Lesson: Trash Talkin’
Posted on April 19th, 2010 by Jaimie Schock
In this activity, students in grades 3-5 collect, categorize, weigh and analyze classroom solid waste. The class collects waste for a week, and then student groups spend a day sorting and analyzing the garbage with respect to recyclable and non-recyclable items. Students will discuss ways that engineers have helped to reduce solid waste.
Filed under: Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | 1 Comment »
Tags: Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, Grades 3-5, Lesson Plan, Recycling, Waste management
The Learning Roomba educational toolkit attempts to address robotics usability issues by keeping total costs down while making the tools as easy to use as possible. This toolkit is a collection of resources and tools to facilitate teaching robotics to pre-college students. Through these resources, students can learn about science, math, and engineering topics in a fun and exciting way.
BristleBots are one variety of the popular vibrobot, a simple category of robot controlled by a single vibrating motor. This BristleBot is made from a toothbrush and a few low-cost materials and can easily be modified for additional challenge.
In this activity for grades 6-8, students gain first-hand experience with the mechanical advantage of pulleys. Students are given the challenge of helping save a whale by moving it from an aquarium back to its natural habitat into the ocean. They set up different pulley systems, compare the theoretical and actual mechanical advantage of each and discuss their recommendations as a class.
Students build a simulated luge track and make predictions about the impact of surface type, wind resistance, size of slope, and shape of luge on their track; test their predictions by conducting several simulated luge runs; and make conclusions about the effects of physical forces on the sport of luging.
In this lesson for grades 6-12, students experience the forces of tension and compression by manipulating objects that are strong in each but not in both. Students then take what they have learned and apply it to the construction of a simple model of a beam bridge and the more complex suspension bridge and inverted triangle support structure. During the lesson, students watch video segments that illustrate the design and construction process in the real world.
In this lesson for ages 8 to 18, students work in teams to design and build a working robotic arm from a set of everyday items. Each arm should be able to pick up a Styrofoam cup.
