Students create and analyze composite materials with the intent of using the materials to construct a structure with optimal strength and minimal density. The composite materials are made of puffed rice cereal, marshmallows and chocolate chips. Student teams vary the concentrations of the three components to create their composite materials. They determine the material density and test its compressive strength by placing weights on it and measuring how much the material compresses. Students graph stress vs. strain and determine Young's modulus to analyze the strength of their materials.

This task applies reflections to a regular hexagon to construct a pattern of six hexagons enclosing a seventh: the focus of the task is on using the properties of reflections to deduce this seven hexagon pattern.

This task applies reflections to a regular octagon to construct a pattern of four octagons enclosing a quadrilateral: the focus of the task is on using the properties of reflections to deduce that the quadrilateral is actually a square.

This task is intended for instruction and to motivate "Building a general quadratic function.''

Earthquakes happen when forces in the Earth cause violent shaking of the ground. Earthquakes can be very destructive to buildings and other man-made structures. Design and build various types of buildings, then test your buildings for earthquake resistance using a shake table and a force sensor that measures how hard a force pushes or pulls your building.

How do you build a tunnel 32 miles long -- under water? This video segment adapted from Building Big, follows the construction of the Channel Tunnel (nicknamed "Chunnel"), the engineering wonder that connects England to France.

Students use their knowledge of tornadoes and damage. The students will work in groups to design a structure that will withstand and protect people from tornadoes. Each group will create a poster with the name of their engineering firm and a picture of their structure. Finally, each group will present their posters to the class.

We are surrounded everyday by circuits that utilize "in parallel" and "in series" circuitry. Complicated circuits designed by engineers are made of many simpler parallel and series circuits. In this hands-on activity, students build parallel circuits, exploring how they function and their unique features.

Everyday we are surrounded by circuits that use "in parallel" and "in series" circuitry. Complicated circuits designed by engineers are composed of many simpler parallel and series circuits. During this activity, students build a simple series circuit and discover the properties associated with series circuits.

Athletes often wear protective gear to keep themselves safe in contact sports. In this spirit, students follow the steps of engineering design process as they design, build and test protective padding for an egg drop. Many of the design considerations surrounding egg drops are similar to sports equipment design. Watching the transformation of energy from potential to kinetic, observing the impact and working under material constraints introduces students to "sports engineering" and gives them a chance to experience some of the challenges engineers face in designing equipment to protect athletes.

This activity is a guided discovery where students gather information on how to add a seat belt to a clay figure that is sitting on top of a toy car. The clay figure should stay in place when it hits a speed bump placed after a ramp.

In this task students determine the number of hundreds, tens and ones that are necessary to write equations when some digits are provided. Students must, in some cases, decompose hundreds to tens and tens to ones.

Students conduct a simple experiment to see how the water level changes in a beaker when a lump of clay sinks in the water and when the same lump of clay is shaped into a bowl that floats in the water. They notice that the floating clay displaces more water than the sinking clay does, perhaps a surprising result. Then they determine the mass of water that is displaced when the clay floats in the water. A comparison of this mass to the mass of the clay itself reveals that they are approximately the same.

Along with information about Directors, this site evaluates the Nature of Work, Working Conditions, Employment, Training, Other Qualifications, Job Outlook, Earnings, Related Occupations, and Additional Information for Actors and Producers.

A great website outlining all aspects of a career as a dental hygienist. Includes information about employment, current job outlook, nature of the work, training, and more.

Complete description of careers in logging, including loggers, fallers, buckers, equipment operators, choke setters and riggers, sorters, log graders and scalers, and others who work in the wood harvesting occupations. Page contains nature of the work, training, wages, and outlook.

Comprehensive U.S. Department of Labor report of the occupation that includes nursery, landscape, grounds, and greenhouse laborers. Also includes working conditions, wages, outlook, and career preparation.

This Bureau of Labor Statistics site tells what occupational therapists do and the types of people they work with. Describes their working conditions, job opportunities and salary. Tells qualifications needed to become an occupational therapist. Also gives examples of different cases and how they are treated.

Complete description of the work of pest controllers, including nature of the work, education and preparation, employment outlook, and wages.

The US Department of Labor site offers substantial information on the Pharmacy Technician Career. Page provides employment projections detailing nature of the work, employment training, job outlook, and earnings potential.