Teach Engineering
Model Heart Valves
Small groups use the knowledge learned about the heart to design and build a prototype of an artificial heart valve. The teams demonstrate the functionality of their valve. They are also responsible for creating a pamphlet that describes...
Teach Engineering
Breaking the Mold
A little too much strain could cause a lot of stress. Groups conduct a strength test on clay. Using books as weights, pupils measure the compression of clay columns and calculate the associated strain and stress. Teams record their...
Teach Engineering
The Challenge Question
A research position becomes a modeling job. The introductory lesson in a series of nine presents the challenge of analyzing a set of bivariate data. The class brainstorms what the data may represent. Pupils must decide what is needed to...
Teach Engineering
Amusement Park Ride: The Ups and Downs in Design
Groups design the ultimate roller coaster by considering potential and kinetic energy. They test their designs using marbles and then go on to rate each group's design based on aesthetics, loop diameter, and cost.
Teach Engineering
Considering Trade-Offs and Maximizing Efficiency in a Fast Food Restaurant
Make fast food restaurants even faster. Groups consider trade-offs when maximizing efficiency in fast food restaurants. Restructuring schedules and floor plans, as well reassigning job duties, all fall under this directive.
Teach Engineering
Messin' with Mixtures
Do you separate your trail mix before eating it? Then you've been separating mixtures your whole life! Scholars model a contaminated soil sample using trail mix and estimate the percentage of each component. They consider how to clean up...
Teach Engineering
Take Off with Paper Airplanes
Let's go fly a kite ... oops, a paper airplane! The 13th segment in an aviation unit of 22 relates the parts of an airplane to paper airplanes. Pupils learn the functions of the control surfaces of a plane to really make their knowledge...
Teach Engineering
Air Pressure
Investigate what is pushing on us. An intriguing lesson plan has pupils calculate the amount of force on various squares due to air pressure. Using the data, individuals create a graph in the third lesson plan of the Up, Up and Away unit...
Teach Engineering
Properties of Mixtures vs. Solutions: Mix It Up!
Now it becomes crystal clear why the unit is called Mixtures and Solutions. The fifth installment of a six-part unit explores mixtures and solutions. After viewing a demonstration on mixing pebbles with water, salt with water, and...
Teach Engineering
Stormy Skies
Young meteorologists examine the four main types of weather fronts and how they appear on a weather map. Participants learn about the difference between the types of weather fronts along with their distinguishing features. A...
Teach Engineering
Cellular Respiration and Bioremediation
You can breathe easily now that you've found a winning resource. Young biologists learn about the process of cellular respiration, primarily through teacher-led discussion and instruction. They also consider the concept of...
Teach Engineering
Designing Bridges
Introduces your class to the types of loads experienced by a bridge. Groups calculate the ultimate load combinations to determine the maximum load requirement. Using this information, builders then determine the amount of material...
Teach Engineering
Package Those Foods!
Designing the right package — it's more than a pretty picture. Challenge small groups to design a food package. They must consider the type of food they are packaging and the package's ability to control the physical and...
Teach Engineering
A Simple Solution for the Circus
Class members are challenged to design a device that will move a circus elephant into a train car. Groups brainstorm ideas that use simple machines to load the elephant. They then choose one of their ideas, sketch a plan, and present it...
Teach Engineering
Load It Up!
See how a marshmallow can hold up a bridge load. Teams take a closer look at the design of bridge piers. They determine the types of loads that might affect a bridge, and, using that information, they calculate the needed cross-sectional...
Teach Engineering
How Antibiotics Work
Take two pills and call me in the morning. The first lesson in a short unit of four introduces class members to delivery methods of medicines. The instruction introduces the question of which delivery method is best to get you feeling...
Teach Engineering
What Makes Our Bones Strong?
So is that what you meant by rubber legs? The activity has pairs subject a chicken bone to vinegar and observe what happens over a period of days. Individuals then write up a lab report and document their observations and findings.
Teach Engineering
Solar Angles and Tracking Systems
The sun will continue to rise in the east and set in the west, no matter what. The first lesson plan in a series of eight introduces the class to solar angles. It makes connections between a person's latitude and the angle of position of...
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...
Teach Engineering
Better By Design
Which modification is the best? Using the scientific method, pairs determine the effects of each control surface on the distance of a glider's flight. The activity, section 16 in a 22-part unit on aviation, allows pupils to gain a better...
Teach Engineering
May the Force Be With You: Lift
Get the class up and going with a lesson that discusses how airplane wings provide lift. Pupils use their knowledge of Bernoulli's Principle to develop an explanation of how it creates lift on airplane wings.
Teach Engineering
Windy Tunnel
Lift—it is about the wing's attack. Using a virtual wind tunnel, pupils investigate wing shape and angle of attack. Learners use worksheets to record their observations and to convert verbal relationships into mathematical equations in...
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...
Teach Engineering
The Cloning of Cells
Did you know that there are over 200 different types of cells in the human body? One type, the stem cell, is the focus of the fifth of six installments in the Cells unit. The lesson asks the class to discuss stem cells and their...