Teach Engineering
Solar Water: Heat it Up!
Young engineers are instructed to design and build their own solar water heaters. Then, they calculate the efficiency and cost and compare them to commercially available models. This is a full unit for pupils to apply their knowledge.
DiscoverE
Design a Shoe
Engage young scientists in a project where high fashion meets engineering! Using foam core and hot glue, partnered pupils design and create a functional, fashionable pair of shoes. Groups then put the footwear through its paces using a...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Stop and Go
It's "Green light, go!" with this instructional activity! STEM classes are illuminated with the history of traffic signals and how the engineering design has improved over time. They also learn about patents for new inventions. Finally,...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Tennis Anyone?
After reading up on the history of sports racquets, engineering teams design and construct a racquet for batting a Velcro-striped ball at a target. Teams evaluate their design by aiming for the target three times each and answering...
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...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Failure: Seeds of Innovation
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" Through this assignment, emerging engineers examine how failed experiments are simply part of the process of an outstanding design. They begin with some reading about the microwave oven,...
Tech Museum of Innovation
Engineering Takes Flight
Groups explore concepts of flight by creating paper airplanes from different types of paper and testing their flight. They use the results to identify the optimal material.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Power of Graphene
To prepare for the activity, STEM classes read about nanotechnology and the amazing properties of graphene. They collect a graphene sample from pencils, and then connect them into simple circuits to determine whether it makes a better...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Popsicle Bridge
Using popsicle sticks and glue, groups must work together to design and build a bridge that can support weight and is aesthetically pleasing. The lesson begins by learners reading about different features of bridge architecture, followed...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Tall Tower Challenge
A fun and challenging activity for nearly any age group, partners must work together to build the tallest structure possible using paper clips, straws, and pipe cleaners. In addition to being tall, the structure must also be able to...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Water Tower Challenge
Providing clean water to a town is quite a feat... is your class up for the challenge? After a short reading about water towers, groups work together to design a working water delivery system. The water flow must be adjustable (able to...
Teach Engineering
Working Together to Live Together
Whose home is it anyway? Design teams plan a housing development in which they must also protect a native species. The teams consist of a project manager, civil engineer, environmental engineer, and graphic designer. Teams present their...
Teach Engineering
Energy Storage Derby and Proposal
Small groups use the engineering design process to build and test a vehicle capable of carrying 250 grams a distance of five meters. The design must allow for the storage of potential energy and turn it into motion, allowing the...
Safe Drinking Water Foundation
I Want to Be an Engineer
Environmentalists turn into engineers! Your class explores the perspectives of an engineer and water keeper, including the necessary steps that are taken in order to build a water treatment facility.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Blast Off!
With the use of a model rocket kit, aspiring aerospace engineers work cooperatively to construct and launch a rocket. A preparatory reading assignment is included, covering Newton's laws of motion and information about the first...
Skyscraper Museum
What is a Skyscraper?
Skyscrapers are amazing feats of architectural design that create the iconic skylines of the world's biggest cities. Young architects explore the defining characteristics of these monstrous towers with the first lesson in this four-part...
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...
Teach Engineering
Engineering Brainstorming
Here is a lesson that offers a great hybrid of forming new skills and using current knowledge to come up with a plan. The class brainstorms information they would need to know or already know about hybrid vehicles. They then group the...
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Adaptive Device Design
After reading about how engineering has made adaptive devices possible for people with disabilities, pupils work in groups to discuss different devices to determine whether or not they are adaptive. They also disassemble a pair of...
Autodesk
AutoCAD 360
Take your drafting and design projects on the go with with this mobile computer-aided design program. Allowing users to view, edit, and share their work with others, this is a great resource for developing the technical drawing skills of...
Teach Engineering
Design Step 1: Identify the Need
What exactly does an engineer do? Learners find out through a lesson that asks them to solve a problem that affects a target population. Aspiring engineers learn the steps of the engineering design process as they apply it to a challenge...
Scholastic
STEM Challenges and Activity Sheets for Grades 6–8
From 3-D cities to building bridges, young engineers engage in innovative STEM challenges that promote brainstorming and collaboration. Learners take on the roles of different types of engineers as well as become familiar...
DiscoverE
Nanomedicine
Cancer patients need as much help as they can get. Future engineers design a system that delivers cancer medicine to the lungs but doesn't harm other organs. Using ferrofluids and iron particles, they test out their delivery systems.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
A Question of Balance
It's a neat idea, but the task of designing a system for filling jars with consistent specific amounts of a product may be a little out of reach, especially for younger pupils. Intended as an engineering design lesson, this may be better...