Design your own video game, engineer accident-proof highways, or even develop a new phone app! The Engineering Design Model can be used with all ages and in all subject areas to create a product, system or service. The resource explains...

Students explore a computer-aided design program. Students chart out roller coaster design, computer graphics and architecture. Students focus on understanding the connections between mathematics, science, technology and innovation.

Wrap up the unit in one final design. Pairs use their knowledge of aviation to design new flying machines and record how their designs take into consideration the forces that act upon airplanes. The pupils determine whether their designs...

Sure, you may be able to build a better mousetrap, but what about a gum dispenser? In a fun engineering challenge, teams must design and build a working interactive gumball machine with specific constraints and criteria.

Take your class on an out-of-this-world adventure with this fun engineering design lesson. Working in small groups, young scientists design, build, and test crew exploration vehicles using some creativity, teamwork, and...

Here is a packet of lessons which are designed to help you to foster your pupils' creativity. The lessons are designed to develop their fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration on ideas. The are built around field trips to a...

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...

Things can always be made better. The culminating installment in the seven-part Understanding Science and Engineering unit has pupils design their own water pumps. In groups, they build a prototype of a design of their choice, then test...

What's the best way to collect all that trash? A culminating activity has scholars use the knowledge and skills from the unit to design a solution to the plastic trash island problem. They use 3-D pens or a 3-D printer to build models of...

Engineering design projects serve as great opportunities for collaborative problem solving. In this case, students work in small groups designing, building, and eventually testing a structure that meets a teacher-specified objective. It...

Hold a free-throw shooting challenge in your engineering class! Each team must design a contraption that will fire off a "robot arm" or, more specifically, a catapult, to send a Ping-Pong ball into a basket. Use this as an opportunity to...

Let nature guide your engineering designs. By taking apart a flower, pupils learn about reverse engineering. They use the results to brainstorm designs for new products or ideas. This is the seventh installment of a nine-part Life...

Introduce cradle-to-cradle design thinking. Scholars first discuss the importance of natural laws and rights. They then use a variety of online and print resources to research eco-efficiency and cradle-to-cradle design.

Here is a creative activity that teaches kids how species evolve different characteristics for survival. The lesson begins as the class discusses and examines the adaptive traits of mini-beasts or insects. Then, in small groups, they...

Don't desert a resource on the desert! Scholars work in groups to build on their ideas from the previous lesson to design a sustainable guest village in the Saguaro National Park. Each group produces a PowerPoint presentation to share...

Clever! Collaborative groups of environmental scientists create a museum exhibit and presentation for an energy-using activity such as heating a home or transportation. They must compare past to present use of energy for that particular...

Challenge young engineers to design a one-bedroom scale house to collect and maintain as much heat as possible. Particular constraints must be adhered to, but creativity is also allowed. Included is a diagram and background information...

Up it goes! Groups must design and build a windmill able to lift a weight. The packet includes discussion points to use prior to the build that cover topics such as variables, fairness, and the design process.

Students examine the style of an 18th-century compound microscope and its case. For this scientific design lesson plan, students look at Jacques Caffieri's, "Compound Microscope and Case" before comparing the design to a modern...

In this science worksheet, students concentrate on attaining new knowledge of the science standard using the creative medium of games and puzzles.

How can you encourage pupils to demonstrate creativity while still meeting the objective of applying technical knowledge? This activity is your answer! Scientists will create an imaginary creature and prepare a graphic organizer with...

Shake, rattle, and explore space with satellites. Engineers learn how satellites work before designing, building, and testing their own models. Groups engage in quality assurance reviews with colleagues to improve their designs, and the...

Many historical innovations were created for the common good. Get your students ready for life as a critical thinker with this lesson plan which defines the differences between innovation and invention. They will conduct Internet...

Shake things up in your STEM or earth science classroom when you have small groups construct their own seismographs. A reading assignment on the history of seismographs, the Richter scale, and current technology sets the stage for the...