Mechanical Engineering Teacher Resources

Build a concrete understanding of mechanical engineering. Viewers watch an engaging video that describes mechanical engineering as the "design, construction, operation, and maintenance of mechanical systems." It also highlights some...

Have your techies read up on the details of how combustion engines work in an automobile. Create a set of accompanying response-to-reading questions and have your mechanical engineering or automotive technology class use this as a...

We have cameras to record what we see, but how can we record what we touch? Katherine Kuchenbecker, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is working to answer exactly that question. Using sensitive...

Students use common materials to build a car. In this car building mechanical engineering lesson plan, students build a car using a milk cartoon and plastic wheels. They discuss what mechanical engineers do and what makes a car run.

Clamp onto the resource and don't let go. Future mechanical engineers produce a pipe clamp from a sheet of metal. This idea is to use the pipe clamp to affix a pull-up bar in a doorway.

While your physical science class is studying mechanics, this would be a fabulous enrichment video for covering aerodynamics or friction. Mechanical engineers dedicate their time to developing Olympic-quality bobsleds to be as fast, but...

As the cost of oil continues to rise and the environmental impacts of emissions become more widespread, the demand for alternative energy sources for cars is huge. In an engaging and challenging week-long lesson, your upper-elementary or...

Future mechanical engineers and automotive technicians read about various solutions to using gasoline in cars. Included are electric, fuel-cell-powered, and hybrid vehicles.

New ReviewYou definitely don't want skyscrapers to sway too much. An informative video discusses statics and dynamics, equilibrium, forces, and torque. It uses the Citicorp Building as an example to illustrate the danger of quartering winds and...

Are the earth's oceans really just giant batteries, waiting for their energy to be harnessed? Middle school mechanical engineers will be shocked by the amazing amount of energy that forms around them after diving into part four of a...

New ReviewDon't let materials science break you. An informative video explains the mechanical properties of materials. It uses a stress-strain diagram to discuss elasticity, hardness, toughness, creep strength, and fatigue strength. It also...

Meet Lindsey, a mechanical engineer who has taken up bioengineering. She uses her skills to model blood vessels and their interaction with regenerating tissues. She continues to discuss the future of bioengineering in an informative video.

Bill Ford, great-grandson of Henry Ford and executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, discusses his struggle to reconcile his two passions: automobiles and the environment. He explains how our current transportation systems are simply...

Students study mechanical engineering and how it plays a part in the creation of windmills. They design and test their own windmills using various materials and sail designs.

Young scholars examine the concepts of computer and mechanical engineering. They dissemble a computer mouse and create a new design for the mouse. They also design new enhancements for the mouse over time.

In this secondary mathematics lesson, learners investigate the uses and capabilities of a TI-89 application designed for mechanical engineering learners. The app contains over 700 pieces of reference information and organized into...

Students explore the composition and practical application of parallel circuitry, compared to series circuitry. They design and build parallel circuits and investigate their characteristics, and apply Ohm's law. They recognize that...

While often used interchangeably, the distinction between accuracy and precision is critical for many scientific endeavors. Discover the importance of consistency for precise results, and the need for accuracy in the field of research,...

So you think you know what engineering is? The first of 46 videos in the Crash Course Engineering series identifies and describes different types of engineering, including military, civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical, nuclear,...

Start your engines! This five-lesson unit introduces physics and Newton's laws through automobile racing. Each lesson includes background information, a student worksheet, and an answer key. There are also culminating project...

Challenge your class to use their understanding of the engineering design process to design and build a small-scale, off-road prototype for an assistive technology device. Teams select materials to build their scale models, and, using...

Class members use an air quality monitor to measure the amount of gas-phase pollutants emitted by different sources. Groups choose three different sources and make predictions about what the monitors will detect. Teams then expose the...

What does the future of energy look like? Junior engineers collaborate to discover a solution to the global energy crisis during a very hands-on lesson. The unit focuses on learning through collaboration to develop a deep understanding...

Make your work as a teacher a little easier with a physical science project on simple machines. After introducing young scientists to these devices and identifying their different uses around the school, this project engages children in...