TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Choosing a Pyramid Site
Working in engineering project teams, students evaluate sites for the construction of a pyramid. They base their decision on site features as provided by a surveyor's report; distance from the quarry, river and palace; and other factors...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Newspaper Tower
Students will be challenged to design and construct a tower out of newspaper. They will have limited supplies including newspaper, tape, and scissors since engineers are often restricted by economic reasons as to how much material they...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Squeeze Is On
Students will learn about the force of compression and how it acts on structural components through a hands-on group project. Using everyday products such as paper, toothpicks, and tape they will construct a structure that will support...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Take Off With Paper Airplanes
This lesson introduces learners to the art of designing an airplane through paper airplane constructions. The goal is that students will learn important aircraft design considerations and how engineers must iterate their designs to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Strong as the Weakest Link
To introduce the two types of stress that materials undergo - compression and tension - students examine compressive and tensile forces and learn about bridges and skyscrapers. They construct their own building structure using...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Designing Bridges
Students learn about the types of possible loads, how to calculate ultimate load combinations, and investigate the different sizes for the beams (girders) and columns (piers) of simple bridge design. Students learn the steps that...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Heads Up
The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate some of the different parts of an airplane through the construction of a paper airplane. Students will build several different kinds of paper airplanes in order to figure out what makes an...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Better by Design
The purpose of this activity is to use a scientific method to determine the effect of control surfaces on a paper glider. The students will construct a paper airplane/glider and test its performance to determine the base characteristics...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Create a Pinhole Camera
In this activity, students construct their own pinhole camera to observe the behavior of light.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Exploring Solar Power
This unit provides students the opportunity to explore methods engineers have devised for harnessing sunlight to generate power. Students will initially explore heat transfer and heat storage through the construction, testing, and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Boom Construction
Student teams design their own booms (bridges) and engage in a friendly competition with other teams to test their designs. Each team strives to design a boom that is light, can hold a certain amount of weight, and is affordable to...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Simple Machines From Pyramids to Skyscrapers
Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier, and which people have used to provide mechanical advantage for thousands of years. Students learn about the wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane,...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Are Dams Forever?
Students learn that dams do not last forever. Similar to other human-made structures, such as roads and bridges, dams require regular maintenance and have a finite lifespan. Many dams built during the 1930-70s, an era of intensive dam...
American Chemical Society
Middle School Chemistry: Chemical Reactions & Engineering Design
This lesson begins with a story about rescuing reptile eggs from a new construction site. Using the story as motivation, young scholars are presented with an engineering design challenge: Build a portable device which can warm, support,...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Engineer a Coin Sorter
Students learn about the engineering design process and how it is used to engineer products for everyday use. Students individually brainstorm solutions for sorting coins and draw at least two design ideas. They work in small groups to...
Other
Uss Constitution Museum: Constructing Constitution Activity
This USS Constitution Museum resources allows young scholars to become ship builder and create their own version of the USS Constitution.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Building Our Bridge to Fun!
Students identify different bridge designs and construction materials used in modern day engineering. They work in construction teams to create paper bridges and spaghetti bridges based on existing bridge designs. Students progressively...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Engineering for the Earth
Young students are introduced to the complex systems of the Earth through numerous lessons on its natural resources, processes, weather, climate and landforms. Key earth science topics include rocks, soils and minerals, water and natural...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Universal Language of Engineering Drawings
Students practice the ability to produce clear, complete, accurate and detailed design drawings through an engineering design challenge. Using only the specified materials, teams are challenged to draw a design for a wind-powered car....
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Requirements & Constraints: Making Model Parking Garages
The difference between an architect and an engineer is sometimes confusing because their roles in building design can be similar. Students experience a bit of both professions by following a set of requirements and meeting given...
Other
American Society for Engineering Education: Building for Hurricanes
In this engineering design challenge about building in hurricane-prone regions, students learn that a solid base helps stabilize a structure by constructing, testing, and redesigning a tower that can support a tennis ball at least 18...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Design Steps 5 and 6: Create and Test a Prototype
Students learn about the importance of creating and testing prototypes during the engineering design process. They start by building prototypes, which is a special type of model used to test new design ideas. Students gain experience...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Shake It Up! Engineering for Seismic Waves
Students learn about how engineers design and build shake tables to test the ability of buildings to withstand the various types of seismic waves generated by earthquakes. Just like engineers, students design and build shake tables to...
Other
American Society for Engineering Education: E Gfi: Build a Big Wheel
In this activity, teams of students learn about the history and engineering behind big wheels (Ferris wheels) by constructing a working model using pasta, glue, and teabags.