Partner Resource 1 Experience All About Water! PostedJuly 2, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_drink_lesson01 Students learn about the differences between types of water (surface and ground), as well as the differences between streams, rivers and lakes. Then, they learn about dissolved organic matter (DOM), and the role it plays in identifying drinking water sources. Finally, students are introduced to conventional drinking water treatment processes. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Balloons PostedApril 11, 2017 UpdatedSeptember 23, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_balloons_lesson01_activity1 Students follow the steps of the engineering design process as they design and construct balloons for aerial surveillance. After their first attempts to create balloons, they are given the associated Estimating Buoyancy lesson to learn about volume, buoyancy and density to help them iterate more successful balloon designs.Applying their newfound knowledge, the young engineers build and test balloons that fly carrying small flip cameras that capture aerial images of their school. Students use the aerial footage to draw maps and estimate areas. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 2 Experiences Breaking Beams PostedJune 7, 2018 Posted byTeach Engineering Team 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 Bridge Types: Tensile & Compressive Forces PostedAugust 29, 2017 UpdatedFebruary 26, 2018 Posted byTeach Engineering Team 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 Build an Anemometer PostedJuly 8, 2017 UpdatedJuly 14, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_energy2_lesson07_activity1 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
Partner Resource 1 Experience Cereal Magnets PostedJuly 8, 2017 UpdatedJuly 13, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/duk_foodiron_music_act Student groups compete to design a process that removes the most iron from fortified cereal. Students experiment with different materials using what they know about iron, magnets and forces to design the best process for removing iron from the cereal samples. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Completing the Circuit PostedMarch 5, 2018 Posted byTeach Engineering Team 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 2 Experiences Cooking with the Sun - Creating a Solar Oven PostedJuly 5, 2017 UpdatedJuly 7, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/duk_solaroven_tech_act Student groups are given a set of materials: cardboard, insulating materials, aluminum foil and Plexiglas, and challenged to build solar ovens. The ovens must collect and store as much of the sun's energy as possible. Students experiment with heat transfer through conduction by how well the oven is insulated and radiation by how well it absorbs solar radiation. They test the effectiveness of their designs qualitatively by baking some food and quantitatively by taking periodic temperature measurements and plotting temperature vs. time graphs. To conclude, students think like engineers and analyze the solar oven's strengths and weaknesses compared to conventional ovens. Read More Q&A0
2 Experiences Engineering for Good PostedAugust 13, 2018 UpdatedAugust 13, 2018 Posted byAndrea Aust https://kqed.org/engineeringforgood Engineering for Good is a three-week, project-based learning unit for middle school science classrooms focused on developing solutions for negative impacts of plastics on the environment.In this NGSS-aligned unit, students use the engineering design process to define a problem, brainstorm solutions, develop prototypes and iterate on their designs. The project culminates with students producing videos about their solutions to share with the community. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Engineering: Simple Machines PostedMarch 27, 2017 UpdatedSeptember 24, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_simple_lesson01 Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier. Students are introduced to the six types of simple machines — the wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, and pulley — in the context of the construction of a pyramid, gaining high-level insights into tools that have been used since ancient times and are still in use today. In two hands-on activities, students begin their own pyramid design by performing materials calculations, and evaluating and selecting a construction site. The six simple machines are examined in more depth in subsequent lessons in this unit. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Floodplain Modeling PostedSeptember 15, 2017 UpdatedMarch 21, 2019 Posted byTeach Engineering Team 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 2 Experiences Focus on Fabrics: Putting Materials to Good Use PostedDecember 20, 2018 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/focus_on_fabrics Students come to understand the basics of engineering associated with the use, selection, and properties of fabrics. A wide variety of natural and synthetic fibers are used in our clothing, home furnishings and in our travel and sports equipment. The specific material chosen for each application depends on how closely the properties of the material match the design needs. This activity focuses on the different characteristics of fabrics and shows students how natural and synthetic fabrics differ from one another. Students weigh the advantages and disadvantages of fabrics when considering the appropriate fabric to be used. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Get Your Motor Running (for Informal Learning) PostedAugust 12, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team 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 Glaciers, Water and Wind, Oh My! PostedJuly 8, 2017 UpdatedJuly 14, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_earth_lesson5_activity1 Through this hands-on activity, students explore five different forms of erosion: chemical, water, wind, glacier and temperature. They rotate through stations and model each type of erosion on rocks, soils and minerals. They record their observations and discuss the effects of erosion on the Earth's landscape. Students learn about how engineers are involved in the protection of landscapes and structures from erosion. Math problems are included to help students think about the effects of erosion in real-world scenarios. Read More Q&A0
1 Experience Hands-on Activity: Balloons PostedApril 7, 2015 UpdatedSeptember 25, 2017 Posted byMike Soltys https://www.teachengineering.org/view_activity.php?url=collection/cub_/activitie... Students follow the steps of the engineering design process as they design and construct balloons for aerial surveillance. After their first attempts to create balloons, they are given the associated Estimating Buoyancy lesson to learn about volume, buoyancy and density to help them iterate more successful balloon designs.Applying their newfound knowledge, the young engineers build and test balloons that fly carrying small flip cameras that capture aerial images of their school. Students use the aerial footage to draw maps and estimate areas. Read More Q&A0
2 Experiences Hands-on Activity: Cooking with the Sun - Creating a Solar Oven PostedMarch 19, 2015 UpdatedSeptember 25, 2017 Posted byMike Soltys https://www.teachengineering.org/view_activity.php?url=collection/duk_/activitie... Student groups are given a set of materials: cardboard, insulating materials, aluminum foil and Plexiglas, and challenged to build solar ovens. The ovens must collect and store as much of the sun's energy as possible. Students experiment with heat transfer through conduction by how well the oven is insulated and radiation by how well it absorbs solar radiation. They test the effectiveness of their designs qualitatively by baking some food and quantitatively by taking periodic temperature measurements and plotting temperature vs. time graphs. To conclude, students think like engineers and analyze the solar oven's strengths and weaknesses compared to conventional ovens. Read More Q&A2
Partner Resource 2 Experiences How High Can a Super Ball Bounce? PostedMarch 11, 2018 UpdatedMarch 12, 2018 Posted byTeach Engineering Team 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 byTeach Engineering Team 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
1 Experience Laser Cutting using Adobe Illustrator PostedMay 5, 2016 UpdatedSeptember 25, 2017 Posted byAlison Haugh 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 Q&A0
1 Experience MechAnimations - Building and designing Mechanical animations! PostedApril 23, 2015 UpdatedSeptember 25, 2017 Posted byTravis Sloane http://citytechnology.org/unit/mechanimations MechAnimations are home-made kinetic toys, which depict animals or people with movable body parts. Read More Q&A0