Curated OER
Adventures in Electrical Engineering
Learners explore electricity by conducting a series of experiments. For this physics lesson, students discover the relationship between current, voltage and resistance. They calculate voltage and power in a given system.
DiscoverE
Arts and Engineering Activity Packet: Grades 3-5
Art and science sometimes go hand in hand. A set of four activities for learners in grades 3-5 teaches engineering concepts as part of art projects. Class members build homemade robots, elastic puppets, musical instruments, and...
Curated OER
Electrical Engineering - The Inside Story
Students review electricity. In this physics lesson plan, students attempt to find a way to determine if a transformer is fixing to fail. The lesson reviews electricity concepts that the students should already be familiar with.
Curated OER
Wire Maze
Middle school electrical engineers design a maze out of wire and connect it in a circuit to a noise-making or lighting device. The idea is to string a paperclip along the wire without touching it along the way. The noise-maker or light...
Curated OER
Destination Outer Space
Students investigate space travel. In this space travel lesson plan students examine space exploration history, engineers and scientists involved in space exploration, and Newton's third law of motion. Students make rockets.
Purdue University
Design of a Door Alarm
How does electricity work? Budding scientists explore the concepts of electrical currents and open and closed circuits with class discussion and a hands-on activity using a battery to turn on a light bulb. Learners also make predictions...
Curated OER
The BEAM Project: Building Efficient Architectural Models
Technology or engineering teams are given a task to design, construct, and test the efficiency of a structure that will foster an even temperature throughout an entire sunny day. Intended as a long-term project, pupils research, plan,...
Teach Engineering
Both Fields at Once?
An MRI uses both a magnetic and electricity, so how do the two interact with each other? Class members observe the effects on a charged particle when it is subject to both an electrical and magnetic field. The teacher background...
Trash For Teaching
The Light-House Project
Groups work together to design a lighthouse, from designing and drawing the wiring diagram, to creating prototypes of the switch and circuit, to envisioning and building a scale model along with a blueprint. By including different...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Build Your Own Robot Arm
Engineers team up to design and construct an 18-inch-long robotic arm that can successfully pick up a paper cup. Each group is given the exact same set of materials, but it is up to them to decide what to use and how to use it. It is a...
Curated OER
Young Engineers: Understanding Engineering Through Cooking
Second graders explore different engineering careers. In this math lesson, 2nd graders create a winning cooking recipe. They role play a mock cookie sale during the culminating event.
Teach Engineering
Working Together to Live Together
Whose home is it anyway? Design teams plan a housing development in which they must also protect a native species. The teams consist of a project manager, civil engineer, environmental engineer, and graphic designer. Teams present their...
Curated OER
Electric Car: American Industry and Innovation
Students study how an electric car operates. In this electric car lesson students assemble an electric car motor from parts from an internal combustion engine.
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...
Curated OER
WiTricity Explained
Young scholars explain how electricity is transferred from source to load without actual wires connecting the two. In this physics lesson, students explore how wireless electricity was discovered. They cite practical applications of this...
Curated OER
Go with the Flow
Students gain an understanding of the difference between electrical conductors and insulators, and experience recognizing a conductor by its material properties. They build a conductivity tester to determine whether different objects are...
Curated OER
Electric Circuits
Students explore energy by completing an electricity worksheet. In this conductors lesson, students define the energy related vocabulary terms circuit, electronics, conductor and semi-conductor before examining computer chips in class....
Curated OER
Engineers for a Sustainable World
Students experiment with making a water filtration system. In this engineering instructional activity, students get into groups and are challenged to use only eight items to create a water filter. When finished, students compare and...
IOP Institute of Physics
Physics in Concert
What do physicists and musicians have in common? A lot more than you might think. After first viewing a slide show presentation and completing a series of skills practice worksheets on the physics of light, sound, and...
Curated OER
Harnessing the Wind for Electricity
Ninth graders explain how wind can produce electricity. In this geometry instructional activity, 9th graders construct their own pin wheel turbine and calculate its power. They discuss the pros and cons of using wind generator.
Curated OER
The BristleBot
Here you will find detailed instructions for constructing BristleBots, simple robots run by miniscule vibration motors. There is no lesson plan, just a procedure for producing these fun little contraptions. They could be used as an...
Mascil Project
Design and Build Your Own Vacuum Cleaner, Hair Dryer or Toy Car
No vacuum cleaner? No problem, just build your own. Scholars apply knowledge of currents to build a model of either a vacuum clear, a hair dryer, or a toy car. While the class completes the activity, instructors consider gender...
Curated OER
Windmill activity
Students explore how to build an efficient windmill design by taking into account how the lift and drag caused by the movement of wind can be used to make the blades of the turbine move. Through their readings, hypothesis and by trail...
Curated OER
Is That Icebox Green?
Seventh graders create a timeline of the development of electrical appliances. In this physics lesson, 7th graders explore energy consumption over the past 90 years. They create a poster about their chosen electrical device detailing its...