Teach Engineering: Hot Stuff!

We design and create objects to make our lives easier and more comfortable. The houses in which we live are an excellent example of this. Depending on your local climate, the features of your house will be different to satisfy your...

Students come to see the exponential trend demonstrated through the changing temperatures measured while heating and cooling a beaker of water. This task is accomplished by first appealing to students' real-life heating and cooling...

That heat flows from hot to cold is an unfortunate truth of life. People have put a lot of effort into stopping this fact, however all they have been able to do is slow the process. Working in groups of three to four, students will...

Students apply the concepts of conduction, convection, and radiation as they work in teams to solve two problems. One problem requires that they maintain the warm temperature of one soda can filled with water at approximately body...

With the challenge to program computers to mimic the human reaction after touching a hot object, students program LEGO robots to "react" and move back quickly once their touch sensors bump into something. By relating human senses to...

Students work in engineering teams to optimize cleaner energy solutions for cooking and heating in rural China. They choose between various options for heating, cooking, hot water, and lights and other electricity, balancing between the...

Student teams use the engineering design process to create a useful product of their choice out of recyclable items and "trash." The class is given a "landfill" of reusable items, such as aluminum cans, cardboard, paper, juice boxes,...

Student teams design insulated beverage bottles in this challenge, and test them to determine which materials work best at insulating hot water to keep it warm for as long as possible.

One way to conserve energy in a building is to use adequate insulation. Insulation helps keep the hot or cool air inside or outside of a building. Inefficient heating and cooling of buildings is a leading residential and industrial...

Students learn about the nature of thermal energy, temperature and how materials store thermal energy. They discuss the difference between conduction, convection and radiation of thermal energy, and complete activities in which they...