Posted on August 19th, 2011 by Mary Lord
![Design Squad logo Design Squad logo](http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Design-Squad-logo.png)
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:
Read More
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: A Design Squad Sampler
Tags: Class Activities, Design Squad, Engineering Design, Lesson Plans
Posted on August 14th, 2011 by Jaimie Schock
In this lesson, students in grades 3-5 are introduced to chemical engineering and learn about its many different applications. They are provided with a basic introduction to matter and its different properties and states. An associated hands-on activity gives students a chance to test their knowledge of the states of matter and how to make observations.
Read More
Filed under: Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Chemical Wonders
Tags: Chemical, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Elementary Education, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans
Posted on June 22nd, 2011 by Mary Lord
These references and resources were initially developed for presentations at the Central PA STEM Conference and the 2011 ASEE K12 Workshop, which included a presentation focused on the green-roof lesson on the eGFI website.
Read More
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans, Web Resources | Comments Off on Green Roof Resources
Tags: Class Activities, Curriculum, Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, green roof, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans, Science
Posted on June 5th, 2011 by Mary Lord
Student teams in grades 9-11 gain a better understanding of heat transfer and engineering by designing and building solar water-heating devices that mimic those used in residences. Once the model devices are constructed, students perform efficiency calculations and compare designs.
Read More
Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Solar Water Heater
Tags: Energy and Environmental Technology, Environmental Engineering, Environmental science, Grades 9-12, Green, Green Technology, Lesson Plans, Solar Energy, Solar Engineering
Posted on May 22nd, 2011 by Mary Lord
In this activity, teams of students 8 – 18 learn about engineering design by constructing rubber-band-powered cars from everyday materials that can travel in a straight line for a distance of at least 3 meters within a 1 meter wide track. They test their rubber-band racers, evaluate their results, and present to the class.
Read More
Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | 2 Comments »
Tags: Class Activities, force, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans, motion, Physics, propulsion, rubber band racers
Posted on April 24th, 2011 by Mary Lord
In this lesson, teams of students in grades 3-5 will use their knowledge of tornadoes and damage to design a structure that will withstand wind and protect people from twisters. Each group will create a poster with the name of their engineering firm and a picture of their structure, then present their design to the class.
Read More
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Design a Tornado-Proof Building
Tags: Class Activities, Disaster, Disaster relief, Grades K-5, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans
Posted on April 3rd, 2011 by Mary Lord
In this activity, students will learn the challenges of operating a robotic rover on the distant Red Planet and solve problems through a hands-on simulation. After trying to navigate an obstacle course blindfolded and guided only by verbal commands, students will discover that tooling around Mars is no simple joy-stick ride.
Read More
Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Mars Rover Races
Tags: Class Activities, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans, NASA, Robotics
Posted on March 25th, 2011 by Mary Lord
In this lesson, you’ll introduce your students to the four forces of flight — drag, lift, thrust, and weight — through a variety of fun flight experiments. Students will “fly” for short periods and then evaluate factors that might either increase or decrease their “flight” duration. They also will discover how air moving at different speeds over a wing keeps planes aloft.
Read More
Filed under: Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | 1 Comment »
Tags: Aerodynamics, Aeronautics, Aerospace, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans
Posted on March 20th, 2011 by Mary Lord
Basketball not only is fun to play or watch–it packs a lot of math and science in each move. In this lesson, developed by NPR’s Talking Science with John Fontanella, a physicist at the U.S. Naval Academy and author of The Physics of Basketball, students will learn how physics affects the game. What forces are acting on the ball? What must players do to offset these forces?
Read More
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Free Shot Physics
Tags: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plan, Lesson Plans, Physics