TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Smooth Operator
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, construct, test, and evaluate surgical instruments using everyday materials. The objective of the design is to see how well they can perform a simulated "surgical...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Water Tower Challenge
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test a water tower made with everyday items. The objective of the lesson is to work in teams to learn about water delivery systems and create one that will...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Tall Tower Challenge
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, test, and evaluate the tallest tower they can build with just straws, pipe cleaners, and paperclips that can support the weight of a golf ball for two minutes....
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Tinkering With Tops
Students learn about the engineering design process as they design, build, and test spinning tops using everyday materials. The objective of the design is to have the top spin at least 10 seconds within a thirty centimeter diameter.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Classroom Paper Recycling
Students learn about the engineering design process as they devlop their own recycled paper using everyday materials. The objective of the lesson is to learn how chemical engineers work in teams to develop and improve the manufacturing...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Heart of the Matter
Students learn about artificial heart valves and the engineering design process used in mechanical heart valve designs. The objective of the lesson is to develop an understanding of the interface between man and machine and the impact of...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineering Ups and Downs
Engineering design lesson 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.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Temperature Tactics
Students practice the engineering design process as they explore devices used to measure changes in temperature. They work in teams to design, build, test, and evaluate their own temperature gauge made from everyday materials.
Ruth Patrick Science Education Center
Ruth Patrick Science Education Center: Shaking It Up With Earthquake Engineering
Students will learn basic information about earthquakes and their impact. They then follow the engineering design process as they construct earthquake-resistant buildings using toothpicks and marshmallows. The buildings are tested using...
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology
Ciese: Reverse Engineering of a Common Product
A telecollaborative project where students communicate engineering concepts across the globe. Student tasks are to deconstruct a common device, then design reassembly instructions for others worldwide to follow to attempt to reconstruct...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Pendulum Time
Working in teams, students build their own pendulum clock using everyday materials. They conduct research, design, build, test it, and share observations with the class, while learning how pendulums operate and have been used to measure...
Other
Engineering Your Future Ohio: Busting Myths
A good introduction to the engineering design process, this project has students conduct tests to "bust myths," modelling the processes and tests shown on the show Mythbusters.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineered Sports
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...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Design a Paper Car: Exploring the Scientific Method
An engineering design project used to help students practice teamwork and to give them an opportunity to experience engineering practices, such as teamwork and problem-solving.
The Tech Interactive
The Tech Museum of Innovation: Animal Rescue [Pdf]
Scientists often need to gather information in order to form a deeper understanding of the problem. Can your team gather scientific evidence to help inform the design of a device that will help move endangered animals from one protected...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Curious George Stem: Pigeon Perch Lesson Plan
Students can explore the engineering design process while watching video excerpts from Curious George and participating in hands on activities.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Curiosity Killed the App
Students gain experience with the software/system design process, closely related to the engineering design process, to solve a problem. First, they learn about the Mars Curiosity rover and its mission, including the difficulties that...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Naturally Organized
Students work in teams to design a tabletop supply organizer inspired by the natural home of an insect species. Their prototype stores the group's classroom supplies (scissors, crayon boxes, pencils, and glue sticks). In addition to...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Engineer a Cane
This lesson focuses on how engineers improve assistive devices such as a cane to meet the needs of the elderly. Students work in teams to re-engineer a cane for a "client." They are assigned a client profile, develop a design to suit the...
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Biomimicry in Engineering
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...
Other
Detroit Institute of Arts: Think Like an Engineer
In this STEAM lesson plan, students are immersed in a world of transportation design as they use the design thinking process to create their own vehicle prototype out of everyday materials.
University of Hawai'i
University of Hawai'i: Exploring Our Fluid Earth: Activity: Design a Ship
In this activity, students apply their knowledge of buoyancy and ship stability to design a model ship. They test, evaluate, and refine the design of the model to optimize performance. Background information and other activities are...
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: A Place in the Shade an Engineering Challenge
Kindergarteners can participate in the engineering and design process in this challenge in which they try to keep an ice cube from melting. Included in this activity are samples of student's structures, a video of a kindergarten class...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Introduction to Evolutionary Computation
Students are introduced to the concepts of evolution by natural selection and digital evolution software. They learn about the field of evolutionary computation, which applies the principles of natural selection to solve engineering...