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.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Build a Kicking Machine

Tags: ball, Class Activities, Engineering Design, forces and motion, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Kicking Machine, kinetic energy, Lesson Plan, PBS Design Squad, Physics, projectile motion, simple machines, soccer

Teams of high school students learn about energy and energy transformation, then use their knowledge to design and build a paper model of the most fun and exciting roller coaster they can imagine.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Paper Roller Coasters

Tags: CCSS, Class Activities, forces, Grades 9-12, Gravity, kinetic energy, Lesson Plan, Mathematics, motion, Newton's Laws, NGSS, Physical Science, potential energy, roller coaster, vectors, velocity

Paris of students in grades 3 to 6 experience the engineering design process by building and modifying devices to catch and protect a “naked” egg as it is dropped from increasing heights. The activity scales up to district or regional egg drop competitions.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Naked Egg Drop

Tags: Class Activities, Egg drop, Engineering Design Process, forces, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, kinetic energy, Lesson Plans, materials, motion

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

Teams of students in grades 3 to 8 learn about friction, forces, and the engineering design process by building and testing miniature bobsleds to see which can race down an icy slope either the fastest or slowest.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Build a Bobsled Racer

Tags: Aerodynamics, Bobsled, Boston Museum of Science, Energy, Engineering Design Process, friction, glide, kinetic energy, Olympics

In this activity, late-elementary school students work in small groups to build a roller coaster with at least one loop and one jump, demonstrating how potential energy transforms into kinetic energy. Students observe the relationship of height to potential energy and the resulting kinetic energy.

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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5 | Comments Off on Class Activity: Build a Roller Coaster

Tags: Class Activities, forces and motion, friction, Grades 3-6, Grades K-5, kinetic energy, Mechanical engineering, roller coaster