Save the Black Footed Ferrets: STEM Teaching Kit http://www.auburn.edu/~cgs0013/ETK/SaveTheFerretsETK.pdf PostedSunday, October 30, 2016 at 12:23 PM Save the Ferrets asks students to engage with electricity to learn about capacitors and alternate ways to produce electricity in order to create a town that runs "off the grid." Students learn about how power plants and power transmission wires disrupt natural environments, and how communities can generate and store their own electricity locally. Capacitors can be used to store electricity generated by wind, solar, and human-powered energy. This curriculum is truly STEM as it targets the scientific concepts of electrical charge and electric circuits, the technological concept of Computer Aided Design, the engineering concepts of problem solving and design under constraints, and the mathematical concepts of geometric shapes. How can we live in a world with endangered species such as the Black Footed Ferret in a way that protects them but serves our needs as well? Read More Average Ratings 0
Save the Snails: STEM Teaching Kit http://www.auburn.edu/~cgs0013/ETK/SaveTheSnailsETK.pdf PostedSunday, October 30, 2016 at 12:07 PM Save the Snails challenges students to engage with energy literacy, and the understanding of where electricity we use in our daily lives comes from. The power plants that dot our landscape are black boxes to so many. Something like coal or water or uranium or natural gas goes in, and magically, electricity comes out. Black boxes can be dangerous items in science and technology if the privilege that comes with understanding the workings inside the box is held by only a few. In this curriculum, students design and build a light that runs on gravity alone. They learn about electromagnetic induction, what happens inside power plants, and how they can build their own electricity generator. Read More Average Ratings 0
Save the Sea Birds: STEM Teaching Kit http://www.auburn.edu/~cgs0013/ETK/SaveTheSeaBirdsETK.pdf PostedSunday, October 30, 2016 at 11:57 AM Save the Sea Birds is set in the context of the Gulf Oil Spill of 2010. Students are asked to dream up an invention that would make sure oil spills never happen in the Gulf (or anywhere around the world) again. Since most crude oil is used for transportation, the best solution is to use another source of energy for moving people and things around the world. Students learn about electricity, solar energy, solar panels, motors, gears, and how to use all these to create solar-powered mass transportation. They design and build a vehicle that pulls plaster-filled plastic eggs, to remind them that solar-powered vehicles Save the Sea Birds. Read More Average Ratings 0
Save the Penguins: STEM Teaching Kit http://www.auburn.edu/~cgs0013/ETK/SaveThePenguinsETK.pdf PostedSunday, October 30, 2016 at 11:48 AM This STEM Teaching Kit is designed to help middle grades students with science concepts related to heat and energy as well as teach them the basics of engineeringdesign. They come away with a sense of how engineers are people who design solutions to problems. The students’ goal is to design and build a shelter for an ice cube shaped penguin that reduces heat transfer and keeps the ice from melting. Save the Penguins challenges students to investigate the impacts of climate change. As the Earth warms and ice melts, penguins lose habitat. Penguins need to stay cool in a warming world. Energy efficient houses that minimize unnecessary heat transfer will draw less electricity from the fossil fuel burning power plants and not contribute as much to global warming. Students test materials and use the results to design and build and test a dwelling for a penguin shaped ice cube, who represents our need to stay cool in a warming world. Read More Average Ratings 0
Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship http://blossoms.mit.edu/videos/lessons/engineering_innovation_and_entrepreneursh... PostedWednesday, May 11, 2016 at 2:01 PM This video lesson introduces students to the worlds of engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. It seeks to encourage students to see the world with a fresh perspective for innovation through interactive classroom brainstorming activities and real life stories. Students will build self-efficacy in their own entrepreneurial potential by developing their perspective for innovation, developing a prototype solution for a problem they have recognized, and delivering an elevator pitch. The video will familiarize students with all the steps in the innovation process: from conception to launch. By the end of this lesson, students will be prepared for an optional long-term innovation project (see below). There are no formal prerequisites for this video; any high school or advanced middle school student can participate in and benefit from this video’s learning activities. The video and learning activities can be completed in one 55-minute class period. Students can interact with MIT BLOSSOMS Read More Average Ratings 1
Laser Cutting using Adobe Illustrator PostedThursday, May 5, 2016 at 1:37 PM A lesson using Adobe Illustrator to teach basic concepts of computer design. This lesson spans 2 hours, and targets middle school students at a day summer camp. Read More Average Ratings 1
Float Challenge PostedThursday, May 5, 2016 at 1:36 PM In this lesson plan students supply science and mathematics to a real world engineering design solution. Students experience key lessons including the application of an engineering design process. Read More Average Ratings 0
Oil Pipeline Disaster Engineering Design PostedThursday, May 5, 2016 at 1:34 PM In lesson plan students will apply science and mathematics to a real world engineering design solution. Students experience key lessons including the application of an engineering design process and real world engineering challenges. Read More Average Ratings 0
Using Failure to Introduce The Engineering Design Process http://cteteach.cteonline.org/portal/default/Curriculum/Viewer/Curriculum?action... PostedFriday, November 6, 2015 at 10:48 AM This 4-part lesson plan from the CTE Online website uses a famous engineering failure, the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 1940, to introduce the Engineering Design Process. Read More Average Ratings 1
Using Electric Circuits to Design a Desk Lamp PostedTuesday, October 20, 2015 at 3:18 PM This activity can be done by students in grades 3 to 12, although the 3rd graders may need assistance. It uses knowledge of electric circuits in a design challenge in which students design their own personal desk lamp. The design elements include the need for a switch and a mechanism to focus light. Students may also explore various colors of LEDs and create both series and parallel circuits as extension activities. Read More Average Ratings 1