Students will explore what they can do with balls, cars, marbles, and ramps and document findings in their science journals. This will engage their curiosity, allow them to make self-discoveries, and explore self-interests.

Students act as Mars exploratory rover engineers. They evaluate rover equipment options and determine what parts fit in a provided NASA budget. With a given parts list, teams use these constraints to design for their rover. The students...

In this activity, students explore the concept of "reducing" solid waste and how it relates to product packaging and engineering advancements in packaging materials. Students read about and evaluate the highly publicized packaging...

The year is 2032 and your class has successfully achieved a manned mission to Mars! After several explorations of the Red Planet, one question is still being debated: "Is there life on Mars?" The class is challenged with the task of...

Students explore the physical and psychological effect of stress and tension on human beings. They develop their observing, thinking, writing and teamwork skills by working on a group art project and reporting about it. They learn about...

Explore the historic reasons women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics today.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution and technologies that have been developed by engineers to reduce air pollution. Students develop an understanding of visible air pollutants with an incomplete combustion...

Students develop their understanding of the effects of invisible air pollutants with a rubber band air test, a bean plant experiment and by exploring engineering roles related to air pollution. In an associated literacy activity,...

Imagining themselves arriving at the Olympic gold medal soccer game in Beijing, students begin to think about how engineering is involved in sports. After a discussion of kinetic and potential energy, an associated hands-on activity...

The application of engineering principles is explored in the creation of mobiles. As students create their own mobiles, they take into consideration the forces of gravity and convection air currents. They learn how an understanding of...

To introduce the two types of stress that materials undergo - compression and tension - learners examine compressive and tensile forces and learn about bridges and skyscrapers. They construct their own building structure using...

Students explore Mars and Jupiter, the fourth and fifth planets from the Sun. They learn some of the unique characteristics of these planets. They also learn how engineers help us learn about these planets with the design and development...

In this lesson, students are introduced to the types of renewable energy resources. They are involved in activities to help them understand the transformation of energy (solar, water and wind) into electricity. Students explore the...

The purpose of this activity is to introduce students to the planet Mars. This activity will begin by discussing the location and size of Mars relative to Earth, as well as introduce many interesting facts about this red planet. Next,...

Students begin to explore the idea of a force. To further their understanding of drag, gravity and weight, they conduct activities that model the behavior of parachutes and helicopters. An associated literacy activity engages the class...

Teams of students design, build, test, and evaluate a working watermill made from everyday materials. Lesson explores how watermills generate energy from water, while students gain an understanding of the structural engineering design...

Lesson explore sensors focusing on ones that measure humidity. Students work in teams to design, build, test, and evaluate a hygrometer which was made out of everyday materials to measure humidity levels.

Students learn the history of the waterwheel and common uses for water turbines today. They explore kinetic energy by creating their own experimental waterwheel from a two-liter plastic bottle. They investigate the transformations of...

The lesson will first explore the concept of current in electrical circuits. Current will be defined as the flow of electrons. Photovoltaic (PV) cell properties will then be introduced. This will lead to the principle of "Conservation of...

Students will discuss the special considerations that must be made when dealing with the human body, and will gain an appreciation for the amazing devices that have improved our quality of life. They will also explore how 'Form Fits...

This hands-on activity explores five different forms of erosion (chemical, water, wind, glacier and temperature). Students rotate through stations and model each type of erosion on rocks, soils and minerals. The students record their...

Students use a sponge and water model to explore the concept of relative humidity and create a percent scale.

Students explore how tension and compression forces act on three different bridge types. Using sponges, cardboard and string, they create models of beam, arch and suspension bridges and apply forces to understand how they disperse or...

This hands-on activity explores the concept of static electricity. Students attract an O-shaped piece of cereal to a charged comb and watch the cereal jump away when it touches the comb. Students also observe Styrofoam pellets pulling...