Teams of middle school students use the engineering design process to design, build, and test a pair of wearable platform or high-heeled shoes, taking into consideration the stress and strain on the wearer’s foot. They activity concludes with a “walk-off” to test the shoe designs and discuss the design process.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Fancy Feet

Tags: Class Activities, Engineering Design, fashion, footwear, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plan, making, Materials Engineering, shoe design, sneaker, STEAM

In this activity, teams of middle school students express their creativity while learning the fundamentals of engineering design, sustainability, and the basic physics of forces and motion by building a vehicle out of recycled trash that is capable of transporting liquid over rough terrain with as little spillage as possible.

Note: This activity can be scaled for high school or upper elementary students.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Trash Sliders

Tags: Class Activities, creativity, Earth Day, Engineering Design, Environmental Engineering, forces and motion, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plan, Recycling, STEAM, Sustainability, Trash

Students in grades 6 to 8 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. In the process, they learn that time is among the criteria that engineers must factor into their designs.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Build a Portable Sundial

Tags: Class Activities, clock, Grades 6-8, sundial, time

Students in grades 5 to 7 use Bernoulli’s principle to manipulate air pressure in a series of fun activities so its influence can be seen on the objects around us.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Fun With Bernoulli

Tags: Aerodynamics, Aeronautics, Automotive engineering, Bernoulli's principle, Class Activities, forces and motion, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans, Mathematics, Physics

Paris of students in grades 3 to 6 experience the engineering design process by building and modifying devices to catch and protect a “naked” egg as it is dropped from increasing heights. The activity scales up to district or regional egg drop competitions.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Naked Egg Drop

Tags: Class Activities, Egg drop, Engineering Design Process, forces, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, kinetic energy, Lesson Plans, materials, motion

Mission to Mars, CubeSats, and Polymers for the Planet are among the hands-on engineering units developed by 4th to 8th grade science teachers in a unique partnership between the Boeing Company and the Teaching Channel.

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Filed under: Class Activities, For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Special Features, Web Resources | Comments Off on Integrated STEM Curricula

Tags: Boeing, Class Activities, Curriculum, Design, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, integrated STEM, Internet Resources, Lesson Plans, Resources for Teachers, STEM education, STEM teacher professional development, TeachingChannel, Web Resources

In this collaborative math and art lesson, students in grades 4 through high school explore central ideas in industrial engineering – including productivity, efficiency, and quality – by designing their own assembly line and working together to mass produce greeting cards.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Greeting Card Assembly Line

Tags: Art, assembly line, Class Activities, Common Core State Mathematics Standards, girls in STEM, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, greeting card, Industrial engineering, Lesson Plans, Math, STEAM

In this activity, students in grades 2 to 8 learn about applied forces and elements of the engineering design process by creating a pop-up card or book.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Build a Pop-Up Card or Book

Tags: book making, Class Activities, diagram, engineering design proces, folding, forces, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plan, NGSS, paper, paper engineering, pop-up card

In this activity, upper elementary students working alone or in pairs learn about electrical circuits and the design process by dismantling a “singing” greeting card and using the parts to build an alarm system.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5 | Comments Off on Hack a Greeting Card

Tags: circuits, Class Activities, Design, electricity, electronics, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, greeting card, hack-a-thon, maker