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Technically Speaking
Young scholars research how various forms of technology have changed during different time periods and the ways in which technology impacts society. They propose designs for galleries within a technology museum.
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Money and health
Students write a proposal with an appropriate budget to establish a health day at school. They design this day to educate and promote good health. They educate other students about health care, inform students of health concerns, and...
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Harvesting a Forest: How Would I Do It?
Third graders design a machine for clear-cutting an area of forest. In this agricultural technology instructional activity, 3rd graders are read selections from American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osbourn, discuss how trees are harvested...
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Capturing Wind Energy
Students investigate technology and make a correlation between technology and the weather. In this science lesson, students experiment with the weather and climate using technology to help them understand forces and motion. They identify...
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Compare Human-made Objects with Natural Objects
Students examine and observe how many human-made objects get their basic design from things in nature. They listen to the book "Nature Got There First," compare/contrast hollow bones with drinking straws, bird beaks and tool pliers, and...
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TE Activity: The Beat Goes On
Students determine what the pulse is before examining how to measure the heart rate in different situations. They build a simple device that measures the heart rate, take heart rates, and record them on a worksheet. They discuss how...
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Sports Helmets and Impact Testing of Polymers
Students examine the importance of good quality safety gear. In this investigative lesson, students will tests various polymers, collect data, and analyze the data to determine which polymer is best for safety helmets. They will design a...
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Olympic Emblems
High schoolers study the history of Olympic emblems. In this Olympics lesson plan, students examine the Olympic designs and symbols used to represent different Olympic game years. High schoolers then collaborate to create Olympic emblems...
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Gingerbread Architecture: An Exploration and Engineering
Eighth graders design and build a gingerbread house. In this technology instructional activity, 8th graders research the important components of a house. They evaluate the strength of their design and suggest modifications when necessary.
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Energetic Musical Instruments
Students apply the principles and concepts associated with energy and the transfer of energy in an engineering context through the designing and making of a musical instrument. After the accomplishment of the design, students must...
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TE Activity: Northward Ho!
Students design a simple compass. They examine how the Earth's magnetic field has both horizontal and vertical components. They determine how a compass works and work with cardinal directions.
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Wind Power
Fourth graders develop an understanding of how engineers use wind to generate electricity. They will build a model anemometer to better understand and measure wind speed. They discover that engineers design wind turbines that generate...
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The Dirty Water Project
Students investigate different methods (aeration and filtering) for removing pollutants from water. They design and build their own water filters. Students identify the pollutants in a water sample using sight and smell, explore what...
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Diffusion
Students design and carry out an experiment according to the scientific method. The experiment must test the effects of time and concentration on the rate of diffusion of potassium permanganate into potato cubes. After performing the...
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Performance Art and The Waste Stream
Students research local waste management services, discuss findings, give opinions about what they have found, offer solutions and ideas, and create performance art, design art works, and fine art works to convey information on waste...
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Tornado!
Young scholars examine the characteristics and types of tornadoes. They discuss how they are formed, conduct an experiment with two liter bottles, analyze data and determine mean and median, and design a house to withstand tornado-force...
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Engineering Pop-Ups
Learners explore the art of paper engineering and pop-up-books. They listen to a teacher-led lecture on pop-up books, discuss the process of paper engineering, and plan, design and construct an original pop-up book.
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TE Activity: Heavy Helicopters
Students study the concepts of weight and drag while making paper helicopters. They measure how adding more weight to the helicopter changes the time for the helicopter to fall to the ground. They apply what they examine to the work of...
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TE Activity: Muscles, Muscles Everywhere
Young scholars study three different muscle types and investigate the affect of space travel on astronauts' muscles. They examine how exercise has a positive affect on muscle both on Earth and in space while looking at engineers' roles...
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TE Activity: You're in Hot Water
Students study different ways of using solar energy. They design a solar water heater and determine how much water it can heat in a set amount of time. They examine how the heaters work by solar radiation and convection.
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Skateboard Disaster
Learners conduct a hands-on experiment with collisions between two skateboards of different masses. They are introduced to the concept of conservation of momentum in collisions and consider how their observations might help engineers...
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TE Lesson: Energy Transfer in Musical Instruments
Students study concepts of energy and energy transfer. They look at how these concepts apply to musical instruments. They study the law of conservation of energy. They use the concepts studied in the lesson plan to design a musical...
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How Do Things Fall?
Students study forces by examining the force of gravitational attraction. They observe how objects fall and measure the force of gravitational attraction upon objects. Students discover that, since gravitational constants are different...
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Simple Machines and Modern Day Engineering Analogies
Learners apply the mechanical advantages and problem-solving capabilities of six types of simple machines (wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, pulley) as they discuss modern structures in the spirit of the engineers and...