What does innovation look like, and how can one generate innovative ideas in the classroom? This collection is built around "design thinking" and is intended to help educators and learners explore the invention of real, practical...

In this project, students are challenged to answer the question "Is there a way to detect the presence of tumors that isn't as painful as mammography but more reliable and quantifiable than a breast-self exam or clinical breast-exams?"....

Students use the engineering design process to build a working windmill out of everyday materials. Lesson explores the technology behind wind energy being used to generate energy in businesses and homes worldwide.

Use the engineering design process to create a solution to problem involving magnets?

Sustainable design is a philosophy of developing products in line with social, economic, and ecological sustainability principles. In design, it is important to understand the distinction between Green Design and Sustainable Design....

In this engineering design challenge about building in hurricane-prone regions, students learn that a solid base helps stabilize a structure by constructing, testing, and redesigning a tower that can support a tennis ball at least 18...

Teams of students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a radio receiver and optional transmitter that can receive FM broadcasts. Lesson focuses on how advances in radio communications have impacted...

Students learn about the engineering design process as they devlop their own recycled paper using everyday materials. The objective of the instructional activity is to learn how chemical engineers work in teams to develop and improve the...

Engineering design lesson plan examines the principles behind working elevators. Teams of students explore how elevators work, then design, build, and evaluate their own elevator to service a toy car garage.

Students work in teams to investigate how aerospace engineering relates to sports, especially golf ball design and the physics of bounce. They use this information to determine whether these aerospace principles can be applied to...

This lesson focuses on the concept of Biomimicry and students learn how engineers have incorporated structures and methods from the living world in products and solutions for all industries. Students then work in teams to develop a...

Students use simple materials to design and make model sailboats that must stay upright and sail straight in a testing tank.

Amy Smith is an engineer who designs simple and inexpensive solutions to real-world problems. This video produced for Teachers' Domain features her innovative design for testing the safety of drinking water in the developing world.

Students design and build a working robotic arm from a set of everyday items with a goal of having the arm be able to pick up a Styrofoam cup. Working in teams of three or four students, the students explore effective teamwork skills...

This collection of classroom books shows how students can identify engineering problems in a novel. Each book is accompanied by a plot synopsis, problems students have noted, and solutions they have come up with and built in their...

Students explore the design of anemometers and how they are used in measuring the speed of wind. Working in teams of "engineers", they will design, build, and evaluate the effectiveness of their own anemometers, presenting their findings...

Young scholars become "engineers" as they learn how to develop pipeline systems for transportation. In this lesson, they work in teams to design, develop, and execute a pipeline plan to transport both a golf ball and a ping pong ball...

Lesson investigates how engineers develop safe transportation systems to operate in a variety of climates and environments. Teams of students work together to construct a "chair lift" made from everyday materials as a test of this...

Young scholars will work in teams to design and construct outdoor air pollution detectors from everyday items. They will then test the designs for presence of pollutants in the air and communicate their results to the class.

Students plan a disaster relief mission employing a UAV (drone) by filling in a comic book-like storyboard of engineering design steps.

Students work in teams to fill jars with a product that is uniform in weight or count. Lesson investigates how manufacturing engineers use weight scales and measurement to develop systems that can create consistent products.

Lesson addresses how traffic is managed by the use of the traffic light. Student "engineers" work in teams to design a new traffic light system using new technology to meet the needs of society today.

Activity investigates the concept of how bicycle brakes use force and friction to stop or slow mechanical motion. Students work in teams to devise a simple braking system while suggesting improvements to current bicycle brake design.

Lesson probes how biometrics technologies have been used worldwide to address security and identification systems. After exploring different biometric techniques, young scholars work in teams to find their own hand geometry biometrics,...