Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Design and Build a Rube Goldberg

For Teachers 9th - 10th
In this two-part activity, students design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. The open ended problem uses the engineering design process and can have a preset purpose, such as rolling a marble into a cup from a distance, or can be left...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: The Magician's Catapult

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this activity, students reinforce their understanding of compound machines by building a catapult. This compound machine consists of a lever and a wheel-and-axel. Catapults have been designed by engineers for a variety of purposes -...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Modern Day Pyramids

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students investigate the ways in which ancient technologies - six types of simple machines and combinations - are used to construct modern buildings. As they work together to solve a design problem (designing and building a modern...
Lesson Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Alex: How to Make Something Simple, Hard

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students will have completed a unit of forces and motion prior to the current unit of study on simple machines (lever, inclined plane, screw, wedge, pulley, wheel and axle). Students will review the functions and examples of simple...