Teach Engineering
The Challenge Question
A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory lesson in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide what is needed to...
Teach Engineering
Inside the DNA
Get your class to take a closer look at DNA. Pupils conduct research to determine the methods used by scientists to analyze the molecular structure of DNA. The class members investigate different types of molecular imaging along with gel...
Teach Engineering
Making Model Microfluidic Devices Using JELL-O
Nothing flows like J-E-L-L-O! In the final portion of a four-part series, pupils create scale models of microfluidic devices out of gelatin and bendable straws. They use their devices to test various flow rates in the delivery of...
Teach Engineering
What Does Light See?
The second installment of a seven-part series focuses on the refraction of light and how it affects the colors we see. Learners consider how this concept connects to biosensors for cancer detection.
Teach Engineering
When Silicon Talks
Explore Snell's Law using thin films. In the fifth installment of a seven-part series, pupils solve a set of problems relating to Snell's Law and use this skill during an experiment requiring the collection of reflective measurements...
Teach Engineering
Nanotechnology Grant Proposal Writing
Please, sir, can I have a few thousand dollars for my research? The last installment in a six-part lesson has the pupils develop a grant proposal. Class members apply their knowledge of skin cancer, ultraviolet radiation, human skin, and...
Teach Engineering
Restriction Enzymes and DNA Fingerprinting
Show your class why restrictions aren't always a bad thing. In the third segment of a four-part series, the instructor develops the idea of restriction enzymes. Pupils learn how scientists use restriction enzymes in DNA analysis and DNA...
Teach Engineering
Android Acceleration
Prepare to accelerate your Android. Pupils prep for the upcoming activity in this third installment of a four-part series. The lesson progresses nicely by first introducing different types of acceleration to the class. The teacher...
Teach Engineering
Exploring Acceleration with an Android
Small groups use rubber bands to accelerate an Android device along a track of books. They collect the acceleration data and analyze it in order to determine the device's velocity.
Teach Engineering
Design Step 3: Brainstorm Possible Solutions
Our young scientists have now specifically identified a problem, and this step helps them think of possible solutions. An outline, including guidelines, for brainstorming helps scholars stay on the right path. The resource includes...
Teach Engineering
Grow Your Own Algae!
Develop a model of a wastewater treatment center. The last activity of the unit has pupils mix a lake water sample into a tank of water containing fertilizers. Over time, the algae from the lake water grows and removes the nutrient-rich...
Teach Engineering
Microbes Know How to Work!
Scholars harness the power of microbes with an engaging activity that uses yeast to break down sugar in water. Multiple setups of the same experiment lets learners determine which temperature results in the fastest rate of...
Teach Engineering
Statistical Analysis of Flexible Circuits
Scholars connect statistical analysis with flexible electric circuits. They first learn about flexible circuits and their applications through a PowerPoint presentation and then consider how the fabrication process for these circuits...
Teach Engineering
Applying Statistics to Nano-Circuit Dimensions in Fabrication
Do flexible circuits change dimensions during fabrication? Groups use GeoGebra software to measure the length of pictures of flexible nano-circuits. To determine if the circuits change dimensions, future engineers use Microsoft...
Teach Engineering
Designing a Sustainable Guest Village in the Saguaro National Park
Brainstorm ideas to design a sustainable guest village in the Sonoran Desert. The first installment of a nine-part unit teaches young environmental scientists about the basics of the Saguaro National Park and about sustainable design....
Teach Engineering
Alloy Advantage
Mix it up by using an intriguing resource that teaches young metallurgists that alloys are a metal mixture. They learn about the advantages of using alloys over pure metals and investigate titanium alloys as an example to finish the...
Teach Engineering
Basically Acidic Ink
If you don't want to drink red cabbage juice, here's another use for it—a decoder! Using vinegar and ammonia-based window cleaning liquids as invisible inks, scholars create designs in the second lesson of the series. Red cabbage juice...
Teach Engineering
Magical Motion
Make solutions to projectile motion problems magically appear using equations. Pupils watch a clip from a Harry Potter movie and find the length of time it takes for a remembrall to fall into Harry's hands. They use a projectile motion...
Teach Engineering
Rock Candy Your Body
Candy rocks! A sweet lesson offers a different take on the rock candy experiment. Groups use a supersaturated sugar solution to create rock candy. Pupils then add other ingredients to the solution to test their effect on the...
Teach Engineering
Building a Piezoelectric Generator
In pairs, learners build a piezoelectric generator from readily available electric components in the second and final installment of the two-part series. Tapping the piezoelectric element produces enough electricity to light an LED....
Teach Engineering
Concentrate This! Sugar or Salt...
Heat up your lessons on boiling points. The resource provides a three-part activity: first, groups find the boiling point of solutions; second, they create boiling point curves for salt and sugar solutions; and third, they mix a solution...
Teach Engineering
Close Encounters of the Polymer Kind
A PowerPoint presents features of polymers and two of its categories (thermoplastics and thermosets). Instructors conduct demonstrations to illustrate the Weissenberg Effect and the Barus & Kaye Effects of polymers in the first...
Teach Engineering
Making Moon Craters
Create an egg-citing study of energy. Pupils investigate the effect of height and mass on the overall amount of energy of a falling object. The fourth segment in a six-part series on energy uses a weighted egg falling from different...
Teach Engineering
Edible Algae Models
Sometimes it's okay to eat your science experiment. A hands-on activity has pupils create models for algae to learn about its cellular structure. The best part of the experiment? The resulting juice-filled gels are edible—yum!