Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Design Steps 5 and 6: Create and Test a Prototype

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about the importance of creating and testing prototypes during the engineering design process. They start by building prototypes, which is a special type of model used to test new design ideas. Students gain experience...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Design Step 7: Improve and Redesign/manufacture a Product

For Teachers 9th - 10th
As young scholars learn more about the manufacturing process, they use what they learned from testing their designs in the previous activity to continue to improve and redesign. Students also have the opportunity to manufacture their...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Be "Cool" With Popsicle Engineering

For Teachers K - 1st
Beginning kindergarteners are introduced to science and engineering concepts through questions such as "What is a Scientist?" and "What is an Engineer?", and go on to compare and contrast the two. They are introduced to five steps of the...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Fancy Feet

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students use the engineering design process to solve a real-world problem - shoe engineering! Working in small teams, students design, build and test a pair of wearable platform or high-heeled shoes, taking into consideration the stress...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Lunch in Outer Space!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn about the unique challenges astronauts face while eating in outer space. They explore different food choices and food packaging. Students learn about the engineering design process, and then, as NASA engineering teams,...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Wristwatch Design for the Visually Impaired

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students are given a fictional client statement and required to follow the steps of the engineering design process to design a new wristwatch face for a visually impaired student at their school.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Groundwater Detectives

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Student teams locate a contaminant spill in a hypothetical site by measuring the pH of soil samples. Then they predict the direction of groundwater flow using mathematical modeling. They also use the engineering design process to come up...
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: The Design Process: Creating a Stronger Truss

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an interesting project that explores which geometrical shapes make the strongest bridge truss structures. It is a good introduction to the engineering design process. You'll design three different trusses, and use online...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Paper Drop Design Competition

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Using paper, paper clips and tape, student teams design flying devices to (1) stay in the air as long as possible and (2) land as close as possible to a given target. Student teams will use the engineering design process to guide them...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: What Is Engineering? What Is Design?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
An overview of engineering and design which introduces the students to the basic steps of the engineering design process. This lesson challenges students to plan a picnic for their friends by considering its various components as they go...
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Can You Canoe?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Teams of students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a model canoe made with everyday materials. Lesson focuses on how materials engineering has impacted the manufacturing of canoes over time.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Temperature Tells All!

For Teachers 5th - 6th
Students are introduced to the health risks caused by cooking and heating with inefficient cook stoves inside homes, a common practice in rural developing communities. Students simulate the cook stove scenario and use the engineering...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Edible Rovers High School

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students act as Mars exploratory rover engineers, designing, building and displaying their edible rovers to a design review. To begin, they evaluate rover equipment and material options to determine which parts might fit in their given...
Handout
Other

Branksome Hall Asia: Design and Inquiry: Sustainable Design

For Students 9th - 10th
Sustainable design is a philosophy of developing products in line with social, economic, and ecological sustainability principles. In design, it is important to understand the distinction between Green Design and Sustainable Design....
Lesson Plan
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology

Ciese: Scratch My Back: Children's Engineering Activity

For Teachers K - 1st
This lesson is based on the book Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup. In the book, a big, smelly bear has an itch in the middle of his back and can't scratch it. Nothing the bear tries works. Using the Engineering Design Process,...
Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: A Mini World

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
As students learn about the creation of biodomes, they are introduced to the steps of the engineering design process, including guidelines for brainstorming. Students learn how engineers are involved in the design and construction of...
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Cast Your Vote

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate a voting system made with everyday materials. The objective of the instructional activity is to learn how engineering has changed methods of...
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Get It Write

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Learners learn about the engineering design process by working in teams to design and build a pen out of everyday materials that can deliver a controlled amount of ink to a sheet of paper.
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Ets1 1 :Toxic Popcorn Design Challenge

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about the engineering design process as they work in teams to design a process and a product to solve the Toxic Popcorn Challenge and save the city.
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Engineer a Dam

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a dam structure in a classroom water trough. The objective of the lesson is to learn about the different types of dams and to build one that has the...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Tunnel Through!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students apply their knowledge about mountains and rocks to transportation engineering, with the task of developing a model mountain tunnel that simulates the principles behind real-life engineering design. Student teams design and...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Rube Goldberg is famous for his very complex machines that accomplish everyday tasks. Students will design and build a Rube Goldberg machine that will accomplish a simple task in no less than ten steps.
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Conveyor Engineering

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate a conveyor system made with everyday items than can move pieces of candy 4 feet including a 90 degree turn. The objective of the lesson is to...
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Build a Big Wheel

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Young scholars learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate a big wheel or Ferris wheel made with pasta, glue, and teabags. The objective of the lesson is to explore how big wheels have been...