PBS
Pbs: Calculating Volume: Tunnel Construction
Investigate some of the mathematical challenges Boston engineers had to deal with during the Central Artery Tunnel Project (the "Big Dig"). This video focuses on the irregular shape of the casting basin and the volume calculations...
Careers New Zealand
Careers Nz: Civil Engineer
This resource provides information about the career of civil engineer.
Other
American Society for Engineering Education: E Gfi: Think Like a Bird!
Students learn about wildlife habitats, environmental engineering, and the complexities of nest construction by attempting to design and build a nest themselves. This activity can be done individually or with a partner.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Build a Big Wheel
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate a big wheel or Ferris wheel made with pasta, glue, and teabags. The objective of the lesson is to explore how big wheels have been designed...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Smooth Operator
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, construct, test, and evaluate surgical instruments using everyday materials. The objective of the design is to see how well they can perform a simulated "surgical...
Ruth Patrick Science Education Center
Ruth Patrick Science Education Center: Shaking It Up With Earthquake Engineering
Students will learn basic information about earthquakes and their impact. They then follow the engineering design process as they construct earthquake-resistant buildings using toothpicks and marshmallows. The buildings are tested using...
Other
Whiting School of Engineering: Spaghetti Bridge
An engineering project where students construct a bridge from spaghetti and glue. Site includes guidelines, pictures, and movies of previous projects.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Eek, It Leaks!
During this activity, students will try to construct model landfill liners out of two-inch strips of garbage bags within resource constraints. The challenge is to construct a bag that will hold one cup of water without leaking. This...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Strength of Materials
Young scholars learn about the variety of materials used by engineers in the design and construction of modern bridges. They also find out about the material properties important to bridge construction and consider the advantages and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Got Dirty Air?
This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution and technologies that have been developed by engineers to reduce air pollution. Students develop an understanding of visible air pollutants with an incomplete combustion...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Strawkets and Weight
In this activity, students investigate the effect that weight has on rocket flight. Students construct a variety of their own straw-launched rockets, or "strawkets," that have different weights. Specifically, they observe what happens...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Traveling Sound
Students explore how sound waves move through liquids, solids and gases in a series of simple sound energy experiments. Understanding the properties of sound and how sound waves travel helps engineers determine the best room shape and...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Beat Goes On
In this activity, students learn about their heart rate and different ways it can be measured. Students construct a simple measurement device using clay and a toothpick, and then use this device to measure their heart rate under...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Racing With the Sun Creating a Solar Car
Students use engineering design principles to construct and test a fully solar powered car. Several options exist, though we recommend the "Junior Solar Sprint" (JSS) Car Kits that can be purchased with direction from the federal...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Pollution Patrol
Students will work in teams to design and construct outdoor air pollution detectors from everyday items. They will then test the designs for presence of pollutants in the air and communicate their results to the class.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Solar Structures
During this lesson plan, young scholars will construct a passive solar house from everyday items then explore how the sun's energy is used to heat and cool it.