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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Design and Build a Road Sign Support

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Emergent engineers plan, construct, and experiment with a spaghetti noodle structure that could be used to hold a load. Set them up for success by first showing them a four-minute video on engineering design and a slide show of different...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Roller Coasters

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Twisting and turning through the sky, roller coasters are popular attractions at amusement parks around the world, but how exactly do they work? Explore the physics behind these thrilling rides with an engineering design activity....
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Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Crank It Up!

For Students 7th - 9th Standards
Following this procedure, eager engineers construct a working model of a piston system, similar to that in an internal combustion engine. Perfect for STEM or automotive technology classes, the activity comes complete with analysis and...
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Lesson Plan
NASA

Soda Straw Rockets

For Teachers K - 6th Standards
Three, two, one, blast off to a better understanding of force and motion with this exciting science lesson! Beginning with a discussion about rockets and gravity, young scientists go on to complete a series of worksheets about net...
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Lesson Plan
Skyscraper Museum

What is a Skyscraper?

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
Skyscrapers are amazing feats of architectural design that create the iconic skylines of the world's biggest cities. Young architects explore the defining characteristics of these monstrous towers with the first lesson in this four-part...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

You've Got to See it to Believe It!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Youngsters develop an understanding of how smog is produced, and how exhaust from automobiles is one of the major sources of smog. They explore the roles that engineers play in developing technologies that reduce smog, then work in teams...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Solar Power

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Elementary schoolers discover how engineers use solar energy to heat buildings. They take a close look at some of the materials used: sand, salt, water, and shredded paper and evaluate the efficiency of each material. An incredible...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Capturing the Sun's Warmth

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Passive solar heating is a technology that's been in use for thousands of years. Here, elementary schoolers are exposed to this type of heating, the materials that are used in passive solar heating, and they study how engineers design...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Racing With the Sun - Creating a Solar Car

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Here's an exciting and innovative lesson that's sure to get your charges fired up! In it, they use engineering design principles to construct and test a fully solar powered car. One caveat: the kits that each group needs to make their...
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Lesson Plan
eGFI

Tippy Tap Hand Washer

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High school physics or engineering classes construct a system for piping water from a storage tank to a water dispenser. They will apply Bernoulli's principle and perform calculations for elevation, pressure, and velocity. This is a...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Streetfilms' Moving Beyond the Automobile

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
This is an exceptional series that you can use in an environmental or engineering unit. There are four lessons: "Sustainable Transportation," "Designing for Safety," "Changing the Landscape," and "Engaging in Policy." Each lesson...
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Lesson Plan
Teach Engineering

Water Power

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young hydrologists observe a waterwheel which helps them investigate the transformations of energy that occur when the blades of a hydro-turbine are turning. They work together in pairs and pretend to be engineers who are building a new...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Hovercraft Racers

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Now, this lesson would be a blast! When your engineering or physics class is examining the reduction of friction or fluid dynamics, you can have them make these hovercraft racers. Using a balloon, a bottle cap, and a compact disc, middle...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does Your Garden Grow? Discovering How Weather Patterns Affect Natural Cycles

For Teachers 7th - 12th
For the warm-up in this cool climate lesson, you will need to click on "Mapping" and then "US Mapping" once you arrive at NOAA's "US Climate at a Glance" page. Earth science explorers realize that 2012 was a warm winter for us. They read...
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Lesson Plan
Foundation for Water & Energy Education

How Can Work Be Done with Water Power? Activity B

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this second of three activities, energy engineers plan and create a hydropower dam as they learn how hydroelectric power plants generate electricity. A hydropower puzzle is also included, which can be worked on by teams that finish...
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Lesson Plan
Agriculture in the Classroom

Six Kinds Do It All

For Teachers 2nd - 6th Standards
Teach young engineers that all machines, no matter how complicated or complex, are made up of just six simple devices with this hands-on physical science lesson. Using the included templates, students first create paper models of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Tree Diversity Activity

For Teachers 5th - 9th
Class members become tree huggers with this terrific study of biodiversity among trees! They do so by examining different characteristics of trees: shape, leaves, bark, fruit or seeds, etc. After examining five concepts, they use their...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Class Activity: Satellite Tracker

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Demonstrate how the Skywatch website works, locating your city via The International Space Station. Have cooperative groups use string and a protractor to identify an azimuth. When each groups' height has been marked, you will have a...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Great Lakes Geology and the Necessity of Locks

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Three class periods are required to carry out this science lesson on glacial movement, the Great Lakes basin, and the lock system that allows travel on the lakes. It is an ambitious undertaking as your class experiments with a glacier...
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Activity
Society of Petroleum Engineers

Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy

For Teachers 2nd - 10th Standards
Energize an environmental science unit on natural resources with this collection of instructional materials. From simple coloring sheets for primary grade children, to guiding questions for a high school research...
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Worksheet
Olathe Public Schools

Forces, Net Forces & Acceleration

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Pass along the knowledge of the great Sir Isaac Newton with this worksheet on the laws of motion. Including three separate problems, each involving multiple parts and calculations, this resource is a great way to...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Fairy Tales to Debate Ethics

For Teachers K - 8th
Is trickery ever justified? Is it okay to steal from someone who has stolen from you? Puss, from Puss in Boots, and Jack, from Jack and the Beanstalk, might have some ideas about these ethical questions. After listening to a series of...
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Worksheet
Texas State Energy Conservation Office

Investigation: Waves and Whistles

For Students 6th - 9th
Wave goodbye to the same old demonstrations for alternative energy sources, and wave hello to this one investigating ocean waves! Using a water bottle to create an oscillating water column, learners see and possibly hear how the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Upwelling - Cold One Day, Warm Another?

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Discuss with your oceanographers what forces cause nearshore upwelling and downwelling. Display a line of wind vectors alongside a graph of the temperatures so that they can discover whether or not they are related. Discussion questions...