Science Friday
Wind Power
Blow away the competition with a lesson about wind power and turbines. Groups build windmills to test how the size of blades affect the amount of work done. The scholars build a variety of blades and collect data on how each type...
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...
DiscoverE
Build a Plankton Net
Give household materials new life by turning them into a plankton net. Scholars design and build a net to collect and filter plankton from water. They test out their creations by using glitter to represent plankton. The nets need to...
DiscoverE
Laser Challenge
Help your class become laser focused on the connection between sound and light. Scholars set up mirrors to bend and direct lasers that are connected to a music source. Music should start playing when the laser hits the photoresistor.
PBS
Kinetic Sculpture
Build a sculpture that moves on its own; no power source required! The second installment of a five-part series has individuals create a sculpture that moves with the wind. It can't topple over though, so some type of support is necessary.
Curated OER
Work and Power: Waterwheel
Students investigate a waterwheel and the physical properties of energy. For this waterwheel lesson students create a model waterwheel and calculate the amount of power produced.
Teach Engineering
Changing Fields
Eddy currents, Faraday's Law and Lenz's Law provide the connection between train brakes and and MRI machines in a lesson plan that asks teachers to provided the material needed so the pupils can understand the properties of changing...
Curated OER
TE Lesson: Renewable Energy
Students examine renewable energy sources such as solar, water, and wind. They experiment to determine how renewable energy is transformed into electricity. They investigate the role of engineers who work in the field of renewable energy.
Curated OER
Thar She Blows!: Wind Power
Students examine how wind energy is transformed into electrical energy. In pairs, they build miniature wind turbines and measure how much electrical current they produce. They asses the importance of design and position in energy...
Curated OER
Water Power
Students observe a model of a waterwheel to investigate the transformations of energy involved in turning the blades of a hydro-turbine into work. They work as engineers to create a model for a new waterwheel while considering resources,...
Curated OER
Forcing Electrons to Move
In this electrolytic cell worksheet, students read about car batteries and how they produce electricity for cars to run. They answer six questions about electrolytic cells and oxidation-reduction reactions.
Curated OER
Cleaning Air with Balloons
Students examine how a pollutant recovery method functions in cleaning industrial air pollution. They listen to a teacher-led discussion, conduct an experiment with balloons, static electricity, and pepper, and observe and record the...
Curated OER
Greenewables
Students form expert engineering teams working for the (fictional) alternative energy consulting firm, Greenewables, Inc. Each team specializes in a form of renewable energy used to generate electrical power: passive solar, solar...
Curated OER
Cosmic Rays and Solar Cells
In this cosmic rays and solar cells worksheet, students read about how cosmic rays damage the electrical output of solar cells over time on satellites. Students use a graph of the solar power output compared to the year for the SOHO...
Curated OER
Patterns, Functions, and Algebra: Wired for Space
Learners assess how patterns, functions and algebra can assist NASA engineers design new ways of propelling spacecrafts. They explore how electricity and magnetism are replacing the fuel-consuming rocket propulsion. Electromagnetism is...
Curated OER
Satellites and Solar Cells
For this satellite and solar cells worksheet, students determine the electrical power generated by the solar cells on the IMAGE satellite. Students solve 3 problems including finding the usable area of the satellite, determining the...
Curated OER
Falling Water
Students drop water from different heights to demonstrate the conversion of water's potential energy to kinetic energy. They see how varying the height from which water is dropped affects the splash size. In seeing how falling water can...
Curated OER
"Finding" Horsepower
Students investigate horsepower as a unit of power. They examine history and discover that scientists and engineers of high achievement are considered to be among the most valued contributors to their culture.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Clipper Creations
Students create their own model of a nail clipper. They practice using engineering design and model building. They also identify different kinds of small levers.
Curated OER
Capturing Renewable Energy
Students watch a video segment on the engineering design process, then design a storage system for renewable energy. Students brainstorm and research ways in which renewable energies such as solar and wind power can be stored.
Curated OER
TE Activity: Ohm's Law 2
High schoolers study Ohm's Law 2 after completing an activity about Ohm's Law 1. They determine how long it takes to charge a battery. They examine if it is better to use batteries in series or parallel circuits.
Curated OER
Wind Turbines
Students build their own wind turbine. In this physics lesson, students calculate the power output of their wind turbines. They evaluate their design and make the necessary modifications.
Curated OER
Turn on the Light, Thomas Edison by Peter and Connie Roop
In this literature worksheet, 5th graders read the novel Turn on the Light, Thomas Edison by Peter and Connie Roop and then answer ten reading comprehension questions about the novel.
Rochester Institute of Technology
Artificial Eye
Scientists in California developed a bionic eye that allows blind people to see edges of objects in black and white and costs $145,000. In the activity, groups of scholars discuss bioengineering, focusing on the human eye. They then...