Posted on September 28th, 2022 by Mary Lord
Teams of students in grades 7 to 9 follow the engineering design process to create, construct, test, and improve model solar sails made of aluminum foil to move cardboard tube satellites through “space” on a string. During the process, they learn about Newton’s laws of motion and the transfer of energy from wave energy to mechanical energy.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Solar Sails: The Future of Space Travel
Tags: Aerospace, Class Activities, Design, energy transfer, Engineering Design Process, forces and motion, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plan, Newton, Newton's Laws, NGSS aligned activity, solar sails, space exploration, spacecraft, teachengineering
Posted on October 21st, 2019 by ASEE
This simple catapult activity for students in grades 4 – 8 teaches them how energy is transferred when a plastic spoon is pulled back, then released, rocketing its payload — a single marshmallow.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Activity: Catapult Marshmallow Launch
Tags: catapult, Class Activities, Energy, forces and motion, Fun & Games, Grades 4 - 8, Grades K-5, Newton's Laws, NGSS, Physical Science, Physics, trebuchet
Posted on June 1st, 2018 by Mary Lord
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
Posted on October 8th, 2017 by Mary Lord
Baseball traditions may not have changed much, but engineering has helped improve performance, safety, and equipment – including perfecting the swing. Baseball also offers a great context for teaching math and science, and eGFI has compiled some helpful sites.
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Filed under: Special Features, Web Resources | Comments Off on Engineering the National Pastime
Tags: ballpark design, baseball engineering, bat, forces and motion, Newton's Laws, Physics, pitch, sports equipment, stadiums, STEM education, Web Resources
Posted on November 21st, 2010 by ASEE
In this lesson, students in grades 4-12 learn about the history of catapults and how they work. They assemble their own catapult model, making adjustments to improve its performance. Students gain engineering experience while learning principles of physics and working with the scientific processes of experimentation and trial and error.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Grades K-5, Grades K-5, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Lesson: Build a Catapult
Tags: catapult, Class Activities, Engineering in History, forces and motion, Grades 5-12, Grades 6-8, Lesson Plan, Mathematics, Newton's Laws, Physical Science
Posted on November 15th, 2010 by ASEE
Students in grades 5-8 are invited to participate in Spaced Out Sports, a national design challenge that applies Newton’s Laws of Motion in the design of a game for astronauts of the International Space Station to play in space. The goal is for students to learn the “science behind the game” on Earth and in microgravity. Deadline: February 1, 2011.
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Filed under: Grades 6-8, K-12 Outreach Programs | Comments Off on Contest: NASA’s Sports Design Challenge
Tags: Contest, Fun & Games, International Space Station, NASA, Newton's Laws, Web Resources
Posted on March 15th, 2010 by ASEE
In this simple, exciting demonstration of Newton’s Laws of Motion, students in grades 5-8 construct a rocket powered by the pressure generated from an effervescing antacid tablet reacting with water. They undertake the work of aerospace engineers in exploring design elements that can affect a spacecraft’s performance.
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Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades K-5 | 3 Comments »
Tags: Aerospace, grades 5-8, NASA, Newton's Laws