Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Bumps and Bruises

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Students learn about the role engineers play in creating protective gear for sports. Students then build a protective landing pad to catch a dropped egg without it breaking
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Implementing Biomimicry and Sustainable Design

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This unit provides students with an opportunity to study ecological relationships with an emphasis on the Sonoran Desert. Students appreciate the complexity and balance that supports the exchange of energy and matter within food webs....
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Protect Those Eyes

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students design and build prototypes for protective eyewear. They choose different activities or sports that require protective eyewear and design a device for that particular use. Students learn about the many ways in which the eyes can...
Lesson Plan
Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology

Ciese: Reverse Engineering of a Common Product

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Sticks and Stones Will Break That Bone!

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students learn about the strength of bones and methods of helping to mend fractured bones. During a class demonstration, a chicken bone is broken by applying a load until it reaches a point of failure (fracture). Then, working as...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Splash, Pop, Fizz: Rube Goldberg Machines

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Refreshed with an understanding of the six simple machines; screw, wedge, pully, incline plane, wheel and axle, and lever, student groups receive materials and an allotted amount of time to act as mechanical engineers to design and...
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Students as Scientists

For Teachers 6th - 9th
This curricular unit contains two lessons that let students actually do the work of scientists as they design their own experiments to answer questions they generate. In the first lesson and its associated activity, students conduct a...
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Pendulum Time

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Taking the Boat to Manaus

For Teachers 5th
In this activity, the students will apply the concepts they learned regarding mass, volume and density in the previous activities to design a boat.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: If You're Not Part of the Solution!

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Students continue the research begun in the associated lesson as if they were biomedical engineers working for a pharmaceutical company. Groups each perform a simple chemical reaction (to precipitate solid calcium out of solution) to...
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Break the Tension

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students learn about and experiment with the concept of surface tension. How can a paper clip "float" on top of water? How can a paper boat be powered by soap in water? How do water striders "walk" on top of water? Why do engineers care...
Lesson Plan
Other

Engineering Your Future Ohio: Busting Myths

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A good introduction to the engineering design process, this project has learners conduct tests to "bust myths," modelling the processes and tests shown on the show Mythbusters.
Lesson Plan
TryEngineering

Try Engineering: Engineered Sports

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Design a Paper Car: Exploring the Scientific Method

For Teachers 9th - 10th
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.
Lesson Plan
The Tech Interactive

The Tech Museum of Innovation: Animal Rescue [Pdf]

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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...
Unit Plan
Open Ed

Open Ed Sci: 7.2 Chemical Reactions & Energy

For Teachers 7th - 9th
In this 21-day unit, students are introduced to the anchoring phenomenon-a flameless heater in a Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) that provides hot food to people by just adding water. They complete investigations to collect evidence to support...
Activity
Thinkport Education

Maryland Public Television: Topston Fitness Trail [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
The city council in Topston wants to build a fitness trail in a nearby park to help its citizens become more physically fit and puts you in charge of the task. This workbook will help guide you in making the big decisions and experience...
Activity
PBS

Pbs Kids:activities and Videos: Electricity

For Students 3rd - 8th
This PBS site offers videos and activities are hands-on challenges that focus on the engineering design process. They use simple materials, allow for multiple solutions, and are ideal for ages 9-12.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Curious George Stem: Pigeon Perch Lesson Plan

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students can explore the engineering design process while watching video excerpts from Curious George and participating in hands on activities.
Unit Plan
Thinkport Education

Thinkport: Water, Water, Everywhere?

For Students 9th - 10th
Students learn about global access to clean water and apply the engineering design process to develop a solution to purify water.
Unit Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Robot Design Challenges

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Through the two lessons and five activities in this unit, students' knowledge of sensors and motors is integrated with programming logic as they perform complex tasks using LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT robots and software.
Activity
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Engineer a Jetliner

For Students 9th - 10th
In this interactive lesson, students will experience the engineering design process as an aerospace engineer assigned to design and test an airplane.
Activity
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Stack It Up!

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students analyze and begin to design a pyramid. Working in engineering teams, they perform calculations to determine the area of the pyramid base, stone block volumes, and the number of blocks required for their pyramid base. They make a...
Article
Other

Engineering for Change: Necessary Trade Offs When Co Designing New Technology

For Students 9th - 10th
The co-design of new technology with communities has benefits and trade-offs. Engineers Without Borders Australia describe a co-design project in rural Cambodia that they participated in. The goal was to design assistive technologies...