Posted on December 11th, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this fun activity developed by St. Thomas University engineering associate professor AnnMarie Thomas, students of all ages learn the basic principles of electricity by fashioning circuits from play dough, batteries, and LEDs. No soldering necessary!
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans, Web Resources | 1 Comment »
Tags: afterschool activities, circuits, Class Activities, Electrical Engineering, electricity, Energy, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, LEDs, lights, Squishy Circuits, St. Thomas University, STEM education
Posted on September 22nd, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this short, fun activity for students in grades 2 to 12, teams learn about the engineering design process, including constraints on time and materials, by building the tallest free-standing tower out of pipe-cleaners.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs | Comments Off on Pipe-Cleaner Towers
Tags: build, Building Design, Civil Engineering, Class Activities, Design, design contest, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, North Carolina State University, pipe cleaner challenge, pipe cleaners, STEM education, Structural Engineering, tower
Posted on September 18th, 2014 by Mary Lord
Students in grades 2 to 4 learn about wildlife habitats, environmental engineering, and the complexities of nest construction by attempting to design and build a nest themselves.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Think Like a Bird!
Tags: Biology, birds, Class Activities, construction, Design, ecology, Environmental Engineering, Grades K-5, Great Sand Dunes National Park, habitat, Lesson Plan, material properties, National Park Service, nest, wilderness, wildlife
Posted on August 28th, 2014 by Mary Lord
Students learn about the importance of using the right materials for the job by building three different sand castles and testing them for strength and resistance to weathering. They then discuss how the buildings are different and what engineers need to think about when using rocks, soils, and minerals for construction.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | 2 Comments »
Tags: Civil Engineering, construction, Engineering Design, Materials Engineering, Problem Solving, sand castles, soil
Posted on July 25th, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this activity, students in grades 4 to 8 use LEGO spur gears to learn about different types of gears and how they are used in many engineering devices, including bicycles, to change the speed, torque, and direction of a power source.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on What Are Gears?
Tags: bicycle, Class Activities, gears, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, LEGOS, Mathematics, Mechanical engineering, Physics, simple machines, speed, torque
Posted on June 19th, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this activity, elementary students in grades 3 to 5 learn about reverse engineering and how to collect and represent data graphically by investigating different balls and their abilities to bounce.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5 | Comments Off on Ball Bounce Experiment
Tags: balls, data, graph, Materials Engineering, Mathematics, Reverse Engineering, soccer, Sports
Posted on May 30th, 2014 by Mary Lord
Pairs of students in grades 3 – 5 investigate sound frequencies and acoustic engineering by creating four different instruments – a shoebox guitar, water-glass xylophone, straw panpipe, and soda bottle organ.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Simple Musical Instruments
Tags: acoustic engineering, build, Class Activities, Design, frequency, Grades K-5, guitar, hands-on activities, instrument, Music engineering, noise, sound, waves, xylophone
Posted on May 20th, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this activity, students in grades 3 to 6 learn about force and friction by examining how basic rim bicycle brakes work and discussing the advantages of various designs. They then use low cost materials to devise a simple braking system, suggest improvements to current bicycle brake designs, and present their recommended changes to the class.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5 | Comments Off on Give Me a Brake!
Tags: bicycle, Class Activities, Design, Energy, Engineering Design, friction, gears, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plan, motions and forces
Posted on March 25th, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this quick, fun activity, pairs of students in grades 2 – 8 will learn about industrial engineering and measurement by estimating how many times a partner can complete a task in one minute, then checking the estimate against actual performance. Students then can discuss ways to improve their performance and try again.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5 | Comments Off on Just a Minute!
Tags: Class Activities, estimation, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Industrial engineering, inquiry, investigation, Mathematics, measurement, time management, time motion studies