The construction of skyscrapers is no simple undertaking, involving the careful coordination and planning of many different people. The third instructional activity in this series explores this detailed process by first teaching children...

 The class must determine the magnetic properties of different materials, including aluminum and steel by sorting through materials using a magnet. Groups make a prediction on whether a material is magnetic and then perform...

Oh, no! An asteroid is on a collision course with Earth!. Class members must rise to the challenge of designing a shelter that will protect people from the impact and permit them to live in this shelter for one year. In this first lesson...

Stretch one's mind about viscoelastic materials. Future engineers learn about viscoelastic materials and how they differ from solids and fluids. They discover how the molecular structures of the materials relate to their properties,...

What types of materials absorb sound? Learners explore sound waves, the decibel scale, and how different materials affect sound. Then, they use their knowledge of sound meters to complete a STEM engineering design task to build...

An engineering design lesson plan contains connected activities as a capstone engineering project. The activities revolve around the principle of improving an existing object and designing the manufacturing process in order to do so. The...

This trigonometry textbook takes the learner from a basic understanding of angles and triangles through the use of polar coordinates on the complex plane. Written by a mathematician-engineer, examples and problems here are used to...

How do engineers determine the most efficient highway designs? Introduce young scientists to the world of topology, the branch of mathematics that examines how things are connected. Teams use model highways to create the most...

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...

A whole-group discussion kicks off a hands-on activity that challenges young engineers to build a sailboat using reusable materials. Participants gather recycled items to assemble their one-of-a-kind sailboat and test its ability to...

If the shoe  doesn't fit, design a new one. Discovery Education challenges pupils to put the engineering process in action by designing a shoe. Groups design and build a shoe prototype based upon the client...

Large or small, bridges are architectural wonders! Construct a large-scale cable-stayed bridge during a whole class project. Scholars work in groups to erect the towers, build the roadway, and secure the cables of their very own bridges....

Bridge young mathematicians' knowledge of engineering and design. Pupils use two desks and a plastic sheet to simulate a bridge. After learning about energy transformations, they use available materials to design a sensor that detects...

Groups of two to four work collaboratively to engineer a birdhouse that will stay cool in the summer heat. Teams examine several different-colored roofs, testing the efficiency of each with a heat lamp. Then, groups sketch their ideas,...

Here is a comprehensive and well-written lesson plan that results in learners building a standard wind turbine. Once built, teens can design a variety of experiments to test different factors. This activity is a noble undertaking that...

Not all will still be standing by the end! Challenge classes to use engineering principles to design display cases with specific constraints. A hands-on STEM lesson reviews the concepts of tension, compression, and torque before...

Newspapers aren't really the first material that comes to mind when building a fort. Pupils use newspaper rolls to design and build a sturdy structure. They consider how different shapes, like trusses, affect the strength of their...

Teach young engineers that all machines, no matter how complicated or complex, are made up of just six simple devices with this hands-on physical science instructional activity. Using the included templates, learners first create...

Students participate in activities simulating various disabilities. After discussions, they work in teams to devise or improve on adaptive devices for people with disabilities. They include drawings of the tools they design and explain...

Fourth graders participate in activities to examine how simple machines help build things. They identify the six types of simple machines. They discover how simple machines where use historically to build pyramids and how they are still...

Students examine bone fractures and the role that engineers play in repairing them.  In this biomedical engineering lesson students describe the factors that engineers consider when designing devices. 

Students brainstorm what it is like to fly on an airplane and discuss the parts of a plane. Students construct a paper plane of their own, decorate it, have a competition, and discuss the importance of each part of a plane and the role...

Learners identify the features of a prosthetic limb and explain how engineers are involved in the prosthetic design.  For this bone engineering lesson students describe the design criteria that goes into choosing the materials that...

After reading about biomedical engineering and properties of materials, collaborative groups design a cast for setting a broken bone. They test for stability and mass, and then communicate their invention by creating a poster. This...