Students use their knowledge of scales and areas to determine the best …
Students use their knowledge of scales and areas to determine the best locations in Alabraska for the underground caverns. They cut out rectangular paper pieces to represent caverns to scale with the maps and place the cut-outs on the maps to determine feasible locations.
Grades 3-5. Students use potatoes to light an LED clock (or light …
Grades 3-5. Students use potatoes to light an LED clock (or light bulb) as they learn how a battery works in a simple circuit and how chemical energy changes to electrical energy. As they learn more about electrical energy, they better understand the concepts of voltage, current and resistance.
Los ingenieros civiles, geotécnicos, medio ambientales, mecánicos y eléctricos colaboran para diseñar …
Los ingenieros civiles, geotécnicos, medio ambientales, mecánicos y eléctricos colaboran para diseñar y construir presas que generan electricidad a partir de la corriente del agua. Cuando los ingenieros diseñan estas presas, llamadas plantas de energía hidroeléctrica, ellos calculan la cantidad de energía que estas plantas pueden generar. Conociendo la capacidadpotencial de generación que poseen, ellos pueden estimar el área máxima rural o urbana que puede recibir la electricidad generada por la presa.
Waterwheels are devices that generate power and do work. Student teams construct …
Waterwheels are devices that generate power and do work. Student teams construct waterwheels using two-liter plastic bottles, dowel rods and index cards, and calculate the power created and work done by them.
Students learn how engineers design devices that use water to generate electricity …
Students learn how engineers design devices that use water to generate electricity by building model water turbines and measuring the resulting current produced in a motor. Student teams work through the engineering design process to build the turbines, analyze the performance of their turbines and make calculations to determine the most suitable locations to build dams.
Students learn how engineers harness the energy of the wind to produce …
Students learn how engineers harness the energy of the wind to produce power by following the engineering design process as they prototype two types of wind turbines and test to see which works best. Students also learn how engineers decide where to place wind turbines, and the advantages and disadvantages to using wind power compared to other non-renewable energy sources.
How might you use an object’s gravitational potential energy to move an …
How might you use an object’s gravitational potential energy to move an object? This challenge will explore how differently shaped objects store potential energy and are affected by gravity. We can see the energy of motion around us every day. From how we run to school or work to driving in our cars, the energy of motion can be seen (and experienced) everywhere. Exploring the energy of motion is one of the easiest ways to understand how energy transfers since we can see it so concretely! Analyzing energy use can help us recognize how we might design and develop sustainable energy systems in the future.
This is a 120-minute lesson that includes a self-paced interactive module and classroom activities. The teacher guide includes a challenge sequence (timeline), relevance to standards, materials list, assessment, evaluation rubric, and learning extensions.
Lesson objectives: (1) Students recognize that mechanical energy includes: Kinetic energy (KE)- the energy of motion, and Potential energy (PE)- the energy of position. (2) Students recognize that stored energy is potential while moving energy is kinetic.
Working in groups, students look at three different villages in various parts …
Working in groups, students look at three different villages in various parts of Africa and design economically viable engineering solutions to answer the energy needs of the off-the-grid small towns, given limited budgets. Each village has different nearby resources, both renewable and nonrenewable. Student teams conduct research, make calculations, consider the options and create plans, which they present to the class. Through their investigations and planning of custom solutions for each locale, they experience the real-world engineering research and analysis steps of the engineering design process.
Students continue to explore the story of building a pyramid, learning about …
Students continue to explore the story of building a pyramid, learning about the simple machine called a pulley. They learn how a pulley can be used to change the direction of applied forces and move/lift extremely heavy objects, and the powerful mechanical advantages of using a multiple-pulley system. Students perform a simple demonstration to see the mechanical advantage of using a pulley, and they identify modern day engineering applications of pulleys. In a hands-on activity, they see how a pulley can change the direction of a force, the difference between fixed and movable pulleys, and the mechanical advantage gained with multiple / combined pulleys. They also learn the many ways engineers use pulleys for everyday purposes.
In this activity, students act as power engineers by specifying the power …
In this activity, students act as power engineers by specifying the power plants to build for a community. They are given a budget, an expected power demand from the community, and different power plant options with corresponding environmental effects. They can work through this scenario as a class or on their own.
This lesson provides students with an overview of the electric power industry …
This lesson provides students with an overview of the electric power industry in the United States. Students also become familiar with the environmental impacts associated with a variety of energy sources.
Students imagine they are stranded on an island and must create the …
Students imagine they are stranded on an island and must create the brightest light possible with the meager supplies they have on hand in order to gain the attention of a rescue airplane. In small groups, students create circuits using items in their "survival kits" to create maximum voltage, measured with a multimeter and two LED lights. To complete the activity, students act as engineers by using the given materials to create circuits that produces the highest voltage and light up the most LED lights. They apply their knowledge of how voltage differs in a series circuit and a parallel circuit to design their solutions.
Students learn about the mechanical advantage offered by pulleys in an interactive …
Students learn about the mechanical advantage offered by pulleys in an interactive and game-like manner. By virtue of the activity's mechatronic presentation, they learn to study a mechanical system not as a static image, but rather as a dynamic system that is under their control. Using a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robotics platform and common hardware items, students build a mechanized elevator system. The ability to control different parameters (such as motor power, testing load and pulley arrangement) enables the teacher, as well as the students, to emphasize and reinforce particular aspects/effects of mechanical advantage.
Students read and evaluate descriptions of how people live "off the grid" …
Students read and evaluate descriptions of how people live "off the grid" using solar power and come to understand better the degree to which that lifestyle is or is not truly independent of technological, economic and cultural infrastructure and resources. In the process, students develop a deeper appreciation of the meaning of "community" and the need for human connection. This activity is geared towards fifth-grade and older students and Internet research capabilities are required. Portions of this activity may be appropriate with younger students.
Students use balloons (a polymer) to explore preconditioning a viscoelastic material behavior …
Students use balloons (a polymer) to explore preconditioning a viscoelastic material behavior that is important to understand when designing biomedical devices. They improve their understanding of preconditioning by measuring the force needed to stretch a balloon to the same displacement multiple times. Students gain experience in data collection and graph interpretation.
This lesson culminates the unit with the Go Public phase of the …
This lesson culminates the unit with the Go Public phase of the legacy cycle. In the associated activity, students depict a tumor amidst healthy body tissue using a Microsoft Excel® graph. In addition, students design a brochure for both patients and doctors advertising a new form of painless yet reliable breast cancer detection. Together, the in-class activity and the take-home assignment function as an assessment of what students have learned throughout the unit.
Students apply what they have learned about the engineering design process to …
Students apply what they have learned about the engineering design process to a real-life problem that affects them and/or their school. They chose a problem as a group, and then follow the engineering design process to come up with and test their design solution. This activity teaches students how to use the engineering design process while improving something in the school environment that matters to them. By performing each step of the design process, students can experience what it is like to be an engineer.
Students are introduced to a systematic procedure for solving problems through a …
Students are introduced to a systematic procedure for solving problems through a demonstration and then the application of the method to an everyday activity. The unit project is introduced to provide relevance to subsequent lessons.
Meet Vrishtee Rane, a Process Engineer who cooked up a delicious hobby …
Meet Vrishtee Rane, a Process Engineer who cooked up a delicious hobby through her work as a quality engineer for Whirlpool / KitchenAid appliances. Engineering Your Future shares real stories from young professionals who want to inform and inspire students about in-demand engineering careers.
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