Lesson Plan
Steven's Institute of Technology

How Does Your Garden Grow?

For Teachers Pre-K - 2nd
What to do, bunnies are getting into the garden and eating all the carrots! After reading the story Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! the class works together to design a device that will keep those bunnies out of the garden. They get together in...
Lesson Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Seed Dispersal

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Engineering challenges are not just man-made ... nature has its own set of them. A hands-on STEM activity has groups designing a seed dispersal system. Each group can only use one sheet of paper — a tough task!
Lesson Plan
Tech Museum of Innovation

Tree House Escape

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Use simple machines to escape from a tree house. Pupils learn about simple machines and how they are useful in everyday life in a STEM lesson plan. Groups then design a device to rescue a friend stuck in a tree house.
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Teach Engineering

Biomimicry and Sustainable Design - Nature is an Engineering Marvel

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Discover how copying nature can be beneficial to humans. Scholars read articles about examples of biomimicry and its potential applications. Along the way, they learn about Nature's Nine Laws and how they relate to biomimicry. This is...
Lesson Plan
Mascil Project

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

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
National Wildlife Federation

Fossil Fuel Extraction Activity

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Extracting oil is more difficult than many think! Learners work together and get hands-on as they represent oil companies drilling for oil by simulating oil extraction using beans. They identify the challenges faced in using...
Lesson Plan
Discovery Education

Future Fleet

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Turn your pupils into engineers who are able to use scientific principals to design a ship. This long-term project expects pupils to understand concepts of density, buoyancy, displacement, and metacenter, and apply them to constructing a...
Lesson Plan
Kenan Fellows

Electricity: Sources, Usage, Challenges, and the Future

For Teachers 9th - 12th
What does the future of energy look like? Junior engineers collaborate to discover a solution to the global energy crisis during a very hands-on lesson. The unit focuses on learning through collaboration to develop a deep understanding...
Activity
NASA

Build a Satellite

For Teachers 5th - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
NPR

Define the Plastic Problem

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Individuals identify a specific problem concerning plastics and write a problem statement, which describes the problem, explains why it's a problem, and identifies desired solutions.
Activity
DiscoverE

Curious George Sailboat

For Teachers K - 2nd
A whole-group discussion kicks off a hands-on activity that challenges young engineers to build a sailboat using reusable materials. Participants gather recycled items to assemble their one-of-a-kind sailboat and test its ability to...
Activity
Museum of Science

Straw Bridges

For Teachers K - 6th
There is never a bridge too far. Using common items, class members build bridges to span an opening. Pupils test different geometric shapes to determine which is the strongest. Learners use pennies to find the strength of their bridges...
Activity
NASA

Build a Relay Inspired by Space Communications

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Learn how the professionals at NASA send information across space. Engineers use a microdevice, laser pointer, and mirrors as relays to model data transmission in space. Scholars program a microdevice to detect light received and test...
Activity
DiscoverE

Trophy Triathlon Design Challenge

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Build a trophy and be a winner. Pupils build trophies that can support a sports ball of their choosing. Based on the ball choice, they figure out how the height requirement changes.
Activity
Museum of Science

Newspaper Fort

For Teachers K - 6th
Newspapers aren't really the first material that comes to mind when building a fort. Pupils use newspaper rolls to design and build a sturdy structure. They consider how different shapes, like trusses, affect the strength of their...
Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Shaky Ground

For Teachers 6th - 8th
You're on solid ground if you decide to use the resource. A simple activity has young engineers investigate the problem of liquefaction. A battery placed on dry sand will stay standing—but not if scholars add water to the cup.
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PBS

Four Corners

For Students 5th - 8th
It's imperative to be as precise as possible. Future engineers learn about precision by building a cardboard machine. The base, corners, handles, and paddles must all be assembled with precision or the machine won't work.
Lesson Plan
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Teach Engineering

Viscoelasticity

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Stretch one's mind about viscoelastic materials. Future engineers learn about viscoelastic materials and how they differ from solids and fluids. They discover how the molecular structures of the materials relate to their properties,...
Lesson Plan
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NASA

Heavy Lifting

For Teachers K - 8th
Accept NASA's challenge to design heavy lifting vehicles. Groups of three design balloon-powered rockets to carry as much payload to the ceiling as possible. The teams are encouraged to launch several times while making...
Lesson Plan
University of Southern California

Design and Test an Air Lift Siphon

For Students 6th - 12th
Build an air lift siphon using your mad physics skills! Learners first investigate the importance of circulating water in aquaponics systems. They then use density to their advantage as they engineer an air lift siphon
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be a Structural Engineer!

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students investigate how to design and build items with a focus on structural strength as an engineer would. They complete a truss-building project as a final assessment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Design a Sturdy Paper Table

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Student create a table with paper legs. In this engineering lesson, students use rolled paper to create table legs and attempt a variety of designs to find one that will hold a textbook. They work in small groups, brainstorm and attempt...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Energy and Work: Transformation through Engines

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners are introduced to the concept of thermodynamics. In groups, they participate in experiments in which they discover how potential energy converts into kinetic energy. They use the internet to research the components of a...
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Safe Drinking Water Foundation

Ask an Engineer

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
A wrap-up to the unit, young environmentalists discuss and write about the difference in perspectives of a water keeper and water treatment engineer. 

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