Teach Engineering
Portable Wheelchair Ramp Challenge
Ramp up the engineering design process in your classroom with an activity that challenges teams to design, build, and test a small-scale portable wheelchair ramp. The class develops design requirements, and teams test their designs using...
Teach Engineering
Edible Rovers
The good thing about building this rover is you get to eat it afterwards. Pairs determine rover parts they want to include in their design based upon their cost and usefulness. The teams design their rovers, build them from edible...
Social Media Toolbox
Cyberbullying
What can we do to make our school community more aware of cyberbullying? From The Social Media Toolbox, instructional activity 10 of 16 takes on the tough topic of bullying. Learners research cyberbullying through online research, then...
NOAA
Invent a Robot!
Wait til your class gets their hands on this! Aspiring engineers design a working robotic arm in the fifth and final installment in a series of ocean exploration lessons. Pupils learn about the use of underwater robots in ocean...
Curated OER
Assistive Technology
Pupils engage in a lesson that is concerned with the use of technology in order to help students with special needs. They take part in a lesson that is designed to help a specific student with an Individual Education Plan and focus upon...
Curated OER
What Is Engineering Design
High schoolers investigate the concepts related to the practice of designing and building large scale buildings. They conduct research using the internet and other resources in order to apply mathematics and architectural design...
Curated OER
Time for Design
Students are introduced to the design process used in engineering. They compare and contrast this process with the steps followed in the scientific method. Students then participate in a brainstorming session that asks them to design a...
Curated OER
Design a Bicycle Helmet
Students are introduced to the biomechanical characteristics of helmets. They incorporate these characteristics into designs for helmets for various applications. They understand that using a bicycle helmet helps to protect the brain and...
Curated OER
Jet Engine Technology
Students discover the technology of jet engines through an interactive program. They explore the history of the gas-turbine theory and follow tutorials in how to use them. They finally read about the new Air-Breathing engines.
Teach Engineering
Exploring the Forces of Tension
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.
Curated OER
Food Packaging
Students identify the functions of packaging food and how the designs work. In this food packaging lesson students identify the changes that occur in different types of materials.
Curated OER
Understanding Stage Design: Using Visual Elements to Provide Information to an Audience
Students study about theatrical design by developing environments for improvised and scripted scenes. They develop focused ideas for an environment using visual elements.
US Department of Energy
Geothermal Energy
With Earth Day quickly approaching, as well as many science fairs, why not challenge your class to investigate geothermal energy or other renewable energy resources? There are five driving questions explored in depth here, as well as...
Global Oneness Project
The Value of Ancient Traditions
Imagine having to give up cell phones, computers, and TV? What would be lost? What gained? An examination of the Drokpa, a nomadic people who live in the grasslands of Tibet, provides class members an opportunity to consider how access...
Mascil Project
Design and Build Your Own Vacuum Cleaner, Hair Dryer or Toy Car
No vacuum cleaner? No problem, just build your own. Scholars apply knowledge of currents to build a model of either a vacuum clear, a hair dryer, or a toy car. While the class completes the activity, instructors consider gender...
Teach Engineering
Airplane Tails and Wings: Are You in Control?
Keep everything under control. The lesson, the 16th segment in a 22-part unit, provides a more detailed look at the parts of a plane, specifically the control surfaces. Pupils learn about the construction of the wings and the tails and...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Balloon Astronaut
Design protection from high-speed particles. The STEM lesson plan highlights why astronauts need protection from space debris. Pupils use the design process to design, build, and test a spacesuit that will protect a balloon from a...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Tree House Escape
Use simple machines to escape from a tree house. Pupils learn about simple machines and how they are useful in everyday life in a STEM lesson. Groups then design a device to rescue a friend stuck in a tree house.
NOAA
Mapping the Deep-Ocean Floor
How do you create a map of the ocean floor without getting wet? Middle school oceanographers discover the process of bathymetric mapping in the third installment in a five-part series of lessons designed for seventh and eighth graders....
Curated OER
Microsoft® PowerPoint 2010 Training
How cool it this? A PowerPoint presentation designed to introduce trainers to PowerPoint 2010 and provides tips and tricks for using the program.
US Navy
The Science of Diving
Introduce gas laws using the popular topic of SCUBA diving. This activity makes a connection between the gas laws and the effect of pressure and temperature changes during diving. Young engineers complete introductory experiments to...
Curated OER
Technology as a Design Tool for Abstract Artwork
Students manipulate pictures using Adobe Photoshop and digital cameras to produce unique abstract works. This lesson can be modified to include a painting/mixed media element. State standards are addressed in this lesson.
Curated OER
Technology: Recipes Around the World
Students research international cuisine and create Web pages based on them. Once they have organized their findings, they demonstrate their research with a multimedia presentation. The project concludes with a party using food ...
Curated OER
Passive Solar Design
Students study what passive solar design is for buildings and structures. In this solar design lesson students identify passive solar design techniques.