Rochester Institute of Technology
Biomechanical Joint
Discuss mechanical advantage and how the human body moves/works. Learners focus on bioengineering, working together to build a functioning mechanical arm. Additionally, they analyze an air muscle, discussing its appropriate use in humans.
CK-12 Foundation
Skeletal System Joints: Appendages
The hundreds of joints in the human body fit into five main categories. A quick video explains the joints in the skeleton, which are often the most confusing. The interactive reviews each of the five types of joints and has scholars...
Curated OER
Biomechanics of Joints
Students examine the range of motion of your knee, wrist and shoulder and observe that these body parts act like different types of mechanical joints.
Curated OER
Types of Weathering
In this weathering worksheet, students compare the two types of weathering: mechanical and chemical. This worksheet has 11 matching questions.
Curated OER
Motion Commotion!
Students explore the drawings of Rube Goldberg to design and construct a simple machine. They discuss simple machines, and using various materials and toy parts, design and construct a "Rube Goldberg" style machine to ring a bell.
Teach Engineering
Doing the Math: Analysis of Forces in a Truss Bridge
Join together to investigate truss joints. Scholars learn how to analyze forces at truss joints to determine the strength of truss bridges. They apply the "method of joints" in calculating the tension and compression forces at each joint...
Curated OER
Biomechanics of Joints
Students investigate range of motion in human joints and the mechanical devices they emulate. They construct a human arm model with three joints which emulate the wrist, elbow and shoulder.
Curated OER
Levers and Wedges in the Human Body
Young biologists identify parts of the body that serve as wedges (teeth and fingernails), and as levers (jaw, arms, and legs). The hands-on activities described here should be exciting for learners to perform, and should also lead to a...
Curated OER
Introduction to Robotics
Learners explore robots as it relates to artificial intelligence and mechanics. In this introduction to robotics lesson, students examine the technology related to design, research the concept of fabrication theory and the application of...
Curated OER
Fracture Fundamentals: A Cheesy Analog
Students make small cuts (fracture nuclei) in processed cheese food and then apply stresses perpendicular or parallel to the cuts to see how fractures grow. They make predictions before each experiment and explain their results to the...
Curated OER
Can You Bear It? Pulleys, Gears, Forces, Structures and Mechanisms
Students review the types of simple machines. As a class, they focus on the positives and negatives of pulleys and gears and identify what pulleys and gears change of an object. They work together to design their own object to support a...
Curated OER
Pet Rescue
Students, in teams, follow the process of design, including the stages of investigation, creation, and reflection, as they devise a way to help "save" a (simulated) pet who is trapped in a pipe.
Teach Engineering
Strong-Arm Tactics
Experience collecting rock samples using a robotic arm with an activity that has pairs work together to operate a robotic arm. One pupil serves as the eyes and the other operates the controller. The objective is to be the fastest pair to...
Curated OER
An Arm and A Leg
Students examine how the movements of bones are dependent on the interaction of pairs of muscles. They design and construct a prototype of an artificial limb using a syringe system, and determine whether water or air makes the appendage...
Curated OER
Of Mice and Men Chapters 3 & 4 Vocabulary
Before your class reads chapters three and four in Of Mice and Men, have them complete this magic squares activity to review some vocabulary in the upcoming chapters. Twenty-five words are introduced, and learners identify the correct...
American College of Sports Medicine
Selecting and Effectively Using Hydration for Fitness
How much water does your body lose during exercise? How much should you hydrate during and after exercise? Address the importance of hydration with your young athletes using this informative handout.
PBS
Robo Arm
Future engineers create robotic arms like those on rovers built by NASA in the second lesson of the series. They test their devices by attempting to pick up and move cups to a specified location.
Curated OER
Design Challenge: Cup in the Cupboard
Pupils design device that will place a cup into a cupboard for a physically challenged person. They study the engineering design and how structure relates to function.
Curated OER
One, Two, Three--Isaac Newton and Me
Pupils experiment to develop understanding of Newton's Laws and how they apply to space travel in this ten day lesson sequence.
Curated OER
Surface Friction and Wear Characteristics of Common Materials
Students identify the factors affecting friction. In this physics instructional activity, students construct their own rocket car and race them. They graph the average speeds and discuss how lubricants affect friction between rubbing...
Curated OER
One Two three Isaac Newton and Me
Ninth graders study Newton's Laws and apply these concepts to travel in space. In this space lesson students complete several lab activities.
Curated OER
Future Body
Students explain the benefits of cyborg augmentation. In this technology instructional activity, students research how the nervous system works. They create posters and present them to class.
Curated OER
Hip Replacement
Young scholars take a close examine animals' skeletons to see how their pelvis and femur work together for movement. By investigating their skeletons students discover the placement and functions of our own bodies. They use owl pellets...