Curated OER
Who Stole My Salad?
Eighth graders explain how protein is made in the cell. For this biology lesson, 8th graders translate RNA and DNA using an internet database. They determine the thief based on evidence collected.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Flow Control System
In this engineering challenge, students will build a system that controls the movement of material and shuts off automatically. This site includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their design process.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Obi Wan Adobe: Engineering for Strength
Students conduct an experiment to determine how varying the composition of a construction material affects its strength. They make several adobe bricks with differing percentages of sand, soil, fibrous material and water. They test the...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Control a Microraptor's Flight
Using common household materials students are challenged to make a flying raptor and control its flight with attached strings. Site includes lesson plans, tips, and a place for students to document their process.
Careers New Zealand
Careers Nz: Chemical Engineer
This site from Careers New Zealand contains brief profiles of two chemical engineers. The second, Mr. Vaughan Rimmer, is a process engineer at the Marsden Point Oil Refinery in New Zealand.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineering Air Traffic
Students work in teams to explore how radar and computer technology is used to provide the necessary data to air traffic controllers. Students become "engineers" as they work to find ways to enhance the current air traffic control system.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Get It Write
Students 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.
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Action Bioscience: Genetic Engineering & Xenotransplantation
In efforts to cure some cases of Type I diabetes scientists are considering xenotransplantation. With this practice, islets from animals other than human are transplanted into humans. With further studies scientists will discover...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Curiosity Killed the App
Students gain experience with the software/system design process, closely related to the engineering design process, to solve a problem. First, they learn about the Mars Curiosity rover and its mission, including the difficulties that...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Mint Mobiles
Students design, build and test model race cars made from simple materials (lifesaver-shaped candies, plastic drinking straws, Popsicle sticks, index cards, tape) as a way to explore independent, dependent and control variables. They...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Watch Out for the Blind Spots
In this service-learning engineering project, students follow the steps of the engineering design process to design a hearing testing device. More specifically, they design a prototype machine that can be used to test the peripheral...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Does It Work? Test and Test Again
Testing is critical to any design, whether it be in the creation of new software or building a bridge across a wide river. Despite risking the quality of the design, the testing stage is often hurried in order to get products to market....
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Rockets
This unit teaches students how and why engineers design satellites to benefit life on Earth as well as allows students an opportunity to explore motion, rockets and rocket motion. Students discover that the motion of all objects...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Sugar Spill!
In this activity, students act as environmental engineers involved with the clean up of a toxic spill. Using bioremediation as the process, students select which bacteria they will use to eat up the pollutant spilled. Students learn how...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Students as Scientists
This curricular unit contains two lessons that let students actually do the work of scientists as they design their own experiments to answer questions they generate. In the first lesson and its associated activity, students conduct a...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Commanding a Robot Using Sound
Students continue their exploration of the human senses and their engineering counterparts, focusing on the auditory sense. Working in small groups, students design, create and run programs to control the motion of LEGO TaskBots. By...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Assembly Line
The core of this lesson is about the power of mass production. Learners will first assemble a product individually, then work in teams to design, build, test, and redesign an assembly line whose product must meet quality control...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Model Greenhouses
Students learn about the advantages and disadvantages of the greenhouse effect. They construct their own miniature greenhouses and explore how their designs take advantage of heat transfer processes to create controlled environments....
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineer a Dam
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...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Water Tower Challenge
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a water tower made with everyday items. The objective of the lesson is to work in teams to learn about water delivery systems and create one that will...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Infrared Investigations
Engineers use infrared technology to develop equipment and systems for a variety of industries. Teams of students are challenged to test the limitations of infrared in a basic television remote control to conceive a way to point infrared...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Pollution Patrol
Students will work in teams to design and construct outdoor air pollution detectors from everyday items. They will then test the designs for presence of pollutants in the air and communicate their results to the class.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design a Set of Mechanical Genes
Design a set of mechanical genes that control the way something grows with this challenge on this site. This site also includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Science Museum, London
Science Museum: Robot Bugs
Build a robot and watch how it moves. Activity is designed to help students learn how electrical circuits and switches control how things move.