Teach Engineering
Sugar Spill!
Sugar isn't good for you, but it's great for yeast! Scholars design an experiment to investigate how variables affect the rate of sugar consumption in yeast. The last installment of a nine-part Life Science unit considers how scientists...
DiscoverE
Electrical Liquids
Liquid or not, here comes the electricity. Scholars test the conductivity of various substances using a circuit that includes a light bulb. If the light bulb lights up, then the liquid is a conductor. What a bright idea!
Teach Engineering
Chromatography Lab
Groups use alcohol and chromatography paper to separate the color components of black ink. The purpose of the activity is to allow the class to become aware that mixtures exist in hidden places.
Teach Engineering
Density Column Lab - Part 1
Mass and density — aren't they the same thing? This activity has groups use balance beams and water displacement to measure several objects. The pupils use the measurements to calculate the density of the objects.
Teach Engineering
Water Remediation Lab
Water filtration — that's pure genius! Groups test the ability of a water filter to purify water by running chlorine contaminated water through a filter and measuring the chlorine concentrations as they filter the water. They then graph...
Teach Engineering
Corn for Fuel?!
Can corn power the world? Young scientists learn about how corn and other plants can provide renewable biofuels in the second of nine lessons. They set up an experiment to investigate how different variables affect plant growth. All of...
Teach Engineering
Density Column Lab - Part 2
Groups suspend objects within layers of liquids to determine the densities of different liquids and compare them to the densities of objects calculated in Part 1. The groups then carefully test their calculations by layering the...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Fuel Level Detector
This site contains a challenge for students to engineer a sensor that can detect how much fuel is in your tank. The site also contains tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Safe Stopping Robot
A challenge for students to design and engineer a robot that turns itself off when it leaves a safe area. This challenge contains tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Automated Wrapping Machine
On this site, find a challenge to design and build a machine that can make plane fuselage by wrapping a mold just like Boeing's carbon fiber placement machines. While working on the challenge, students will find a lesson plan, tips, and...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Electronic Water Level Detector
Make a device that will notify people when the water level drops in this challenge. Students will do this by building an open circuit that completes when the water level drops below a certain level and/or goes above a certain level. The...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Self Deploying Device
Construct a device that opens up when thrown into the air on this website. The website also includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Airfoil
Do you know how an airplane flys? Use this challenge to learn about flight by building a wing that can generate lift from a fan while carrying weight. Find details about the challenge, tips, and a lesson plan on this site. Also, students...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Flow Control System
In this engineering challenge, students will build a system that controls the movement of material and shuts off automatically. This site includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Skyscraper for the Wind
A challenge for students to build a skyscraper that stands strong in the wind and is at least 18 inches tall. This challenge includes tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Bird Beak
In this challenge, students will construct a beak that will allow them to pick up as much food as possible in one try without using their hands. This website includes the challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Space Tool
Using common household items, make a tool that an astronaut could use to pick up an object in space. This site also includes tips, lesson plans, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Wind Powered Water Pump
With this design challenge, students can build a wind-powered turbine that can pump water up from the ground. This site contains tips to complete the design challenge as well as a place for students to document their engineering design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Air Powered Spinning Machine
Engineer an air-powered spinning machine with this site. Site includes a teachers lesson plan, tips, and a place to document the process of creating this machine.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Balloon Helicopter
Can you build a balloon helicopter that can fly at least 3 feet from the ground? This site gives a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Redwood Tree
Using recycled paper and tape, students will build a redwood tree that is taller than you and that can stand on its own. The site includes the challenge, tips, lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer a Landing Device
Can you design and build a device that will slow down your payload as it falls so it lands gently when dropped from 8 feet high? This website contains a lesson plan, tips, and a place for students to document their engineering design...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Electric Switch
Using your knowledge of the flow of electricity, do you think you could build a switch that can complete a circuit to turn on an LED? This site contains the challenge, tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their...
Technovation
Curiosity Machine: Challenges: Engineer an Exoskeleton
This site challenges students to build a wearable device that will detect when your body moves. The site contains tips, a lesson plan, and a place for students to document their engineering design process.