Berkeley Engineering and Mentors
Marshmallow Catapaults
After a brief lecture on levers, torque, projectiles, and the five-step engineering design cycle, young physical science learners or engineers build catapults out of craft sticks. This is an open-ended exploration of what works and what...
Denver Art Museum
Lesson: That's Not Natural
Any time kids engage in a design project, they are building problem-solving skills, collaborative learning skills, and creative thinking skills. Upper graders take a nature walk to observe and sketch organic shapes and lines that they...
North Carolina State University
Pipe Cleaner Towers
Small groups work together to create a tower out of 15 pipe cleaners under a set of imposed limitations. First, restrict team members to use only one arm, and then remove the use of spoken language. There is also a time limit. The brief...
eGFI
Activity: Prevent Shore Erosion
After calculating the amount of energy in a wave, future engineers plan and present to the class a design for a seawall that will minimize erosion on the shore. Not only must they consider the energy that will impact the wall, they also...
Curated OER
Map that Habitat
Students participate in an activity that replicates the creation of sea floor bathymetry by taking a simplified form of soundings in the classroom. They discuss sea floor mapping technologies, sonar, soundings, and remote sensing,...
Curated OER
Strong as the Weakest Link
Students recognize that compression and tension forces are important considerations in building structures. They construct their own building structure using marshmellows and spaghetti to see which structure can hold the most weight.
Curated OER
AM I on the Radio?
Students create a working radio by soldering circuit components supplied from an AM radio kit. They demonstrate an efficient soldering technique, identify the circuit components used to construct their radio, and explain how their radio...
Curated OER
An Arm and A Leg
Students examine how the movements of bones are dependent on the interaction of pairs of muscles. They design and construct a prototype of an artificial limb using a syringe system, and determine whether water or air makes the appendage...
Curated OER
Blow-and-Go Parachute
Students design a skydiver and parachute constraption to demonstrate how drag caused by air resistance slows the descent of skydivers as they travel back to Earth. They experience how gravity pulls the skydiver toward the earth and how...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Broken Bones
Students examine the discipline of biomedical engineering or bioengineering. They complete worksheets by participating in reading background information and completing a hands on activity. They design a prototype of a cast to set a...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Bubbling Plants
Students study a way to quantify the process of photosynthesis during a given time using the Elodea plant. They design a hypothesis that they test in the hands on activity. They compare the amounts of photosynthesis that occur during low...
Curated OER
Ships 2: What Floats Your Boat?
Students design, build, and test the specifications (water displacement and load line) for a model boat. The instructional activity focuses especially on integrating design principles with inquiry-based experimental skills.
Curated OER
Ships 3: Grand Designs And Great Failures
Students engage in this, the third in a three-part series on ships. The overall lesson series is designed to allow students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and testing...
Curated OER
Heroes in History - ABC Book
Youngsters research information about people in history that we recognize as heroes. They write short biographies about their assigned heroes, and create an ABC book. This is an ambitious project becausev26 people must be chosen and...
Curated OER
Transportation Fuels: The Future is Today
Assign each group of 3-4 upper elementary engineers to a different type of transportation fuel. A background information page is provided to get them started with researching their assigned fuel. Each group then produces an exhibit or a...
Curated OER
Tech Integration Project Lesson Accelerator: Project Overview
Prepare middle schoolers for life in the tech world with a lesson on entering, storing, sorting, and creating database collections. They use a database tool, such as excel, to record the contents of their CD collections. They then...
Curated OER
Food Web in the Bay
Sixth graders study the food web in a bay. In this food web lesson, 6th graders investigate the SAV- submerged aquatic vegetation of a bay including their predators, and how the organisms eat, have proper living space and water. They...
Curated OER
Where in the World is the Wide Web?
Sixth graders investigate how the web works and how to search effectively. In this Internet use lesson, 6th graders brainstorm positive and negative experiences they have had while on the Internet. Students view two web sites to learn...
Curated OER
Mission Complete, Houston
It was a bittersweet event when the space shuttle Atlantis touched down for the last time on July 21, 2011. Space science learners read an article about this event in The New York Times and then write answers to who, what, where, when,...
Curated OER
Up for the Challenge?
A general engineering quiz can be given at the beginning of your engineering or technology unit to stimulate interest. A wide variety of topics are touched by engineers, including the medical industry, energy production, building design,...
Curated OER
Hybrid Vehicles: Cut Pollution and Save Money
Math and science meet in this lesson on hybrid electric automobiles. This 24-page resource provides everything you need for teaching a lesson that compares the use of internal combustion engines to hybrid electric engines. Participants...
Curated OER
Drafting the Gettysburg Address
Students, in groups, compare and contrast Abraham Lincoln's drafts and final version of the Gettysburg Address. They explain the differences between the final version and drafts of the Gettysburg Address.
Curated OER
Happy 100th Birthday Airplane
Students research the Wright Brothers and their plane. In this airplane history lesson, students use a hotlist of sites to research and create an airplane. A question is provided for each site.
Curated OER
Interviewing Famous Leaders in History
Students explore historical figures. In this history/research lesson, students use a variety of research materials to learn about the historical figure of their choice. Students write questions and responses as if they were interviewing...