Teach Engineering
Fun Look at Material Science
Introduce materials science with a class demonstration. After showing a PowerPoint presentation on materials and their properties, instructors provide a ceramic tile, a Popsicle stick, a paper clip, and a plastic bag as examples of...
DiscoverE
Air Train
Train your pupils to be master engineers. Young learners design a train that travels along a fishing line. The train needs to safely carry pennies as passengers without falling out.
Teach Engineering
You Are There... First Flight
Glide into the study of flight. An engaging lesson has scholars research information on the Wright brothers. They develop props and produce a recreation of the first flight at Kitty Hawk. They then report on the event as if they were...
Teach Engineering
Hydrogen-Oxygen Reaction Lab
High schoolers conduct an experiment using the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. After pairs balance the chemical equation for making water, they mix different ratios of hydrogen and oxygen in a chemical reaction. Classmates...
Teach Engineering
Show Me the Genes
Give your class a chance to show what they know. In the last installment of a seven-part series, pupils summarize and review what they have learned in the series. They present their solutions for creating a biosensor to detect cancer...
DiscoverE
Kicking Machine
Don't kick the resource to the curb; you'll definitely regret it. Future engineers devise a kicking machine that launches a ping-pong ball toward a target. They can use a pendulum, a rubber band, or both, depending on whether they want...
Teach Engineering
Sudsy Cells
Let's hope that your soap is doing what it's supposed to! The second of six installments in the Cells unit has scholars perform an experiment cultivating bacteria in Petri dishes. They test soaps and detergents to see which is most...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Making Sense of Sensors
Have small groups in your class construct working hygrometers as an example of the benefits of using sensors in engineering. This activity can be used during a weather unit when covering humidity or in a STEM activity as a preparation...
Teach Engineering
The Cloning of Cells
Did you know that there are over 200 different types of cells in the human body? One type, the stem cell, is the focus of the fifth of six installments in the Cells unit. The lesson asks the class to discuss stem cells and their...
Teach Engineering
The Keepers of the Gate Challenge
Help your class make a connection between salt water and nanoscience. In the introductory lesson of a seven-part unit, the class explores why salt water helps a sore throat feel better. Pupils conduct preliminary research about the...
DiscoverE
Safe Landing
Watch out below! Future engineers come up with methods to ensure that a ball in a cup stays in the cup even after dropped from a given height. It might be prudent to include some kind of shock absorber in the cup. Parachutes are a good...
Rochester Institue of Technology
Meal Picking
Scholars explore systems design and its relation to meal picking by using computer simulations to test systems designs. They learn about the Pick-to-Light System and calculate average picking times.
Cornell University
Beam Focusing Using Lenses
Explore optics using an inquiry-based experimental approach! Young scholars use a set of materials to design and build a unit capable of focusing a beam of light. They experiment with different lenses to determine the best approach to...
DiscoverE
Solar-Heated Water
Heat up some interest in solar energy. Young engineers create a water heater that runs on solar power (simulated by a lamp). Using thermometers, they determine the change in temperature before and after the water goes through the heater.
PBS
Hidden Alarm
It's time! The fourth lesson in a five-part series has teams of scholars build a circuit for an alarm. A switch lets them turn the alarm on and off and allows them to hide the alarm—just as long as they don't hide it in the classroom!
Kenan Fellows
Gridiron Rescue: One Health Football Technology Project
Helmets not included! Scholars brainstorm adjustments and sensors to football helmets in an engineering design project to help prevent injuries, such as concussions and spinal injuries.
NASA
Lunar Colonization
A five-lesson unit challenges teams to design a complex to allow people to colonize the Moon. The teams first work in order to understand the challenge before becoming experts. Expert teams learn about different aspects needed to survive...
Teach Engineering
The Mighty Heart
Have your class follow the step-by-step directions in this resource to dissect a sheep heart and gain a better understanding of this amazing organ. Working in small groups, pupils look for specific parts of the heart during their...
DiscoverE
Build an Earthquake-Resistant Structure
Future engineers design and build structures out of toothpicks and marshmallows. They then make sure the structures can withstand an earthquake simulator!
Teach Engineering
The Amazing Red Planet
Introduce your class to Mars with a resource that provides information about its size, location, length of day, length of year, number of moons, and average temperature. Also includes is information about the lans for past...
Teach Engineering
Grow Your Own Algae!
Develop a model of a wastewater treatment center. The last activity of the unit has pupils mix a lake water sample into a tank of water containing fertilizers. Over time, the algae from the lake water grows and removes the nutrient-rich...
Teach Engineering
Energy Skate Park
Skate through a simulation on energy with an a activity that uses a computer simulation of a skater to reinforce the concept of conservation of energy. The resource guides pupils through scenarios using the computer simulation to...
Channel Islands Film
Magic Isle: Lesson Plan 1
What are the factors that limit growth and expansion? As part of their study of Catalina Island, class members view the West of the West's documentary Magic Isle and research William Wrigley and the Santa Catalina Island Company. After...
Teach Engineering
Aerogel Cookies
Cookies are definitely important for scientific learning. To study aerogels, future engineers use chocolate chip cookie dough to make models. Their task is to design a process that removes the chocolate chips from the cookie dough,...