Solar Sails: The Future of Space Travel
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.
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
Learn how to integrate engineering design into your STEM curriculum this summer with a pair of TeachEngineering two-day virtual workshops – the nation’s first engineering teacher professional development endorsed by the American Society for Engineering Education. 
Students in grades 7 to 9 explore mathematical algorithms and geometric concepts to devise possible solutions to how a robotic vacuum should move to best clean a floor of unknown shape and dimensions. They brainstorm, analyze, and present the best of the generated ideas before being introduced to an elegant solution that involves a random number generator determining which direction the robot will take when it hits a barrier. Note: Activity uses LEGO Mindstorms EV3 robot and software. 
Learn skills and tools to help you integrate engineering and design in your STEM classes with TeachEngineering’s virtual professional development summer workshops for PreK-12 teachers. ASEE endorsed! 
Students in grades 6-8 use their knowledge about how healthy heart valves function to design, construct, and implant prototype replacement mitral valves for hypothetical patients’ hearts. In the process, they discover the pros and cons of different types of artificial heart valves based on materials, surgery requirements, and lifespan.
Like NASA engineering teams, students learn about and then follow the steps of the engineering design process to design and build original model devices to help astronauts eat in a microgravity environment—their own creative devices for food storage and meal preparation. 
Students in grades 6 to 8 follow the engineering design process while combining mechanical engineering and bioengineering to create a new wristwatch face for a visually impaired student at their school. Teams present their designs to the class and construct prototypes of a watch face that doesn’t rely on sight to tell time.
Students in grades 6 to 11 explore the practical, scientific, ethical, and environmental issues that emerge in creating “smart” buildings that meld environmentally responsible design with cutting-edge computing technology known as the Internet of Things (IoT). Working in teams, they design and perhaps later implement smart-building solutions to make their school a better place to inhabit.
Middle school students learn the concept of dead reckoning by using vectors to plot a course based on a time and speed, then correct their positions with vectors representing winds and currents. Includes a link to related activities on navigation and creating nautical charts.
