Partner Resource 1 Experience Solar Water: Heat it Up! PostedJune 18, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_solarenergy_lesson01_activi... Students explore energy efficiency, focusing on renewable energy, by designing and building flat-plate solar water heaters. They apply their understanding of the three forms of heat transfer (conduction, convection and radiation), as well as how they relate to energy efficiency. They calculate the efficiency of the solar water heaters during initial and final tests and compare the efficiencies to those of models currently sold on the market (requiring some additional investigation by students). After comparing efficiencies, students explain how they would further improve their devices. Students learn about the trade-offs between efficiency and cost by calculating the total cost of their devices and evaluating cost per percent efficiency and per degree change of the water. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Breaking Beams PostedJune 7, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_mechanics_lesson07_activity... Students learn about stress and strain by designing and building beams using polymer clay. They compete to find the best beam strength to beam weight ratio, and learn about the trade-offs engineers make when designing a structure. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Wind-Powered Sail Cars PostedMay 4, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/ucd_sailcars_activity1 Student pairs design and construct small, wind-powered sail cars using limited quantities of drinking straws, masking tape, paper and beads. Teams compete to see which sail car travels the farthest when pushed by the wind (simulated by the use of an electric fan). Students learn about wind and kinetic and renewable energy, and follow the steps of the engineering design process to imagine, create, test, evaluate and refine their sail cars. This activity is part of a unit in which multiple activities are brought together for an all-day school/multi-school concluding “engineering field day” competition. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Seismic Waves: How Earthquakes Move the Earth PostedApril 11, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_seismicw_lesson01 Students learn about the types of seismic waves produced by earthquakes and how they move the Earth. The dangers of earthquakes are presented as well as the necessity for engineers to design structures for earthquake-prone areas that are able to withstand the forces of seismic waves. Students learn how engineers build shake tables that simulate the ground motions of the Earth caused by seismic waves in order to test the seismic performance of buildings. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Portable Sundial PostedApril 11, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/portable_sundial Students investigate the accuracy of sundials and the discrepancy that lies between "real time" and "clock time." They track the position of the sun during the course of a relatively short period of time as they make a shadow plot, a horizontal sundial, and a diptych sundial. (The activity may be abridged to include only one or two of the different sundials, instead of all three.) Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience How High Can a Super Ball Bounce? PostedMarch 11, 2018 UpdatedMarch 12, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/ucla_superball_activity1 Students determine the coefficient of restitution (or the elasticity) for super balls. Working in pairs, they drop balls from a meter height and determine how high they bounce. They measure, record and repeat the process to gather data to calculate average bounce heights and coefficients of elasticity. Then they extrapolate to determine the height the ball would bounce if dropped from much higher heights. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Just Like Kidneys: Semipermeable Membrane Prototypes PostedMarch 8, 2018 UpdatedMarch 12, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/nds-1731-semipermeable-membrane... Using ordinary household materials, student “biomedical engineering” teams design prototype models that demonstrate semipermeability under the hypothetical scenario that they are creating a teaching tool for medical students. Working within material constraints, each model consists of two layers of a medium separated by material acting as the membrane. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Completing the Circuit PostedMarch 5, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_electricity_lesson03_activi... In the everyday electrical devices we use — calculators, remote controls and cell phones — a voltage source such as a battery is required to close the circuit and operate the device. In this hands-on activity, students use batteries, wires, small light bulbs and light bulb holders to learn the difference between an open circuit and a closed circuit, and understand that electric current only occurs in a closed circuit. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Static Cling PostedJanuary 9, 2018 UpdatedJanuary 10, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_electricity_lesson01_activi... This hands-on activity explores the concept of static electricity. Students enact a "human diagram" of the Bohr model of an atom. Then, in pairs, they charge a comb (on hair) and use it to attract an O-shaped piece of cereal and then watch the cereal jump away when it touches the comb. They do the same with Styrofoam pellets, observing them pulling towards a charged comb, then leaping back to the table. Students gain an understanding of what's going on at the atomic level. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience To Heat or Not to Heat? PostedDecember 12, 2017 UpdatedDecember 14, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/wsu_heat_activity Students are introduced to various types of energy with a focus on thermal energy and types of heat transfer as they are challenged to design a better travel thermos that is cost efficient, aesthetically pleasing and meets the design objective of keeping liquids hot. They base their design decisions on material properties such thermal conductivity, cost and function. These engineering and science concepts are paired with student experiences to build an understanding of heat transfer as it plays a role in their day-to-day lives. While this introduction only shows the top-level concepts surrounding the mathematics associated with heat transfer; the skills become immediately useful as students apply what they know to solve an engineering challenge. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Shades of Gray(water) PostedOctober 10, 2017 UpdatedDecember 14, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_humanwatercycle_lesson01_ac... Students are introduced to the concepts of graywater and water reuse within households. They calculate the amount of used water a family generates in one day and use a model of home plumbing to find out how much graywater is produced in homes every day. They graph their results and discuss energy efficiency implications. Students are then challenged to find ways to reduce water use within the home. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Will It Conduct? (for Informal Learning) PostedSeptember 15, 2017 UpdatedNovember 6, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/sprinkles/view/cub_conduct Students build conductivity testers and test materials to see if they are good conductors of electricity. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Windy Tunnel PostedSeptember 15, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_airplanes_lesson02_activity... Through this activity, Bernoulli's principle as it relates to winged flight is demonstrated. Student pairs use computers and an online virtual wind tunnel to see the influence of camber and airfoil angle of attack on lift. Activity and math worksheets are provided. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Floodplain Modeling PostedSeptember 15, 2017 UpdatedMarch 21, 2019 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_natdis_lesson07_activity1 Students explore the impact of changing river volumes and different floodplain terrain in experimental trials with table top-sized riverbed models. The models are made using modeling clay in aluminum baking pans placed on a slight incline. Water added "upstream" at different flow rates and to different riverbed configurations simulates different potential flood conditions. Students study flood dynamics as they modify the riverbed with blockages or levees to simulate real-world scenarios. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Power, Work and the Water Wheel (for Informal Learning) PostedSeptember 15, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/sprinkles/view/cub_waterwheel Students design and build water wheels. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Bridge Types: Tensile & Compressive Forces PostedAugust 29, 2017 UpdatedFebruary 26, 2018 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_brid_lesson01_activity1 Students explore how tension and compression forces act on three different bridge types. Using sponges, cardboard and string, they create models of beam, arch and suspension bridges and apply forces to understand how they disperse or transfer these loads. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Get Your Motor Running (for Informal Learning) PostedAugust 12, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/sprinkles/view/cub_motor Students build small electric motors and use them to do work! Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Weather Forecasting PostedAugust 12, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_weather_lesson04 Students consider how weather forecasting plays an important part in their daily lives. They learn about the history of weather forecasting — from old weather proverbs to modern forecasting equipment — and how improvements in weather technology have saved lives by providing advance warning of natural hazards. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Spectroscopy PostedAugust 12, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.teachengineering.org/curricularunits/view/cub_spect_curricular_unit Students learn how using spectrographs helps people understand the composition of light sources. Using simple materials including holographic diffraction gratings, students create and customize their own spectrographs—just like engineers. They gather data about different light sources, make comparisons between sources and theorize about their compositions. Before building spectrographs, students learn and apply several methods to identify and interpret patterns, specifically different ways of displaying visual spectra. They also use spectral data from the Cassini mission to Saturn and its moon, Titan, to determine the chemical composition of the planet's rings and its moon's atmosphere. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Build an Anemometer PostedJuly 8, 2017 UpdatedJuly 14, 2017 Posted By Teach Engineering https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7BUZUrD5Kg Students create their own anemometers—instruments for measuring wind speed. They see how an anemometer measures wind speed by taking measurements at various school locations. They also learn about different types of anemometers, real-world applications, and how wind speed information helps engineers decide where to place wind turbines. Read More Q&A0