TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Corn for Fuel?!
In this activity, students examine how to grow plants the most efficiently. They imagine that they are designing a biofuels production facility and need to know how to efficiently grow plants to use in this facility. As a means of...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Tunnel Through!
Students apply their knowledge about mountains and rocks to transportation engineering, with the task of developing a model mountain tunnel that simulates the principles behind real-life engineering design. Student teams design and...
Other
The Design Museum: Lesson Plan: Redesign Your Kitchenware
Students will learn about the unique kettle invented by designer Philippe Starck. He designed the Hot Bertaa kettle to be different from everything else available. There was no lid to pour the water in, no handle, and no way of plugging...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Toy Vehicle Design
In this instructional activity, students prepare their design plans for building their own toy vehicle from local manufacturers' discards. They start to conceptualize what may help the vehicle roll straight and far as they discuss ideas...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: At the Doctor's
In this simulation of a doctor's office, students play the roles of physician, nurse, patients, and time-keeper, with the objective to improve the patient waiting time. They collect and graph data as part of their analysis. This serves...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Simple Machines
Through a five-lesson series with five hands-on activities, students are introduced to six simple machines - inclined plane, wedge, screw, lever, pulley, wheel-and-axle - as well as compound machines, which are combinations of two or...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Teaching Engineering Design With an Egg Drop
Students build a device to protect an egg and prevent it from breaking when dropped.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: The Strongest Pump of All
In this lesson the students will learn how the heart functions. Students will be introduced to the concept of action potential generation. The lesson will explain how action potential generation causes the electrical current that causes...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Wind Powered Water Pump
With this design challenge, students can build a wind-powered turbine that can pump water up from the ground. This site contains tips to complete the design challenge as well as a place for students to document their engineering design...
Other
Ontario Council for Technology Education: Designing Chess Pieces [Pdf]
In this project, students will design and create 3D CAD drawings of a set of chess pieces. They will work through the stages of the design process, assess and develop design criteria when creating concept and scaled sketches, and use...
Other
Ontario Council for Technology Education: Designing a Desk Organizer [Pdf]
By the end of this project, students will be able to understand and work through the stages of the design process, assess and develop design criteria when creating concept and scaled sketches, and use computer design software (SketchUp...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Landing Device
Can you design and build a device that will slow down your payload as it falls so it lands gently when dropped from 8 feet high? This website contains a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design...
NASA
Nasa: Light but Strong
Use these lessons from NASA to teach multiple Next Generation Science Standards for grades K-5. Properties of matter and engineering design are the focus of these lessons. Detailed plans and student handouts are included. [PDF]
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: All Caught Up: Bycatching and Design
Bycatch, the unintended capture of animals in commercial fishing gear, is one of the hottest topics in marine conservation today. About 25% of the entire global catch is bycatch. This surprisingly high level of bycatch is responsible for...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design Your Own Metamaterial
Do you think you can things invisible? In this design challenge, students will make a structure that can change how waves move and learn how to make things invisible! This site includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design a Powerful Bird Wing
Can you spin around in an office chair when you flap your powerful bird wings? In this challenge, students will design and build a powerful bird wing that can spin you around in an office chair when you flap it. This website contains...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Design a Set of Mechanical Genes
Design a set of mechanical genes that control the way something grows with this challenge on this site. This site also includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Build a Parallel Processing Machine
Can you build something that can sort data through multiple parallel channels? This site contains a challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Balloon Helicopter
Can you build a balloon helicopter that can fly at least 3 feet from the ground? This site gives a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Redwood Tree
Using recycled paper and tape, students will build a redwood tree that is taller than you and that can stand on its own. The site includes the challenge, tips, lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Electric Switch
Using your knowledge of the flow of electricity, do you think you could build a switch that can complete a circuit to turn on an LED? This site contains the challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine
Rube Goldberg is famous for his very complex machines that accomplish everyday tasks. Students will design and build a Rube Goldberg machine that will accomplish a simple task in no less than ten steps.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Swinging With Style
Students experientially learn about the characteristics of a simple physics phenomenon - the pendulum - by riding on playground swings. They use pendulum terms and a timer to experiment with swing variables. They extend their knowledge...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Conveyor Engineering
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate a conveyor system made with everyday items than can move pieces of candy 4 feet including a 90 degree turn. The objective of the lesson is to...