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 18th, 2014 by Mary Lord
To encourage more schools to teach computer science, the nonprofit Code.org has launched Code Studio — a set of tools, lesson plans, and curriculum to help students in kindergarten through high school explore the underlying concepts behind coding. The site includes a dashboard for teachers to monitor their students’ progress.
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Filed under: For Teachers, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, K-12 Outreach Programs, Lesson Plans, Web Resources | Comments Off on New Tool for Teaching Kids to Code
Tags: Angry Birds, code.org, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Internet Resources, learn to program, Lesson Plans, STEM education
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 September 17th, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this activity, students in grades 7 to 9 will learn how to take a bearing with a compass and find an object in their classroom.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Where’s Your Teacher?
Tags: bearing, Class Activities, compass, directions, Engineering, estimation, GPS, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, maps, Mathematics, navigation, wilderness
Posted on September 17th, 2014 by Mary Lord
Middle school students learn about the engineering design process by building a model of an innovative human shelter inspired and informed by an animal habitat. They then present their work, explaining what attribute of the animal structure influenced their design.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Live Like an Animal
Tags: bio-inspired design, Biomimicry, building, Civil Engineering, Class Activities, Education Policy, Environmental science, Grades 6-8, habitat, Lesson Plans, shelter
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 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 April 21st, 2014 by Mary Lord
In this activity, students in grades 9-11 learn how engineers harness the energy of the wind by following the engineering design process to create and test two prototype wind turbines to see which works best. They also learn about where to place a wind turbine for maximum effectiveness, and to weigh the advantages and disadvantages compared with other energy sources.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Wind Power for Your Home
Tags: Alternative Energy, Civil Engineering, Class Activities, efficiency, Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, Grades 9-12, Green Technology, kinetic energy, Lesson Plan, Mechanical engineering, renewable energy, STEM education, Sustainability, turbine, wind power
