Design and Build Lego Cars

Can't build a cantilever? You'll be able to after a hands-on, constructive activity. Young engineers build cantilevers out of straws and tape. The finished products must be able to hang off a table as far as possible.

Class, start your engines. Future engineers design a car with old CDs as wheels. The power source? Some rubber bands will do the trick! This is the first installment of a five-part series.

What's the best way to learn how watersheds work? Build one! Combining engineering, the water cycle, and ecology concerns, the activity is the perfect fit for an interdisciplinary unit. Teams construct a model watershed with simple...

Host a design challenge of Olympic proportion! Junior engineers build their own bobsleds using simple materials. The activity focuses on kinetic and potential energy and how the center of mass affects motion on a downhill track....

After walking in a nearby neighborhood, have your class create this amazing city street pop-up. They study the facades of the buildings they see, focusing on geometric line, shape, and architecture. They then draw, cut, and create a city...

The road to a better understanding of engineering lies with bridges and tunnels. A set of four engaging activities teaches learners about engineering concepts related to construction projects. They perform an experiment to find the...

Start with a basic house created in JavaScript code and practice programming with loops as you add rows of windows, grass, flowers, or trees. How about some apples growing in the trees? You get the idea. Your coding students can let...

Young scholars examine how they use batteries, then read a news article about how cars are being designed to use batteries. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a discussion and vocabulary activity, then...

LEGO see if you can recreate my design. Individuals build an arrangement from LEGO blocks and write directions for someone else to follow in order to recreate the arrangement. Pairs then swap directions and try to...

Using robotics, laser rangefinders, GPS and smart feedback tools, Dennis Hong is building a car for drivers who are blind. It's not a "self-driving" car, he's careful to note, but a car in which a non-sighted driver can determine speed,...