DiscoverE
Product Dissection
Sometimes, taking things apart is more fun than putting things together. Groups of learners participate in a reverse engineering activity. They dissect a device of their choosing to see how it works—great hands-on learning from the...
Curated OER
Fortified Breakfast
Learners reverse engineer a cereal. In this dietary lesson students identify the minerals that the human body needs to function. Learners examine how foods are fortified by food engineers. Students find the amount of iron in a cereal by...
Teach Engineering
Design Inspired by Nature
Let nature guide your engineering designs. By taking apart a flower, pupils learn about reverse engineering. They use the results to brainstorm designs for new products or ideas. This is the seventh installment of a nine-part Life...
Teach Engineering
Introduction to Environmental Engineering
A series on environmental engineering introduces the class to issues that environmental engineers work to solve. This first lesson focuses on air and land issues, and looks at ways to reduce pollution.
Kenan Fellows
Assembly Required and the Design Process Too!
Do your part to make manufacturing more manageable. A capstone project challenges each group to identify and research a manufacturing process for a product. To complete the activity, they create a presentation for business and community...
Curated OER
TE Activity: Bubbling Plants
Students study a way to quantify the process of photosynthesis during a given time using the Elodea plant. They design a hypothesis that they test in the hands on activity. They compare the amounts of photosynthesis that occur during low...
DiscoverE
Siphon Pump
Defy the laws of gravity. A simple activity has learners create a siphon pump for water. The challenge is to get water to flow upwards through a tube.
Teach Engineering
Design Step 2: Research the Problem
How do you get started designing a product to meet your engineering design goals? Here, learners gain understanding of an important aspect of the engineering design process: background research. Through brainstorming and worksheets,...
Bonneville
Simple Solar Tracker
Let the solar cells fight each other for supremacy! Given a functional solar tracker that moves toward light, groups copy the design to build their own devices. They use two sets of solar cells that have reverse polarization, so that the...
Curated OER
Tinker Toys
Students explore various computer items. They describe possible alternative uses for computer technology. Students explore the practice of "reverse engineering." They write an opinion essay on the ethics behind "reverse engineering."
Teach Engineering
Bridge Types: Tensile and Compressive Forces
Bridges rely on tension and compression to keep them standing. Pairs test this principle by constructing simple bridges and applying a force to the center. Teams use the provided worksheet to record their observations of the reaction of...
DiscoverE
First You See It, Then You Hear It
Light and sound go hand in hand. Pupils set up a system that will emit sound when a laser is directed at a photodiode. Various objects, such as a comb and talcum powder, allow for modulation of the laser beam. Individuals also...
Curated OER
Disassemble a Click Pen
Pupils dissamble and analyze the spring system of a click pen. They analyze a cross-section worksheet, dissamble the pens, fill in the missing parts of the cross-section diagram, and write a description of how the pen works.
Curated OER
Engineering: Lego Cars and Light Sensors
Students 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
Activity Five: The Horseless Carriage
Learners identify features that make an automobile practical for a cross-country trip and then design a 1903 era auto using lessons learned from Horatio's journey.
Curated OER
Supersonic Spies
Students analyze a simple machine and use "reverse engineering" to create an exact replica. They interpret incomplete information to build a simple wheel-and-axle machine. Students discuss how building a machine activity correlates to...
Curated OER
Topo Triangulation
Students investigate how to read a topographical map and triangulate with just a map. They convert a compass measurement to a protractor measurement, reverse a bearing direction, and using a worksheet take a bearing of certain landmarks...
Curated OER
4-H Clothing and Textiles Leader's Page
This activity could be used in a home economics class to teach students about sewing and clothing. Using this 10 question instructional activity, learners explore the function of a sewing machine, and plan a project.
Teach Engineering
Antimatter Matters
Use science fiction movies to teach pupils about antimatter and alternate universes. Individuals learn about the portrayal of antimatter and alternate universes in movies such as Star Trek and Angels & Demons. They consider three...
Florida Center for Reading Research
Fact Versus Opinion
Is that a fact or an opinion? Learners explore the difference using this pocket chart activity during which partners read statement cards and determine whether they are facts or opinions.
It's About Time
Effect of Lenses on Light
Optometry jokes just get cornea and cornea. Young scientists use a lens and light to create and measure focal points on both a note card and the wall. They then complete a reading passage and questions as homework.
Curated OER
Applications of Parabolas
Students solve quadratic equations. In pairs, students perform experiments where an object's free-fall is measured and graphed. Students discover and write reports on the uses of parabolas in real life applications. A guest speaker,...
Curated OER
Ball Bounce Experiment
Students investigate different balls' abilities to bounce. They conduct a Ball Bounce Height Comparison and Ball Bounce Time Comparison, complete a worksheet, graph the results of their experiment, and answer investigating questions.
Curated OER
Faulty Movement
Students discover the faults throughout the Earth. They describe the different types of faults and how they are related to earthquakes. They build models of the faults.