Curated OER
Activity: Leaning Tower of Pasta
A well-laid-out lesson plan, this can be used in an engineering, STEM, or physical science course. Laboratory groups design a structure using pasta and marshmallows, measure its height and weight, and then discover the load that it can...
Curated OER
Leaning Tower of Pasta
Students experiment with different structures to determine which ones are able to handle the greatest amount of load using spaghetti and marshmallows. They discuss how engineers design buildings, construct their buildings and complete a...
Curated OER
Be a Structural Engineer!
Students investigate how to design and build items with a focus on structural strength as an engineer would. They complete a truss-building project as a final assessment.
Curated OER
Shapes that Make Structures Strong
Students construct a variety of forms, test their strength, and discuss how tension and compression are distributed by triangles, arches, and domes.
Science Matters
Fault Formations
The San Andreas Fault moves about two inches a year, approximately the same rate fingernails grow—crazy! The third lesson in the series allows for hands-on exploration of various fault formations. Through the use of a Popsicle stick,...
Teach Engineering
Stop the Stretching
Stretch your teaching repertoire with an experiment on the elongation (stretching) and failure (break) of several materials. The point of the experiment is to design a composite material for chair webbing.
Curated OER
Forces and Balloons
Learners investigate the forces of compression, tension and torque on common birthday balloons.
Curated OER
Strong as the Weakest Link
Students apply knowledge of stresses and forces by building model structures. In this force instructional activity, students consider skyscrapers and bridges in the world around them and the stresses that these structures endure. They...
Curated OER
Build and Test a Paper Bridge
Students investigate making strong structures from paper. In this paper bridge instructional activity, students experiment making bridges out of paper. Students fold paper many different ways to test its strength. Students discuss what...
Curated OER
Stable and Unstable Structures
Middle schoolers research three major bridge collapses. For this Physical Science lesson plan, students will sketch a bridge design for their area after their research. All bridge designs will be presented to the class to discuss...
Teach Engineering
Straw Bridges
Pairs work as engineering teams to design and build model bridges from drinking straws and tape. In this third segment in a series of 10, teams compete in an attempt to build the strongest bridge. To help with the design, the groups...
Curated OER
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...
Curated OER
Forces Inside the Earth
In this faults worksheet, students identify the three types of faults and the characteristics that define a normal fault, reverse fault, and a strike-slip fault. This worksheet has 3 fill in the blank and 3 short answer questions.
Cornell University
Bridge Building
Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.
DiscoverE
Build a Straw Bridge
Build teamwork skills while building a bridge. Scholars work together in groups to create a bridge out of 20 straws and tape. There is a minimum span length of 25 centimeters, but otherwise, let creativity run wild.
Curated OER
Stressed and Strained
Students explore stress and strength in engineering design. In this engineering lesson, students become familiar with terminology associated with stress and strain on building material. They will have a class discuss about how their beam...
Curated OER
Forces on the Human Molecule
Learners conduct several simple lab activities to explore the five fundamental load types that can act on structures: tension, compression, shear, bending, and torsion. In this activity, students play the role of molecules in a beam...
DiscoverE
Bridges, Buildings and Beyond Activity Packet: Grades 6-8
Pour a solid foundation of engineering into the minds of future engineers. Scholars take part in three activities to learn about civil engineering. They build a model of a cable-stayed bridge, conduct an experiment to see the effects of...
Teach Engineering
Trust in the Truss: Design a Wooden Bridge
Obviously, a sturdy bridge is the desired outcome. Pupils select from one of four different types of truss bridges, then construct a model of the bridge from craft sticks and glue, making sure that it satisfies certain constraints. They...
Curated OER
Strong as the Weakest Link
Learners discover the types of stress that materials undergo. They examine how bridges and skyscrapers are built to withhold the tension. They create their own structure out of marshmallows and spaghetti.
Curated OER
Stress and Strain
Students use working models to show the stress and strain in the movements in the earth's crust. For this stress lesson students complete a lab in which they construct a model.
Curated OER
Structural Geology Laboratory
Students explore modeling of geologic structures in experiments. They study how compressive and tensile forces produce these structures. The compression makes the flatlying strata shorter and tension make the strata longer.
Curated OER
Forces, Loads, Materials, Shapes
Students investigate forces, loads, materials and shapes as they relate to science. In this science lesson, students differentiate between the basic definitions required to perform a scientific experiment. They answer questions dealing...
Curated OER
Wind Effects on Model Building: Building Project Overview
Pupils design their own building according to certain criteria. In this semester long physics lesson plan, students calculate forces, compression and tension. They present their finished model in class.
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