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 1 Experience 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 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
1 Experience 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 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 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 1 Experience 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
1 Experience National Science Teachers Association Conferences PostedDecember 2, 2015 UpdatedMarch 30, 2017 Posted byDoug Paulson http://www.nsta.org/conferences/ NSTA conferences offer the latest in science content, teaching strategy, and research to enhance and expand your professional growth. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 2 Experiences Paper Circuits Greeting Cards PostedJune 30, 2017 UpdatedJuly 7, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/spfun_paper_circuits_activity1 Light up your love with paper circuits this Valentine’s Day—no soldering required! Create a sure-to-impress flashing birthday card or design a light-up Christmas card—all with paper circuits! In this activity, students are guided through the process to create simple paper circuitry using only copper tape, a coin cell battery, a light-emitting diode (LED) and small electronic components such as a LilyPad Button Board. Making light-up greeting cards with paper circuitry is great way to teach the basics of how circuits function while giving students an outlet to express their artistic creativity. Read More Q&A0
Partner Resource 1 Experience Pop Rockets PostedJuly 8, 2017 UpdatedJuly 14, 2017 Posted byTeach Engineering Team https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_rockets_lesson04_activity3 Students design and build paper rockets around film canisters, which serve as engines. An antacid tablet and water are put into each canister, reacting to form carbon dioxide gas, and acting as the pop rocket's propellant. With the lid snapped on, the continuous creation of gas causes pressure to build up until the lid pops off, sending the rocket into the air. The pop rockets demonstrate Newton's third law of motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. An instructions handout, worksheets (English and Spanish) and quiz are provided. Read More Q&A0