Mascil Project
Design and Build Your Own Vacuum Cleaner, Hair Dryer or Toy Car
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...
Curated OER
Roller Coasters
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....
National Research Center for Career and Technical Education
STEM: Lou-Vee Air Car
A comprehensive lesson 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 is the building of a Lou-Vee air car!...
Curated OER
The Little Engine that Could Mini Unit Plan
The best part about teaching little ones is setting up fun, thematic learning stations. Here is a full day of activities that all relate to the story, The Little Engine that Could. Included are six different activities that cover...
Curated OER
Car Engines
Students create piston systems and explore the conversion of linear to rotary motion that propels a car. In this motion lesson, students build and test a model piston/crankshift system and discover why there is a maximum limit to how...
Teach Engineering
Racing With the Sun - Creating a Solar Car
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...
Curated OER
Discovering How a Car Works
Learners explain the four stroke process in internal combustion engines. In this physics instructional activity, students role play this process and present their reenactment in class. They draw and label the diagram of an internal...
Science 4 Inquiry
Levitation Engineers: Exploring Forces
Levitation tricks have been documented from the early 1900s, so how do they do it? Scholars learn about the force of magnetism in an attractive resource. They watch videos and design experiments to understand the strength and...
Curated OER
Newton Rocket Car
Students observe a demonstration of Newton's third law of motion using a small wooden car. They discuss Newton's third law of motion and what happens to motion if the mass or acceleration is increased, construct their car, and record...
Curated OER
Model Rockets
Learners study the basics of a model rocket and its classifications. In this rocket lesson students determine the flight duration of a model rocket.
Curated OER
Snail Car
Students design and create robotic cars using Legos and the Robolab program. They hold a "snail race" where the slowest car that can be determined to be actually moving is the winner.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Wind Tunnel Testing
One of the factors that automotive engineers must consider is wind drag. The less wind drag, the more efficient the car will be. They perform many tests in wind tunnels, then refine their designs and test again. Using simple materials,...
Curated OER
So You Want To Be A Mythbuster?
Middle schoolers recognize the parts used to construct a car. In this mythbuster lesson, students will use the scientific method to complete an experiment with student constructed cars to bust a myth. Middle schoolers will reflect...
Curated OER
Going-to-the-Sun Road: A Model of Landscape Engineering (95)
Young thinkers identify the problems encountered in designing and building Going-to-the-Sun Road through Glacier National Park. They describe, introduce, and evaluate arguments for building roads to provide access to the park and other...
Curated OER
On the Road
Students investigate the history of the automobile in the United States. They complete a Webquest, explore the PBS website, answer discussion questions, and locate and discuss newspaper articles about cars and travel.
Curated OER
Want to Drag?!
Students use the Metric system and engineering software to design a scale model car. In this scale model car making lesson, students design a scale model car using computer software, the Metric system, and properties of aerodynamics....
Curated OER
TE Activity: Racing with the Sun - Creating a Solar Car
Students use a purchased kit to build a solar powered car. They connect a solar photovoltaic panel to a motor which runs the car forward and backward. They determine how to wire the car to move in both directions.
Curated OER
Building A Sturdy Car
Students build a sturdy Lego car using a motor and a pulley. They determine how sturdy the car is by dropping it from the height of the teacher's knee.
NASA
Rocket Wind Tunnel
Using a teacher-built wind tunnel constructed from a paper concrete tube form, a fan, and a balance, individuals determine the amount of drag their rocket design will experience in flight. Pupils make modifications to increase the...
Rochester Institute of Technology
Molecules and Fuel Cell Technology
A fuel cell is where the jailer keeps gas guzzlers. Scholars review chemical reactions, chemical bonds, and chemical structure in order to apply these concepts. Participants construct fuel cell kits, using electrolysis to run the car and...
Curated OER
Invent It!
Students explore invention and unveiling of world's first Ferris wheel, analyze photographs and poster of first Ferris wheel, and discuss engineering achievements of Ferris wheel, including how it worked, how it was built, and its...
Curated OER
From Automobiles to Cars
Students research important inventions from the last two hundred years. They explore how one invention relates to another and summarize their research in a written report and visual presentation.
Cornell University
Bridge Building
Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.
Federal Reserve Bank
Purchasing a Vehicle
Start your engines! Prevent negative car buying experiences by arming pupils with information. Prepare your young drivers to make informed decisions when they are ready to purchase a car. All aspects are considered from the type of car...