Help overcome challenges in eating pizza. Scholars work in groups to design a device that assists a physically handicapped person eat pizza. They build a prototype of such a device to test their designs before building. To...

How can you tell what someone is feeling when they aren't saying a word? Explore non-verbal communication with an activity based on Cynthia Breazeal's work with expressive robots. One learner puts a bag over his or her face and uses body...

Some interesting reading on the history of barcodes opens this technology lesson plan. Readers find out how engineers contribute, and then they gather into groups to discuss possible improvements to our current UPC barcode system. Know...

The last segment of the nine-part unit makes a connection between springs and linear equations. Groups hang weights from the spring and measure its length. Then, using the data collected, they calculate the slope to find the k-value...

Building an accelerometer app for your Android device. Groups develop an app that uses the accelerometer on an Android device. The purpose of the activity is to reinforce the programming design. The post activity assessment challenges...

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...

Find an answer to the age-old debate of whether life exists on Mars. Groups determine criteria to help look for signs of life on Mars. The activity has the class simulate testing Martian soil samples for signs of life before drawing...

Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...

Young computer scientists get to see what it's like to be a software engineer as they use free online software to design a computer game. They play and evaluate games groups created to round out the activity.

Design and build a rover ... then eat it? This activity has groups of two design and build Mars rovers. The teams determine what instruments they want to include with their rover and plan a budget. They calculate the cost of the body of...

If the shoe  doesn't fit, design a new one. Discovery Education challenges pupils to put the engineering process in action by designing a shoe. Groups design and build a shoe prototype based upon the client...

See how Boolean algebra relates to video games with a lesson that teaches young scholars how to use Boolean algebra to create rules for a virtual world. They test the rule base for consistency in groups.

You can eat a solar cell? A unit on solar energy begins with a discussion about organic solar cells, followed by directions on how to build your own. After following the teacher's directions to build an anthocyanin...

After reading about the history and science of personal floatation devices, patents, and intellectual property, engineering teams design a life vest for a can of soup. To evaluate which groups considered the need for waterproofing, hold...

Step by step is always best. In groups, future engineers create the tallest possible tower with marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Along the way, they learn about the engineering design process. 

It's always nice to see what the solution looks like. Groups build a prototype of their solution to the plastics problem in the sixth installment of a 10-part unit. The prototypes can be either a visual prototype or a working prototype.

Let the resource stretch the minds of your young scientists with a lesson about tensile strength and stiffness of materials. Groups consider how easily materials stretch and relate this property to engineering design.

Do some good for the community while learning about engineering. Groups complete a service-based engineering design project over the course of five weeks. The resource provides guidance on how to conduct the project and help pupils get...

Students, while working in groups, pick a product or service from one company to invest in for the Newsday Stock Market Game. They develop an advertisement for the product or service utilizing the iMovie program on the computers.

Ninth graders, working in groups, explore/examine/produce an Airbrush Video in group rotation. In addition, they describe the various stages of their end product, the creation of their Airbrush Video.

How smart is your home? Middle and high schoolers write a journal entry describing the types of technology found in their homes. After reading an article, they are introduced to "smart" home technology. In groups, they identify and...

Passive solar heating is a technology that's been in use for thousands of years. Here, elementary schoolers are exposed to this type of heating, the materials that are used in passive solar heating, and they study how engineers design...

This lesson will make an impact, especially on scientist-athletes who may have an interest in waterproof clothing! Acting as materials engineers, they work collaboratively on waterproofing pieces of cotton fabric. This challenge is...

What does it take to prepare for a construction project? In an engineering lesson, youngsters examine how a Ferris wheel can turn and carry a load without falling apart. After reading up on big wheel designs, they create a model using...