Skyscrapers are one of the most glorified products of Civil Engineering and contain an interesting history of progress and development. In this lesson, the students will learn about the history of the world's tallest free standing...

In this activity, students learn about creating a design directly from a CAD (computer-aided design) program. They will design a tower in CAD and manufacture the parts with a laser cutter. A competition determines the tower design with...

Students will learn about composite materials, tension as a force and how they act on structural components through the design and testing of a strip of plastic chair webbing.

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 plan is to learn about the different types of dams and to build one that has the...

Object of this lesson is to learn about the engineering design of musical instruments. Students work in teams to design and build their own "tunable" and unique instrument using everyday materials.

An interest in chemistry and physics is what you need to explore the career of materials scientist or engineer. In this career you manipulate atoms to change the structure of materials to make new products. This Science Buddies site lays...

Review the main concepts of earthquake-safe structures.

Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate a big wheel or Ferris wheel made with pasta, glue, and teabags. The objective of the lesson is to explore how big wheels have been designed...

From the Introduction to Structural Design web site. A page of well-written lecture notes on the various structural qualities of building materials. A comparison is made of the strength, stiffness, stability and ductility of materials,...

Students will learn about the force of compression and how it acts on structural components through a hands-on group project. Using everyday products such as paper, toothpicks, and tape they will construct a structure that will support...

Students will conduct several simple lab activities to learn about the five fundamental load types that can act on structures: tension, compression, shear, bending, and torsion. In this activity, students break foam insulation blocks by...

Chemical engineering lesson investigates the processes of chemical plating and electroplating. Teams of students work together to devise a chemical system for plating metal objects with copper, then test and evaluate their findings and...

In this math activity, students conduct a strength test using modeling clay, creating their own stress vs. strain graphs, which they compare to typical steel and concrete graphs. They learn the difference between brittle and ductile...

Learners learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a water tower made with everyday items. The objective of the instructional activity is to work in teams to learn about water delivery systems and create...

Did you know that some bridges have failed due to the effect of vibration? This article and video explore vibration and its importance in the design of civil structures and mechanical equipment. The article discusses all concepts covered...

This lesson introduces and describes the main types of erosion (i.e., chemical, water, wind, glacier and temperature). Learners learn examples of each type of erosion and discuss how erosion changes the surface of the Earth. Students...

Students learn about tornadoes - their basic characteristics, damage and occurrences. Students are introduced to the ways that engineers consider strong winds, specifically tornadoes, in their design of structures. Also, students learn...

Students are presented with a brief history of bridges as they learn about the three main bridge types: beam, arch and suspension. They are introduced to two natural forces - tension and compression - common to all bridges and...

Students learn about the structure of the earth and how an earthquake happens. In one activity, students make a model of the earth including all of its layers. In a teacher-led demonstration, students learn about continental drift. In...

Watch out. It's Eddy Vortex, Superhero. He swirls, he tumbles, he churns up air and water. OK, maybe eddies and vortices aren't exactly superheroes, but they are powerful regions of air and water flow that you have to watch out for in...

In this lesson on the brain's neural networks, students investigate the structure and function of the neuron. They discover ways in which engineers apply this knowledge to the development of devices that can activate neurons. Includes...

In this project, students will build model earthquake-resistant buildings and measure their movement during a simulated earthquake using a mobile phone and a sensor app.

This instructional activity will introduce students to the five fundamental loads: compression, tension, shear, bending, and torsion.

Students construct a shake table, then build towers of different heights using Lego blocks, and test their stability on this platform. Next, they test towers with different sized bases, and towers made using different materials.