Teach Engineering
Beating the Motion Sensor
I bet I can cross the room without having the lights come on. Class members set up an experiment in which they try to determine what materials will mask motion detected by a sensor. Groups predict how materials will interact with...
Kenan Fellows
Saving Those Who Save Us: Exploring the Use of Sensors with Data Visualization
Sensor technology is amazingly accurate and useful. Combining the sensor technology and mathematical knowledge, scholars design experiments to answer a question they have developed. Questions may focus on light sensing, temperature...
Kenan Fellows
Evaluating Sensors and the Impacts of Physiological Stress: Designing a Wearable Device for Rescue Workers
A long-term project has scholars consider ways in which sensors help monitor physiological stress levels of rescue workers. They design and create a portable device for this purpose. Techies to the rescue!
Curated OER
Engineering: Lego Cars and Light Sensors
Young scholars build Lego cars with attached light sensors. They program the car to enter a tunnel and reverse out when it records a darker light reading.
Curated OER
An Introduction to Sensors
Students list as many examples as they can of sensors in their homes and/or automobiles, define sensor and discuss what qualifies devices as sensors, explore human eyes as sensors while watching teacher demonstration, recognize that...
Teach Engineering
How Effective is Your Sunscreen?
Protect skin from UV radiation! Groups design and conduct an experiment to test the effectiveness of UV safety products. The groups collect the data from the experiment and prepare a lab report. In the second day of the activity,...
Kenan Fellows
Sensors, Sensors…..Everywhere! Middle School Meteorologist Create Weather Bots!
My forecast is that you'll want to use the resource. Pupils design and create a weather bot as part of a project-based unit. These bots should be able to measure temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, and...
Teach Engineering
Thirsty for Gold
In the last portion of the six-part unit, teams perform an experiment with gold nanoparticles to determine which sport drink has the most electrolytes. The nanoparticles are used as chemical sensors and fluoresce in different wavelengths...
Curated OER
Scavenger Hunt
Students collect data about lighting conditions around a room using a light sensor and RCX. They use software to upload and analyze the data in order to draw conclusions about light intensity in the room.
Curated OER
Relay Race
Young scholars program RCX cars to relay information to one another via Mail when triggered by light sensors. The light sensors are appropriately spaced to allow for timed triggers.
Curated OER
TIES MSEE Sensor Lesson Plan
Students explain how a sensor works. In this technology lesson, students determine the air quality around their school. They record observations and share results to class.
Teach Engineering
Piezoelectricity
What effect makes children's shoes light up? Answer: Piezoelectric effect. Here is a PowerPoint presentation that describes piezoelectric materials as being able to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. Individuals learn how...
Teach Engineering
Building a Piezoelectric Generator
In pairs, learners build a piezoelectric generator from readily available electric components in the second and final installment of the two-part series. Tapping the piezoelectric element produces enough electricity to light an LED....
Curated OER
The Light Inside the Tunnel
Students work to improve their programming skills by programming model cars to drive through a tunnel, turn on its headlights and then extinguish the lights as the car exits the tunnel.
Teach Engineering
Catching the Perfect SAR Waves!
Zero in on an interesting resource involving radar technology. Groups construct a radar sensing unit and learn to calibrate the system. Using the radar system and the Pythagorean Theorem, they calculate distances between objects.
Teach Engineering
All Fats Are Not Created Equal
Apply robotics to connect physical properties to chemical properties. Future engineers use robots to determine the melting points of various fats and oils. The robots can do this by measuring the translucency of the fats as they heat up.
Curated OER
The Voting Booth
Pupils construct a "voting booth" to gather data using RCX programmable brick and touch sensors. They identify a survey question, construct the booth, and analyze the results by uploading data.
Curated OER
Tokyo Disney
Students build a theme park ride with LEGO pieces and program the ride to simulate real movement.
Curated OER
Learning About Our Five Senses
Students study the sense of touch and various degrees of heat. They design a model that displays how the human hand reacts to heat using a touch sensor.
DiscoverE
My Friend Robot
Can you do better than a robot? Teams write instructions for a hypothetical robot to build a structure. They test their instructions by acting them out to see if they produce the desired structure.
Curated OER
Protein Biochemistry: Evidence for Charged Amino Acids in Proteins
Students add the acid and base drop wise as the protein precipitates. If either are added too rapidly, students may miss detail or the protein may not have sufficient time to renature. Casein does not buffer the solution well when it is...
Curated OER
Nerve Racking
Fifth graders study the components and function of the nervous system. They investigate how engineers design biomedical equipment to assist the nervous system and explain how the five senses are affected during spaceflight.
Curated OER
Swamp Thing
Students create a build-it-yourself boat that runs on two small electric motors. Swamp Thing has an electronic brain that can be controlled and steered with a flashlight.
Curated OER
Build a Snowplow
Pupils design and build a snowplow using LEGO materials. They compete in an Engineer's Challenge to clear a path through Styrofoam peanuts.