Teach Engineering
The Keepers of the Gate Challenge
Help your class make a connection between salt water and nanoscience. In the introductory lesson of a seven-part unit, the class explores why salt water helps a sore throat feel better. Pupils conduct preliminary research about the...
Teach Engineering
Keepers of the Gate Journal and Brainstorm
The second segment of a seven-part series reviews the challenge of determining whether gargling with salt water helps a sore throat. Individuals journal what they know about the challenge and what they are trying to figure out to...
Teach Engineering
Blood Pressure Basics
Under pressure! The second lesson of the series introduces the class to blood pressure and the impact of high blood pressure on the cardiovascular system. It helps learners make the connection between blood pressure and how the heart...
Teach Engineering
Maximum Power Point
Investigate the maximum power output of a photovoltaic panel with a lesson that introduces the class to the maximum power point. Individuals learn how to determine the maximum power point of a solar panel by using Ohm's law and the power...
Teach Engineering
Android Acceleration
Prepare to accelerate your Android. Pupils prep for the upcoming activity in this third installment of a four-part series. The lesson progresses nicely by first introducing different types of acceleration to the class. The teacher...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Acceleration with an Android
Small groups use rubber bands to accelerate an Android device along a track of books. They collect the acceleration data and analyze it in order to determine the device's velocity.
Teach Engineering
Induced EMF in a Coil Wire
Small groups investigate the interaction between a coil of wire and a magnet to create an electromagnetic field and observe the voltage they create. Through further interactions, they realize a conductor can be charged from the...
Teach Engineering
Building an Electromagnet
Your pupils can build their own electromagnet — awesome! The culminating activity in an eight-part series challenges groups to design and build their own electromagnet. The goal of the activity is to build a magnet capable of picking up...
Teach Engineering
Design Step 1: Identify the Need
What exactly does an engineer do? Learners find out through a lesson that asks them to solve a problem that affects a target population. Aspiring engineers learn the steps of the engineering design process as they apply it...
Teach Engineering
Ice, Ice, PV!
Knowing the temperature coefficient allows for the calculation of voltage output at any temperature. Groups conduct an experiment to determine the effects of temperature on the power output of a solar panel. The teams alter the...
Teach Engineering
Aerogels in Action
Model an oil spill cleanup. An engaging engineering lesson has groups using aerogels to simulate an oil spill cleanup (vegetable oil in water). Along the way, they learn about nanotechnology and hydrophilia/hydrophobia.
Teach Engineering
Constructing Sonoran Desert Food Chains and Food Webs
Investigate desert biomes by creating food chains and food webs. Groups first research feeding habits of organisms in the Sonoran Desert. This information helps pupils draw food chains and webs to determine relationship between organisms.
Teach Engineering
The Amazing Aerogel
Introducing ... the aerogel. The first of a two-installment series teaches young engineers about the properties and uses of aerogels. A PowerPoint presentation provides information about this unique material to help solidify the concept.
Teach Engineering
Grow Your Own Algae!
Develop a model of a wastewater treatment center. The last activity of the unit has pupils mix a lake water sample into a tank of water containing fertilizers. Over time, the algae from the lake water grows and removes the nutrient-rich...
Teach Engineering
Microbes Know How to Work!
Scholars harness the power of microbes with an engaging activity that uses yeast to break down sugar in water. Multiple setups of the same experiment lets learners determine which temperature results in the fastest rate of...
Teach Engineering
Optimizing Pencils in a Tray
What do you call a story about a broken pencil? Pointless. Scholars may not be telling stories when using the resource, but they are solving optimization problems involving the maximum number of pencils that can fit on a tray. They...
Teach Engineering
Alloy the Way to Mars
Future engineers test different alloys to determine the specific strength of each one. Based on the results, they make a recommendation to NASA on which alloy to use on engines for spacecraft.
Teach Engineering
Antimatter Matters
Use science fiction movies to teach pupils about antimatter and alternate universes. Individuals learn about the portrayal of antimatter and alternate universes in movies such as Star Trek and Angels & Demons. They consider three...
Teach Engineering
Piezoelectricity
What effect makes children's shoes light up? Answer: Piezoelectric effect. Here is a PowerPoint presentation that describes piezoelectric materials as being able to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. Individuals learn how...
Teach Engineering
Adapatations for Bird Flight - Inspiration for Aeronautical Engineering
It's a bird, it's a ... device made to mimic birds. The eighth installment of a nine-part module has pupils read various articles to learn about bird flight. They consider the implications for aeronautical engineering.
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Bees: The Invaluable Master Pollinators
There is nothing in the world quite like a bee. Here is a video that explains the importance of bees to pollination. Scholars consider possible solutions to the declining population of bees in the ninth and final installment in the series.
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About Accuracy and Approximation
How accurate are robots? Groups draw lines by moving robots backwards and forwards by one rotation of the wheels. Using the appropriate formula, they determine the percent error in the length of the lines in relation to the calculated...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Sustainable Guest Village in the Saguaro National Park
Brainstorm ideas to design a sustainable guest village in the Sonoran Desert. The first installment of a nine-part unit teaches young environmental scientists about the basics of the Saguaro National Park and about sustainable design....
Teach Engineering
Biomes and Population Dynamics - Balance Within Natural Systems
How large can a population become? The fifth installment of a nine-part unit teaches young ecologists about limiting factors that determine the carrying capacity of species in the Sonoran Desert. Here is a PowerPoint to help present this...