Move Like a Shark
Posted on August 31st, 2019 by Mary Lord
Middle school students take on the role of marine biologists to investigate how sharks move in three-dimensional space (3-D). Understanding the mathematics behind shark movement will inform the design of a prototype joystick for a robotic exploration shark used to collect oceanic data.
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Move Like a Shark
Tags: 3-D motion, Aeronautics, Cartesian coordinates, Class Activities, drag, forces, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plan, programming, shark movement, speed, x, y, z axes
Students in grades 2 to 5 are introduced to the dangerous work of scientists who study great white sharks. They work in engineering teams to select appropriate materials from a makers pace to design a shark cage that will help a diver submerge safely into a tank of sharks.
If you were an engineer or scientist, what would you wear to work? That’s the fascinating focus of Scientists Get Dressed, a new STEM-themed children’s book by award-winning author Deborah Lee Rose. The book, available this fall, includes an NGSS-aligned STEM activity called the Scientists’ Glove Challenge. 
Students in grades 6 to 8 use water balloons and string to understand how the force of gravity between two objects and the velocity of a spacecraft can balance to form an orbit. They see that when the velocity becomes too great for gravity to hold the spacecraft in orbit, the object escapes the orbit and travels further away from the planet.
Students in grades 4 to 9 learn about projectile motion by designing, building, and testing a machine that can kick a Ping-Pong ball into a cup lying on its side 12 inches away.
Students in grades 6 to 8 apply their knowledge about mountains and rocks to transportation engineering to develop a model mountain tunnel from that simulates the principles behind real-life engineering design. Teams design and create model tunnels through a clay mountain, working within design constraints and testing for success; the tunnels must meet specific design requirements and withstand a certain load.
The driving of the last spike of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1863, capped more than a century of engineering triumph and human tragedy. Teach your students about the historical impact of engineering and technology on society with these activities and resources designed to mark the anniversary of that fateful meeting of two steam locomotives at Promontory, Utah, 150 years ago.
Students in grades 4 to 8 or higher learn the basics of electricity and sound by designing and building a working telegraph system using batteries, wire, and other simple parts. They then use their telegraphs – one of history’s most important inventions – to send and receive messages.
Just as athletes “learn from the game,” the annual NCAA March Madness basketball competition offers students a timely, engaging way to hone their STEM knowledge and skills. eGFI has compiled some bracket-busting resources to pep up your math and science classes.
