Save the Penguins
Posted on January 9th, 2019 by Mary Lord
Middle school students address misconceptions and learn about thermal energy transfer while investigating the insulating properties of various materials. They then follow the engineering design process to create, test, and redesign a structure (igloo) to keep an ice cube (penguin) from melting.
Filed under: Class Activities, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Lesson Plans | Comments Off on Save the Penguins
Tags: arctic engineering, Class Activities, Curriculum, Energy, Environmental Engineering, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, habitat, heat transfer misconceptions, ice, insulation, Lesson Plan, NGSS aligned, Physics, polar ice, Save the Penguins
Students in grades 6 to 12 learn simple circuitry by creating light-up paper cards using only copper tape, a coin cell battery, a light-emitting diode (LED), and small electronic components. An artistic way to teach the basics of how circuits function—no soldering required! 
Looking for hands-on ways to teach forces and motion or refresh your Earth science lessons with the latest research? NASA’s STEM Educator Professional Development Collaborative at Texas State University has you covered with free webinars, activities, and other useful resources.
Students in grades 7 to 9 build model roller coasters using pipe insulation and marbles, then analyze them using physics principles, including conversions between kinetic and potential energy and frictional effects. A class competition using various marbles to represent different passenger loads determines the most innovative and successful designs.
A lot of engineering goes into making today’s gravity-defying rides both exciting and safe. Read about some roller coaster designers and the skills they bring to creating the world’s most thrilling wooden, steel, and virtual-reality experiences.
In this activity, small groups of students in grades 3 to 8 learn about forces, energy, and efficiency by measuring a bicycle’s gear ratios, calculating tire revolutions, and testing who can ride a course the swiftest based on that information.
Students in grades 9 and 10 are introduced to the biomechanical characteristics of helmets and challenged to incorporate them into helmet designs. They come to understand the role of engineering associated with safety products – in this case protecting the brain and neck of a bicyclist in the event of a crash, with the design dependent on the user’s needs and specifications.
OK Go is a wildly popular band that “likes to make stuff.” AnnMarie Thomas, a University of St. Thomas engineering educator and amateur circus aerialist, likes to make stuff, too. Put them together and the result is OK Go Sandbox, a free, video-rich repository of design challenges, curricula, and other resources that put the *fun* in fundamental STEM concepts while fostering creativity. 
High school students design and build wind chimes using their knowledge of physics and sound waves, and under such constraints as weight, cost, and the number of musical notes their chimes must generate. They make mathematical computations to determine the pipe lengths. Links to similar activities for younger students included in activity scaling section.
