Teach Engineering
Strength of Materials
Pupils examine a stress-strain diagram that compares the advantages and disadvantages of the two common bridge building materials, concrete and steel. The also consider the factors that influence the materials builders choose for their...
Curated OER
Building a House
Study the different materials needed to build a house. Kindergartners and first graders read five sentence frames, and match the phrases that describe wood planks, glass, and clay. An experiment prompts kids to test different types of...
Curated OER
Put Your Truss in Building Bridges
Students apply abstract concepts, such as stress, fulcrums, the law of gravity, and the strength of different geometric shapes. Groups of student contractors operate simulated architectural firms to create strong, economical bridges.
Teach Engineering
Bend That Bar
Bend it, but don't break it. Groups investigate the strength of different materials. Using a procedure in the seventh segment of a 22-part series on aviation, pupils determine how far a rod will bend. They determine the strength-to-mass...
Science Matters
Earthquake Building/Shaking Contest
Japan is one of only a handful of countries that constructs buildings that are almost earthquake proof. The 13th lesson in the 20-part series challenges scholars to build structures to test against earthquakes. With limited materials and...
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
Parts of Speech Pre-Test: The Building Blocks of Grammar
Help your learners get a good grasp on grammar. An insightful pre-test allows teachers to learn about their young writers' knowledge of the building blocks of grammar, so they can begin building a unit of study. It includes a...
DiscoverE
Build a Big Wheel
Pasta is great for cooking—and for making Ferris wheels. Aspiring engineers use an assortment of pasta types to create a functioning Ferris wheel. They keep track of the design process to refine their designs, if necessary. Let's hope no...
Teach Engineering
Building an Electromagnet
Your pupils can build their own electromagnet — awesome! The culminating activity in an eight-part series challenges groups to design and build their own electromagnet. The goal of the activity is to build a magnet capable of picking up...
Cornell University
Bridge Building
Bridge the gaps in your knowledge of bridges. Individuals learn about bridge types by building models. The activity introduces beam bridges, arch bridges, truss bridges, and suspension bridges.
Curated OER
Solar Kit Lesson #5 - Build a Simple Ammeter
Emerging electricians build a simple ammeter for making measurements on an electric current. They test the placement of solar cells in both series and parallel circuits and examine the magnetic field produced by the movement of electrons...
Curated OER
Building Big and Strong
Middle and high schoolers explore the concepts of architectural rigidity. They analyze a variety of polygons, and explain why some shapes add more strength to structures than others. The PBS video, "Building Big," is utilized in this plan.
Curated OER
Properties Of Building Materials
Students investigate the concept of building materials and how they are used to create different things. They focus upon the availability, cost, flexibility, and strength of different building materials. This is done by taking part in a...
Curated OER
Build a Cardboard Bridge That Can Hold Potatoes
Students identify the characteristics of a bridge and build with junk materials. In this bridge building lesson, students use cereal boxes, paper towel or toilet paper tubes and tape to create their bridges. Bridges must be a certain...
Curated OER
Science to Build On
Young scholars examine how professionals use science to solve practical problems. For this scientific process students divide into groups and complete a class activity on building strategies.
Curated OER
Building a Straw Power Tower
Students build a tower out of straws. In this engineering lesson, students build a tower of straws that must be at least 58 cm tall. The goal is to be the group whose tower can support the most pennies. This lesson gives students the...
Curated OER
Intro to Building Bridges
Students participate in groups to complete the best bridge. In this bridge building lesson, students are assigned a role in building the bridge. Students will have to keep to their budgets. After the bridges are built, parents will be...
Curated OER
Strength Building
Fifth graders go to each of the 3 stations testing their maximum strength and then make a spreadsheet and how to work with excel. Students create and finish their spread sheet on how they did on day 1.
Teach Engineering
Straw Bridges
Pairs work as engineering teams to design and build model bridges from drinking straws and tape. In this third segment in a series of 10, teams compete in an attempt to build the strongest bridge. To help with the design, the groups...
Curated OER
Spaghetti Bridges: Student Worksheet
Pairs of learners work together in order to simulate how engineers test materials for strength and safety in the real world. They use paper cups and pieces of spaghetti to run strength tests. This excellent worksheet should lead to...
Magic of Physics
Materials Lab
Why is wood good for building houses, but not the best choice for high-rise apartments? Future materials scientists put building materials to the test using a hands-on interactive. Pupils pull and push on substances such as reinforced...
Museum of Science
Newspaper Fort
Newspapers aren't really the first material that comes to mind when building a fort. Pupils use newspaper rolls to design and build a sturdy structure. They consider how different shapes, like trusses, affect the strength of their...
Curated OER
Good Old Earth Materials
Students investigate different types of building structures and how they are able to stand up to earthquakes. Through comparison they determine which buildings are better able to handle earthquakes than others. They create a building,...
Curated OER
Spaghetti Bridges: Student Worksheet
Here is a wonderful activity that allows young engineers to try their hand at designing a bridge out of spaghetti! The activity explains the activity and also provides a graph for keeping track of the results. Very good!
Curated OER
Design and Build Lego Cars
Students build cars out of legos. In this building lesson plan, students can also use Lego Mindstorms robotic equipment to add engines.