If you could live anywhere in the world and in the climate of your choice, what sort of a house would you design? Hook fourth-grade students with this challenge! They'll bring their imaginations to the table as they concurrently learn about world climates and building types. Student pairs brainstorm, design and sketch houses to withstand particular climates. Then they create small model houses and test them against simulations of "the elements" of different climates (rain, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes). Youngsters leave the activity knowing the basics of structural design and experimentation, several climate types, and a new awareness of the impact of climate on the building of structures. Bonus: This design-build-test activity is ready for personalization for your classroom-perhaps for the study of a particular climate or country, or certain types of building designs or methodology, or specific structure/material tests.

Cities all over the world are expanding rapidly and new communities are popping up everywhere. As part of city planning, civil and environmental engineers often face conflicting constraints, and they know that "it's all about balance." During this activity, students explore a real-world example of how engineers face the challenges of creating new community developments while balancing the needs of the environment. Growing human populations need places to live, but engineers must also find ways to protect local ecosystems from habitat destruction. Student groups examine this problem, each using a different animal species habitat in a specific biome (deciduous forest, desert, or grassland), and design green developments that respect their habitats. This activity was created and tested by classroom teachers as part of the University of Houston Research Experiences for Teachers program.

To get more light, we open the curtains or turn on a light switch. What else could we do? And, how can we be smart about energy use at the same time? Through this lesson and two activities, high school students learn about creative ways in which engineers address these challenges-from "daylighting" techniques that reduce the need for artificial lighting to the design and selection of light fixtures and energy-efficient bulbs that meet specific needs. Students are presented with information about the electromagnetic spectrum, heat transfer and the greenhouse effect, and the components of energy-efficient lighting systems. These concepts become meaningful as teens design and construct their own model houses and greenhouses that maximize natural lighting to interior spaces, and experiment with daylighting systems based on observations and calculations for the optimal use of sunlight. This lesson is successful in its mix of the conceptual with hands-on exploration, all while showing students how engineers contribute to our health, happiness and safety.

Middle school students sure love to listen to music, but do they ever really think about why the music sounds so good coming though their ear buds? Probably not. Do they ever sit in a movie theater and wonder why they cannot hear the movie that is playing in the next theater? Probably not. Through this activity, students explore the concepts of "sound dampening," sound reflection, absorption and movement to fully understand why sounds sound they way they do. Students express their creativity by designing and building a miniature sound booth using common household materials. This is a fun, engaging activity for teaching students about sound!

What is more exciting for students than detective work? In this 90-minute activity, students learn that some environmental engineers help solve cases that affect community health, just like on TV! The students are "hired" to locate the source of a chemical pollution spill in the ground and design a clean-up process using samples of soil from the area. They measure the pH of several soil samples to find the concentration of the pollutant in a hypothetical site and then learn how to predict the direction of groundwater flow using mathematical modeling. Finally, the students draw their results on a map and develop a solution for the contaminated water based on current processes used for groundwater treatment. The context the students follow during this activity is very similar to what happens when groundwater contamination is detected in the real-world. Most of the time, it's a mystery --- no one knows when or where it originated, and sometimes, no one even knows what was spilled. Environmental engineers are asked to help classify these spills and recommend treatment, occasionally testifying in a courtroom for the case.

This hands-on engineering activity taps into the naturally boundless creativity of young adults. Middle school students learn two key concepts: 1) taking the approach of "reverse engineering" to discover the technical principles of an object by systematically taking it apart, and 2) looking to nature for inspiration (biomimicry), especially when designing out-of-the-box technological products and solutions to human challenges. As students reverse engineer a flower, they glean design ideas for new "engineered" products. What better way to ignite students' innate creativity than to have them turn to animals and plants for inspiration of their own new creations? After reverse engineering, as guided by a student worksheet, groups brainstorm potential new products based on what they observed. The possibilities are endless! The assessment suggestions are especially helpful in connecting to students' creativity; they include a listening and a sketching activity. This activity is one of two that work in tandem with the Copycat Engineers lesson that introduces the idea of biomimicry for 7th graders.

Have you ever played Marble Madness for the original Nintendo? In this activity, students design roller coasters for marbles in a similar manner to that video game. I've used it in 7th grade science classes a number of times to introduce kinetic and potential energy. I especially like this activity for three reasons. First, the nature of the project produces many different exciting designs. Second, the kids can work in larger design teams of 3-4 because the larger materials lend themselves well to larger groups. Third, despite the large projects, this activity is also relatively easy to clean up. Once you remove the tape, the insulation can be kept and reused from year to year if you have storage space. Of course the main reason I like the activity is that kids really enjoy it and it provides them a fun way to see important introductory physics concepts. This activity was highlighted by the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) as part of Engineer's Week in 2008.

In this well-rounded activity for third-graders studying earth science, students build three different sand castles and test them for strength and resistance to weathering. It starts with hands-on measurement and mixing of physical materials (glue, sand, water) as students create building material prototype buildings, and continues on to prediction of testing outcome before the (fun!) testing of the dried sample composite materials, using water for rain, and bricks for building load. This activity takes students beyond the study of rocks, soils and minerals into the world of material properties, making them aware of the engineering evaluation that goes into choosing the best building materials (and combinations!) for construction projects. Students learn how properties (weight, strength, cost, ease of use, weather resistance, aesthetics), play a part in meeting the construction needs for function, safety and reliability. This activity supports the "Earth Rocks!" lesson, one of eight lessons in the "Engineering for the Earth" unit.