Kenan Fellows
Use of Dichotomous Keys to Identify Stream Organisms
What kind of organisms are living in the stream? After an explanation on how to use a dichotomous key, groups of three to four use the keys to identify macroinvertebrates from a local freshwater stream. Using the the concept of Stream...
Kenan Fellows
Assembly Required and the Design Process Too!
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...
Carnegie Mellon University
Technical Sketching Worksheets
How do you create a technical drawing? Cover the basics of technical sketching with a few practice sketches of simple shapes. A technical sketching lesson introduces the proper precision measurement techniques. Pupils progress to draw...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Water Rocket Launch
How do rockets fly? Teams design, build, and launch a rocket made from a two-liter bottle to explore forces on a rocket such as Newton's Laws of Motion. During the design phase, young engineers draw a diagram of their rocket and include...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Coloring Discrete Structures
What's the least number of colors needed to color a U.S. map? The lesson plan begins by having pupils view a video clip on continuous and discrete phenomenon, then launches into an activity reminiscent of Zeno's paradox. A separate video...
NASA
Feel the Heat
Pupils examine how solar energy can supply power and heat on the lunar surface. As groups design and build a solar-powered water heating system, they test their system to determine the change in temperature of the water and redesign it...
NASA
On Target
NASA's LCROSS mission is dropping a probe into a lunar crater. Groups design a system to travel down a zip line and drop a marble onto a target in the classroom. The groups then modify their designs based upon testing.
NASA
Heavy Lifting
Astronauts need a way to lift heavy objects. Pupils design and build a crane out of cardboard and determine ways to improve their cranes based upon the outcomes of testing.
NASA
Roving on the Moon
Take a rover out for a test drive. The challenge is to build a rubber-band-powered rover out of cardboard. Individuals or groups work at making modifications to a prototype rover to increase its efficiency.
NASA
Touchdown
Individuals design and build a set of shock absorbers to protect their astronauts when they land. Using a limited amount of supplies, pupils build a system that will keep two large marshmallows from flying out of a cup when it lands...
NASA
Launch It
Launching a rocket with a balloon—that sounds crazy! The class brainstorms design characteristics of a rocket. Individuals build a balloon launcher and a rocket straw. Using the air stored in a balloon, the individuals launch their...
NASA
Lunar Plant Growth Chamber
Would astronauts be able to grow their food on the Moon? Teams research plant growth in order to design and build a growth chamber that will function on the lunar surface. They narrow down plant choices based upon their strengths and...
Technical Sketching
Introduction — Surfaces and Edges
How different can 3-D and 2-D really be? An engineering resource provides an explanation about the importance of two-dimensional technical drawings. Several samples show how to create multi-view drawings from pictorials and vice-versa....
Union County Vocational Technical Schools
Engineering Drawing
Knowing the basics of drafting allows individuals to create drawings that show all the views and measurements necessary to allow others to visualize the original object. Pupils gain experience by drawing three orthographic views of an...
Computer Science Unplugged
The Muddy City—Minimal Spanning Trees
What is the most efficient way to ensure everyone is connected? Individual pupils determine the least expensive route to pave roads in a fictional city. In doing so, they learn to find the minimal spanning tree for the situation. They...
Computer Science Unplugged
Twenty Guesses—Information Theory
How do we determine how much information to include and what can be left out? By playing a game of 20 questions, the class generates the best strategies for finding a number. They then move on to guessing the next letter in a short...
Computer Science Unplugged
Battleships—Searching Algorithms
How does a computer perform a search in order to find data? The lesson begins with a demonstration on finding one number out of 15. Pairs then play three games of Battleship by using different search techniques. The lesson plan finishes...
Computer Science Unplugged
Computing: Databases Unplugged
How do databases store and retrieve information? The activities in the resource provide fundamental concepts of databases by introducing an approach that teaches the basics without using computers. The pupils act as the actual data that...
Chymist
Make a Low Energy Radio Transmitter
How do you demonstrate radio transmissions? Pupils build a low-energy radio transmitter by constructing two coils from magnet wire and connecting them to audio/phone plugs. The resource provides the details on how to build the...
NASA
Rocket Wind Tunnel
Using a teacher-built wind tunnel constructed from a paper concrete tube form, a fan, and a balance, individuals determine the amount of drag their rocket design will experience in flight. Pupils make modifications to increase the...
NASA
Engineering Design for Human Exploration
What would it take to live on the lunar surface? Small groups build model rockets in order to simulate launching a habitat into space and rebuilding it. Divide the class into groups to design and build a model of a lunar habitat. The...
NASA
NASA: Moving Cargo
How does NASA transport people and cargo to planets? The five-lesson unit breaks down the transportation system that scientists use to transport cargo to space. Pairs team up in order to devise a transportation system that will carry the...
NASA
Project X-51
In a nose-cone to nose-cone competition, which rocket will prevail? Teams form rocket companies to design and build a rocket while competing against other teams in an economic challenge. The team that comes up with the best benefit/cost...
Teach Engineering
Things That Matter to Flocculants
How does the dirt get out of your drinking water? A hands-on activity introduces the use of flocculants to help clear solid particles out of water. The plan walks learners through the process of setting up an experiment that controls the...