffs construct murals of benthic communities. In this lesson,...

What will it take to explore space? Teams of pupils determine the needs of a lunar outpost and research the required systems. The pupils then learn about the past space exploration vehicles. The third and final lesson challenges project...

Introduce the topic of astrobiology in a unit that's out of this world. Biology scholars examine the search for extraterrestrial life by culturing roundworms, a species that has been key in helping researchers understand the...

Two vehicles move at a constant rate of speed toward each other, but when exactly will they pass? Pupils use still images from a video to determine the rate of speed and when the two cars meet. Then, they watch the complete video to...

Youngsters develop an understanding of how smog is produced, and how exhaust from automobiles is one of the major sources of smog. They explore the roles that engineers play in developing technologies that reduce smog, then work in teams...

Take your class out to visit your automobile and use the tires to compute the weight of the vehicle. This is done by measuring the surface of the tire meeting the ground and the air pressure. This is a fun lesson in the relationship...

Fossil fuels are non-renewable resources and have become crucial to the livelihood of countless individuals. Young chemists investigate an alternative method of generating energy by performing a series of activities that lead to the...

High school physical scientists collide with motion. They work in pairs to design a paper car that will protect a raw egg during a head-on collision. Measurements of distance traveled, time of run, vehicle specs, and photo gate flags are...

Assign groups of middle school oceanographers to research one of the following underwater robots; ABE, Herculues, ROPOS, RCV-150, Tiburon, or general purpose ROVs. An included handout guides them through information to be gathered. Each...

Construct a maze in your classroom and have a blindfolded scientist act as a space rover, maneuvering unfamiliar terrain while another scientist plays commander. Classmates record the number of occurrences of the commander having to...

Pupils research the five most fuel efficient vehicles of the same type and come up with a way to display the mile per gallon for each vehicle. After choosing a vehicle, scholars create graphs to display miles traveled given the amount of...

Operating a vehicle remotely can be difficult, especially when the vehicle is on another planet. Young engineers get a feel for some of the real-world challenges as they work to program their rovers (blindfolded group members)...

Art can be a vehicle for social change and cultural expression. Upper graders examine the art of photographer David Goldblatt, as it pertains to apartheid, South Africa, and the AIDS epidemic. Discussion questions and image links...

How can the circulatory system compare to a city map? Pupils distinguish the "roadways" and "vehicles" of the cardiovascular system, compare the anatomy and function of veins and arteries, and review different types of blood cells with...

No study of World War II would be complete without an in-depth examination of the events of June 6, 1944. Pascal Vuong's D-Day Normandy:1944, is the perfect vehicle to convey the sheer magnitude of the events that have been called...

Many and many a year ago Edgar Allan Poe crafted the chilling tale of "Annabel Lee." The poem is the perfect vehicle to introduce Poe's concept of unity of effect, the idea that every element in a poem or story should help to develop a...

What does it take to get stuff to the Moon? Design teams create subsystems for a space transportation system to go to the Moon. The teams study Earth transportation components along with historical space transportation systems to...

Space, the Final Frontier. The nine NASA-created challenges in this unit are designed to teach class members the engineering design process. Each challenge comes with teacher and student pages that can be used individually or as a...