Mascil Project
Closed Greenhouses
Controlling the efficiency of a greenhouse is a mathematical task. A collaborative project challenges learners to create an efficiency plan for a closed greenhouse. Using algebraic equations, they consider a set of constraints, design...
Curated OER
Design a Recycling Game!
Students discover that recycling is using a product more than once so that natural resources can be saved and so that we won't need so many garbage dumps and landfills. They see that there are different ways to recycle. Students design a...
Curated OER
Design Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine
Students design and construct a Rube Goldberg machine that accomplishes a simple task in at least ten steps. They view and discuss various Rube Goldberg designs, identify types of simple machines, and in small groups produce a schematic...
University of Minnesota
Altered Reality
Fascinate young life scientists by showing them how their brain learns. By using prism goggles while attempting to toss bean bags at a target, lab partners change their outlook on the world around them, producing amusing results....
Bonneville
Researching Chemicals and Materials for Solar Cell Construction
Revolutionize the solar cell industry with a new design. The 10th of 14 lessons in the Cost Effective Solar Cells unit has pupils start a project in which they design a unique solar cell. They receive an introduction to the project,...
Curated OER
Reinforced Concrete Bridges
Pupils analyze bridge designs and functions. For this reinforced bridge lesson students brainstorm bridge ideas, divide into teams and give an oral presentation to the class to show them their bridge design.
Radford University
Beach House
What's the best way to make a beach house affordable? Given constraints on the number of rooms and the cost of flooring, learners design dream beach houses. They draw floor plans and calculate the areas using different units.
Curated OER
Tower Investigation and the Egg
Middle schoolers build three types of towers, engineering them to hold an egg one foot high for 15 seconds. They discover that engineering designs are subject to constraints such as time, money and size specifications. In this activity...
Curated OER
Wind Chimes
Students construct wind chimes using physics. In small groups they design and create wind chimes using a specific weights, number of notes, and keeping the cost under ten dollars.
Curated OER
Highway Design for the Future
Eighth graders research highway designs and create a marble maze to illustrate a highway system. They test their designs and write reports defining the project and analyzing the results.
Curated OER
Design and Construct a Road Sign Support
Young scholars use simple materials to design, build and test a model of a free standing structure used to support overhead road signs.
Curated OER
Build a Better Pencil
Students explore engineering by building a simple design in class. In this pencil creation lesson, students discuss their likes and dislikes with current writing utensils and design a new type of pencil. Students utilize arts and crafts...
Curated OER
Secrets of Lost Empires II -- Medieval Siege
Students design a working working model of a trebuchet and demonstrate the power of a Class 1 lever. They test their models by throwing grapes the greatest distance and raising and lowering bricks.
Curated OER
Task: Miniature Golf
"Fore!" All right, no one really yells this out in miniature golf, but this well-defined activity will have your charges using lots of numbers in their unique design of a miniature golf hole. Included in the activity criteria is the...
Curated OER
Access Ramp
Just about every public building that your high schoolers are familiar with has an access ramp which complies with ADA requirements. As it turns out, designing such a ramp is an excellent activity to incorporate slope, the Pythagorean...
Achieve
Fences
Pupils design a fence for a backyard pool. Scholars develop a fence design based on given constraints, determine the amount of material they need, and calculate the cost of the project.
Curated OER
Make an Alarm!
Young scholars read the story, Dear Mr. Henshaw. They build an alarm system for something in the classroom, as the main character Leigh does to protect his lunchbox from thieves. Students explore alarms and use their creativity to create...
Curated OER
Taking the Boat to Manaus
Fifth graders apply the concepts they know regarding mass, volume and density in the previous activities to design a boat. Student teams must make a boat which can travel the waters of the Amazon Rainforest. Each group makes a...
Curated OER
Mission to Mars
Students consider the affects of space travel on the human body. In this human physiology lesson, students compare how the 5 different body systems work on Earth and in Space. Students then design a product that an astronaut could use as...
Star Wars in the Classroom
Star Wars Geography Unit
What kind of animals live on an ice planet like Hoth? How would the habitat on Tatooine allow different organisms to thrive? Connect social studies, science, and Star Wars in one engaging activity that focuses on the ecosystems of the...
Curated OER
Apply Technological Design and Scientific Habits of Mind
Students are introduced to the principles involved with technological design. In groups, they use the Internet to research an important historical innovation and how it changed the world. They discover the barriers that were involved in...
Curated OER
Cross That Bridge
Learners create paper bridges. In this geometry and architecture lesson, groups use legal paper and paper clips to design a bridge that will hold 100 pennies. Links to mini-lessons exploring stability of different geometric figures and...
Curated OER
Design Weather Instruments using LEGO Sensors
Students design and create a LEGO structure that will house and protect a temperature sensor. They leave the structure in a safe spot and check the temperature regularly and chart it. After the students have built their structures, the...
Curated OER
Balsa Towers
Students build their own tower using concepts from previous lessons. They are given a set of materials to use and general guidelines. They share what they have created with their classmates.