Engineering and Design

Student in a geometry class celebrating Pi Day.
Kelli Bland © Herald Post. CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Using scientific principles to invent, design, develop, test, refine, build, maintain and improve structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes, in order to produce solutions or products; application of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
-
Boomerangs
Lesson
Students explore aerodynamic lift, gyroscopic precession, drag and gravity by designing and flying boomerangs.
-
Catapults
Lesson
Students explore physical energy and mechanical energy as they design, build and test catapults.
-
Developing an Object or Tool
Lesson
Students sequence the process of making an object (tree to chair, mud to brick, etc.), and learn tools and objects are designed to perform a function or solve a problem.
Grades: K-2 -
Humans Design Their Homes
Lesson
Students create models of living spaces (houses) for people in different climates with different available resources; and compare the strengths and weaknesses of the different designs.
Grades: K-2 -
Is It Natural or Transformed?
Lesson
Students examine, compare, discuss and sort materials as natural or transformed (changed or processed by humans).
Grades: K-2 -
Javelin Rockets
Lesson
Student teams construct javelin rockets and use them to investigate the relationship between launch angle and the distance an object travels.
-
Kinetic Art
Lesson
Students create and study unique sculptures that move in interesting ways when acted upon by the force of the wind.
-
Ring-wing Gliders
Lesson
Students make and test flying tubes, called ring wing gliders, as they learn about Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion and use an engineer's approach to problem-solving.
-
Rocket Cars: Rocket Races
Lesson
Students learn about Newton’s Three Laws of Motion as they construct and test a lightweight “rocket” car propelled by the action/reaction force of air escaping from an inflated balloon.
-
Rockets
Lessons
Students learn about engineering and design principles by designing, building, launching, testing and redesigning their own rockets. (Grades: K-2, 3-5 or 6-8)
-
Roller Coasters
Lesson
Students build roller coasters from foam insulation tubing and use marbles as the roller coaster cars.
-
Wind-up Racers
Lesson
Students explore kinetic energy and potential energy as they build and test simple racers.