Can you build a better mousetrap? Broken into two sessions, this plan introduces learners to the design process. The first session has pupils look at the world through a design perspective by redesigning everyday objects. In the second...

An engineering design lesson plan contains connected activities as a capstone engineering project. The activities revolve around the principle of improving an existing object and designing the manufacturing process in order to do so. The...

Design your own video game, engineer accident-proof highways, or even develop a new phone app! The Engineering Design Model can be used with all ages and in all subject areas to create a product, system or service. The resource explains...

Do your part to make manufacturing more manageable. A capstone project challenges each group to identify and research a manufacturing process for a product. To complete the activity, they create a presentation for business and community...

Step by step is always best. In groups, future engineers create the tallest possible tower with marshmallows and spaghetti sticks. Along the way, they learn about the engineering design process. 

Engineering enthusiasts are sure to explode in understanding as they practice the engineering design process (EDP). A container of "toxic popcorn" is placed in the classroom. Teams must work together to devise a method for removing it...

Columns have been used throughout the world because they are good load-bearing structures. Learners with visual impairments conduct an experiment to work through the design process as well as to understand this engineering phenomenon....

The process for adding an amendment to the U.S. Constitution is long and arduous, by design. High School historians study a series of documents about the Nineteenth Amendment and, using an interactive program, drag the documents onto a...

It's not often that you come across a clever laboratory activity that is both imaginative and comprehensive! Using M&M's and Reese's peanut butter candies to represent two different clam species, young biologists test for "relative...

After reading about the history of tape dispensers, learners compare and contrast different dispenser designs. Next, teams work within budgetary and time constraints to design a better dispenser. When finished, each engineer reflects on...

Sure, you may be able to build a better mousetrap, but what about a gum dispenser? In a fun engineering challenge, teams must design and build a working interactive gumball machine with specific constraints and criteria.

Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...

There's an app for that! Pupils learn to build an app that will store data on an Android. The lesson plan introduces class members to the tiny database, TinyDB, for Android devices. A video tutorial provides an example that...

All the tools (and directions) you’ll need  to build an essay are included in a resource designed for learners and educators. The packet can be given to class members or divided into sections and used as part of a series of lesson...

Young people are the future voices of the country. In order to be knowledgeable about local and federal elections, future voters must first become aware. Bring an informative lesson plan to your social studies class, in which middle...

Up it goes! Groups must design and build a windmill able to lift a weight. The packet includes discussion points to use prior to the build that cover topics such as variables, fairness, and the design process.

The printing process was a technological innovation that revolutionized the modern world. Your learners with visual impairments can experience this process by creating a print by using letterpress printing. They use cardboard, glue, and...

Does your vote really count? This activity helps young voters learn about the electoral college through a TED talk, a helpful handout, discussion prompts, and then a role-playing activity that has participants simulating...

Challenge young learners to cut the clutter with this fun engineering project. As employees of a home and office supply company, young engineers are asked to develop devices that organize everyday items. After participating in a...

Students work to create a design that will protect an egg from being dropped from a one story floor. They test their prototype after it is completed. They write clear instructions and link aspects of the design process to the scientific...

Scholars investigate an issue associated with food systems and design their own solutions. Working collaboratively, they follow each step in the design process to complete the 10th activity of the 13-part Our Hungry Planet series.

This is what all of the excitement has been building up to! Young engineers create engineering drawings, use machines to manufacture their products, test, and evaluate their designs in the last step in the engineering design...

Enough with the talking, let's build something! In the fifth step in the engineering design process, young engineers build a prototype to test their ideas. The lesson plan walks them through the process of evaluating it...

Students analyze the design process and architecture of Ludwig van der Rohe. In this architecture and art analysis activity, students explore the design process through photographic documentation and architectural plans. Students use...