Teach Engineering
Tools and Equipment (Part 1)
Looking for the best inclined plane for the job? Groups calculate the theoretical mechanical advantage for four different inclined planes. They determine the actual mechanical advantage by measuring the amount of force needed for the...
Teach Engineering
Machines and Tools (Part 2)
Which pulley system will give us a whale of a good time? Teams compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantages of different pulley systems. They then form a recommendation for how to move a whale from an aquarium back to the ocean.
Teach Engineering
Design and Build a Rube Goldberg
Let's see how complicated we can make this simple task. The last activity associated with a 10-part series has groups design and build a Rube Goldberg machine. Teams determine a simple task to accomplish and use the engineering design...
Teach Engineering
Cartesian Diver
Amaze your scholars with an activity that uses a Cartesian diver to demonstrate Pascal's Law, Archimedes' Principle, and the Ideal Gas Law. Groups then repeat the process and make their own diver move up and down in a bottle.
Teach Engineering
Rock and Boat
Present the class with a question on whether the water level of a pond will rise they take a large rock out of a boat and drop it into the pond. Groups come down on all sides of the question and try to justify their answers. The activity...
Teach Engineering
Above-Ground Storage Tank Design Project
The challenge: determine whether a tank will float. A design activity has groups work as engineering teams in order to determine the stability of given tanks and liquid contents. The teams need to determine the equations to...
Teach Engineering
Start Networking!
Class members create their own social networks by collecting signatures before graphing the interactions with their fellow classmates. The degree distribution of the simulated social network is determined by calculating the degree of...
Teach Engineering
Processes on Complex Networks
Introduces your class to random processes in networks with an activity that uses information about disease spread using the susceptible, infectious, resistant (SIR) model. Participants determine whether a susceptible person becomes...
Teach Engineering
Curb the Epidemic!
Class members use an applet on the Internet to simulate the spread of a disease. The simulation allows individuals to determine two nodes to vaccinate to limit the number of nodes infected. By running several simulations, scholars...
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...
Teach Engineering
Energy on a Roller Coaster
Roll with your class into the idea of conservation of energy. Pupils use a roller coaster track to collect data to reinforce the concept of conservation of energy and the influence of friction. Class members then create a graph from...
Teach Engineering
It's Tiggerific!
Spring into elastic potential energy with a instructional activity that provides background information on determining the elastic potential energy of springs and other elastic materials. General energy equations emphasize the...
Teach Engineering
Energy and the Pogo Stick
Let your class bounce to examine the concept elastic potential energy. Individuals bounce on a pogo stick in order to calculate its elastic potential energy. Groups then compare the elastic potential energy to the gravitational...
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,...
Teach Engineering
Heart to Heart
Begin a unit on the heart, the parts and the function of the heart, and about heart disease with a resource that includes a lecture, a PowerPoint presentation, and research information. The lesson is the first of a four-part series...
Teach Engineering
Model Heart Valves
Small groups use the knowledge learned about the heart to design and build a prototype of an artificial heart valve. The teams demonstrate the functionality of their valve. They are also responsible for creating a pamphlet that describes...
Teach Engineering
Super Slinger Engineering Challenge
How well can you launch a ping-pong ball? Small groups design launchers that can launch a ping-pong ball 20 feet into a target. The teams follow the engineering design process as they develop a solution that meets the design...
Teach Engineering
Off-Road Wheelchair Challenge
Challenge your class to use their understanding of the engineering design process to design and build a small-scale, off-road prototype for an assistive technology device. Teams select materials to build their scale models, and, using...
Teach Engineering
Portable Wheelchair Ramp Challenge
Ramp up the engineering design process in your classroom with an activity that challenges teams to design, build, and test a small-scale portable wheelchair ramp. The class develops design requirements, and teams test their designs...
Teach Engineering
Automatic Floor Cleaner Computer Program Challenge
Have your class use the engineering design process to program a vacuum robot. Using computer engineering concepts, teams program an automatic floor cleaner to traverse designated patterns.
Teach Engineering
The Grand Challenge
Magnetic resonance imaging, just how safe is it? The introduction to unit study of magnetic resonance imaging technology presents the grand challenge questions of how an MRI machine works, the risks involved, the physics involved,...
Teach Engineering
Visualizing Magnetic Field Lines
Magnetic fields might not be a field of dreams but they are useful. Class members observe the reactions of magnetic fields using a compass, iron filings in a paper container, and iron filings suspended in mineral oil.
Teach Engineering
Force on a Current Carrying Wire
What do electrical currents have to do with an MRI? Using a simple wire setup and a magnet, class members explore forces used in an MRI by investigating the magnetic force acting on a wire carrying a current.
Teach Engineering
Slinkies as Solenoids
What does an MRI machine have to do with a slinky? This activity challenges learners to run a current through a slinky and use a magnetic field sensor to measure the magnetic field. Groups then change the length of the slinky to see...