eGFI teachers’ newsletters have featured activities and lesson plans developed by PBS’s Design Squad Nation, with video links and suggested modifications for different age groups. Here’s a sampler:

Pop Fly! (Engineering design, levers, physics, trajectories) Student teams in grades 3 – 12 design a device that can launch a ping-pong ball high enough for them to catch it.

On Target! (Engineering design, physics, laws of motion, trajectories) Teams of students in grades 6 -12 learn the engineering design process by modifying a paper cup to carry a marble down a zip line and drop it precisely on a target.

Paper Table. (Engineering desing, structures, civil engineering, geometry) Student teams in grades 4 -7 design and build sturdy paper tables out of tape and newspaper.

(With NASA) Build a Lunar Lander. (Engineering design, aerospace engineering, forces) Student teams in grades 3 – 8 use the engineering design process to design a shock-absorbing that protects two marshmallow “astronauts” when it lands.

Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans

Tags: Class Activities, Design Squad, Engineering Design, Lesson Plans