Curated OER
Do Different Colors Absorb Heat Better?
Learners work together to test how the color of a material affects how much heat it absorbs. They make predictions and take notes on their observations. They discover how engineers use this type of information.
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Portable Sundial
Learners work together to identify the accuracy of sundials. They track the position of the sun and create a shadow plot. They discover the difference between real time and clock time.
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Riding the Gravity Wave
Students write a sketch of an artist or athlete that has pushed the limits on gravity. They explore concepts of rhythm, balance and friction. They examine how engineers design sports equipment.
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Seismology in the Classroom
Students work together to use a sample seismograph. They role play the position of an engineering firm that is to analyze the machine. They discover how engineers develop new machines to take measurements.
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The Benefits of Biodiversity
Pupils examine the concept of biodiversity. They toss coins to determine what traits mouse parents have and the babies traits as well. They predict what would happen to the baby mice if the traits of the parents were different.
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Tightrope Trials
Learners research the concepts of center of mass and how to make different things balance. They make symmetrical cut-outs of different "creatures" and experiment with how they balance on a tightrope of string.
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To Market to Market
Fourth graders research a product and participate in an integrated simulation of a free market economy where students will create, buy and sell a good or service. In completing this activity, 4th graders understand the concepts and...
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Just Passing Through
Students examine the functions of the kidney and its place in the urinary system. They discuss how astronauts go the bathroom in space, examine labeled diagrams of the urinary system, and draw a large scale drawing of the excretory...
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The Need For Shelter
Fifth graders build a shelter to protect themselves from rain. They perform durability and water proof testing on the shelters. They make observations of plants found in the Amazon rainforest.
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Who's Down the Well?
Students identify several sources of contaminants to groundwater. They discuss the movement of possible contaminants through that groundwater from outside sources. They describe how environmental engineers analyze contaminants to...
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Acid Attack
Students explore the effect of chemical erosion on statues and monuments. They use chalk to see what happens when limestone is placed in liquids with different pH values. They also discover several things that engineers are doing to...
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Disassemble a Click Pen
Students dissamble and analyze the spring system of a click pen. They analyze a cross-section worksheet, dissamble the pens, fill in the missing parts of the cross-section diagram, and write a description of how the pen works.
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Eek, It leaks!
Middle schoolers construct model landfill liners out of two-inch strips of garbage bags within resource constraints. The challenge is to construct a bag that will hold one cup of water without leaking. This represents similar challenges...
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From Lake to Tap
Students use the Internet to study how water is treated to make it safe to drink. They use a tutorial on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's website to gain this information. They complete a worksheet for the assessment portion...
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How Full is Full?
Middle schoolers examine porosity and permeability and relate these concepts to groundwater flow. They use simple materials to conduct a porosity experiment and use the information to understand how environmental engineers decide on the...
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TE Activity: Pitch and Frequency
Students experiment with a vibrating ruler and a kazoo to study the different pitches and frequencies they produce. They create both high and low pitch sound waves. They examine how engineers use sound energy when designing electronic...
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TE Activity: The Great Divide
Students simulate the distribution of nonrenewable energy resources using cookies. They determine how the world's growing population effects the equitable distribution of these resources. They look at how engineers work to develop...
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TE Activity: The Trouble with Topos
Students study the uses of topographical maps including the many forms that they take. They discover that the map features show its intended use such as city maps, wilderness maps, and state maps. They complete a worksheet in which they...
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The Search for Secret Agents
Students embark on a scavenger hunt around the school looking for indoor air pollution and mapping source locations. They predict and observe sources of indoor air pollution, understand and give examples of technologies we use related to...
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TE Activity: Testing Fundamental Loads
Young scholars experiment with the five fundamental load types that can act on structures. They use foam insulation blocks to which they apply the forces and draw the fracture patterns. They determine the telltale marks of failure that...
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Tower Investigation and the Egg
Young scholars build three types of towers, engineering them to hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds. They discover that engineering designs are subject to constraints such as time, money and size specifications. In this activity...
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What Trickles Down?
Pupils explore different levels of permeability and compare the permeabilities of several different materials. They are introduced to the basic concepts of building design, landscape architecture, and environmental pollutant transport....
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Wind Chimes
Students construct wind chimes using physics. In small groups they design and create wind chimes using a specific weights, number of notes, and keeping the cost under ten dollars.
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Wire Maze
Middle schoolers investigate what causes electrical circuits to work. They construct a wire circuit and pass a paperclip through the maze, trying not to touch the wire, and answer discussion questions.