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Activity
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PBS

Rubber Band Car

For Students 5th - 8th
Class, start your engines. Future engineers design a car with old CDs as wheels. The power source? Some rubber bands will do the trick! This is the first installment of a five-part series.
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Activity
National Science Teachers Association

Paper Car Crash Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High school physical scientists collide with motion. They work in pairs to design a paper car that will protect a raw egg during a head-on collision. Measurements of distance traveled, time of run, vehicle specs, and photo gate flags are...
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Lesson Plan
Mascil Project

Design and Build Your Own Vacuum Cleaner, Hair Dryer or Toy Car

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
No vacuum cleaner? No problem, just build your own. Scholars apply knowledge of currents to build a model of either a vacuum clear, a hair dryer, or a toy car. While the class completes the activity, instructors consider gender...
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Lesson Plan
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Kenan Fellows

Engineering Skills Through Problem Based Learning

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Navigate the ups and downs of learning about energy. Future engineers consider how potential and kinetic energy apply to roller coasters. They design a roller coaster of their own and then use computer design software to showcase their...
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Unit Plan
Henry Ford Museum

Physics, Technology and Engineering in Automobile Racing

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Start your engines! This five-lesson unit introduces physics and Newton's laws through automobile racing. Each lesson includes background information, a student worksheet, and an answer key. There are also culminating project...
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Lesson Plan
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education

STEM: Lou-Vee Air Car

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A comprehensive lesson plan on acceleration awaits your physicists and engineers! Two YouTube videos pique their interest, then sample F=ma problems are worked and graphed. The highlight of the lesson plan is the building of a Lou-Vee...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Racing With the Sun - Creating a Solar Car

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Here's an exciting and innovative lesson that's sure to get your charges fired up! In it, they use engineering design principles to construct and test a fully solar powered car. One caveat: the kits that each group needs to make their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Roller Coasters

For Teachers 3rd - 7th Standards
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering How a Car Works

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explain the four stroke process in internal combustion engines. In this physics lesson, students role play this process and present their reenactment in class. They draw and label the diagram of an internal combustion engine.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Car Manufacturers

For Students 6th - 8th
In this technology worksheet, students find the terms related to cars makes and models. The answers are found by clicking the button at the bottom of the page.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building a Car: Mechanical Engineering

For Teachers K
Students use common materials to build a car. In this car building mechanical engineering lesson, students build a car using a milk cartoon and plastic wheels. They discuss what mechanical engineers do and what makes a car run.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Puff Mobiles

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
You've probably heard of solar-powered cars, but what about wind-powered cars? Scholars build cars that can travel at least six feet. They can only use their breath to move the car—so, obviously, a sail might be a good feature for the...
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Activity
DiscoverE

Designing Highway Interchanges

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Drive it Green

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Explore and brainstorm innovations for cars with a STEM lesson that asks scholars to weigh different options when considering when buying a car. They research the fuel efficiency and carbon emissions for various options, and then design...
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Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Crank It Up!

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
Following this procedure, eager engineers construct a working model of a piston system, similar to that in an internal combustion engine. Perfect for STEM or automotive technology classes, the activity comes complete with analysis and...
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Lesson Plan
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Bonneville

Photovoltaic Solutions "Shark-Tank Style"

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Come up with a great idea and change the world for the better. Working in groups of three, learners apply their knowledge of photovoltaic systems to design a battery-powered electric vehicle capable of replacing gas-powered cars. They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hybrid Vehicles: Cut Pollution and Save Money

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Math and science meet in this instructional activity on hybrid electric automobiles. This 24-page resource provides everything you need for teaching a instructional activity that compares the use of internal combustion engines to hybrid...
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Lesson Plan
Carnegie Mellon University

Transportation

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Teach your environmental studies, life science, or engineering class how an internal combustion engine works using the first few slides of the accompanying presentation. Then, focus in on the resulting carbon emissions. Finally, take a...
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Activity
Curated OER

Design and Build Lego Cars

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Students build cars out of legos. In this building lesson plan, students can also use Lego Mindstorms robotic equipment to add engines.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Don't Crack Humpty

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Students investigate the engineering design process and the relationship between distance, time, and speed. Using a generic car base, small groups design a device that will protect an egg on or in the car as it is rolled down a ramp at...
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Lesson Plan
Kenan Fellows

The Newton Challenge

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Make Newton proud. Scholars apply their understanding of forces and energy to an engineering design challenge. They learn about simple machines, create a presentation on Newton's laws, and develop a balloon-powered car.
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Activity
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Teach Engineering

A Simple Solution for the Circus

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...
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Activity
DiscoverE

Build a High Dive

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Can't build a cantilever? You'll be able to after a hands-on, constructive activity. Young engineers build cantilevers out of straws and tape. The finished products must be able to hang off a table as far as possible.
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Activity
DiscoverE

Ocean Acidification

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Combat ocean acidification with bubbles. Young engineers create a system that reduces the acidity of water. Dry ice in water helps simulate ocean acidity, and blowing bubbles into the water results in a gas exchange that neutralizes the...

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