High school students analyze an assortment of popular inventions to determine their intended beneficiaries as well as who has access to, might be harmed by, and is profiting from them. They then develop and apply class standards for ethical design to re-imagine the devices in a way that would do more good for humanity.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection photo of VeriScan facial recognition tablet at Dulles International airport by Glenn Fawcett

Read More

Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Engineering Ethics: Evaluating Popular Inventions

Tags: Class Activities, design constraints, Drones, engineering ethics, genetic engineering, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plan, National Society of Professional Engineers, Presentations

In this lesson from Newton’s Apple, students learn about the engineering behind air bags, including the concepts of momentum and force. They then conduct a related experiment, cushioning the “crash” of a raw egg.

Read More

Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12 | Comments Off on Activity: Airbags and Collisions

Tags: Automotive engineering, Class Activities, design constraints, Egg drop, Ethics in engineering, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Safety engineering