Curated OER
A House is a House for Me
Learners evaluate the impact climates have on the building of structures. They research the different types of materials used to build houses in various climates and build small models of houses which are tested against different climates.
Skyscraper Museum
Building a Skyscraper
The construction of skyscrapers is no simple undertaking, involving the careful coordination and planning of many different people. The third lesson in this series explores this detailed process by first teaching children about the main...
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...
Skyscraper Museum
What is a Skyscraper?
Skyscrapers are amazing feats of architectural design that create the iconic skylines of the world's biggest cities. Young architects explore the defining characteristics of these monstrous towers with the first lesson in this four-part...
Curated OER
Stable Structures
Consider what it means to create a stable structure. The words stable and structure are defined, then stable objects are depicted and discussed in terms of their design features. Learners are asked to design a photo frame that includes...
Curated OER
I.m. Pei, East Bldg, National Gallery of Art
From a wonderful compilation of 10,000 images by Mary Ann Sullivan of Bluffton College. There are images of the exterior of the National Gallery of Art from all angles. This building is designed by I.M. Pei, the 1983 selection for the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: A House Is a House for Me
Students brainstorm and discuss the different types of materials used to build houses in various climates. Small models of houses are built and tested against different climates.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Skyscrapers: Engineering Up!
Skyscrapers are one of the most glorified products of Civil Engineering and contain an interesting history of progress and development. For this lesson, the students will learn about the history of the world's tallest free standing...
Other
Design Build: Exploring the Fundamental Requirements of Structural Design [Pdf]
In this instructional activity unit from the Science Teachers' Association of Ontario (STAO), students fold paper to explore the properties and shapes of materials that give structures their stability and strength. They record their...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Earthquakes Rock!
Students learn the two main methods to measure earthquakes, the Richter Scale and the Mercalli Scale. They make a model of a seismograph - a measuring device that records an earthquake on a seismogram. Students also investigate which...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineer a Dam
Learners learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a dam structure in a classroom water trough. The objective of the lesson is to learn about the different types of dams and to build one that has the...
University of Virginia
University of Virgina: Structural Behavior and Design Approaches
From the Introduction to Structural Design web site. A page of well-written lecture notes on the various structural qualities of building materials. A comparison is made of the strength, stiffness, stability and ductility of materials,...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Critical Load
This instructional activity looks at critical load, the amount of weight a structure can hold beyond which it would collapse. Student teams will design and test a structure using playing cards that has to meet specific criteria....