Monthly Editor's Pick

Did you know engineers play a key role in designing buildings that can withstand or limit the amount of noise from nearby machines? In this activity, students engineer a solution to reduce airplane noise for a school located directly next to a large international airport. Using the engineering design process, they construct a model building that best keeps out loud sound so that students in the school are not disturbed throughout the day.

What makes rockets fly straight? What makes rockets fly far? Why use water to make the rocket fly? Students are challenged to design and build rockets from two-liter plastic soda bottles that travel as far and straight as possible or stay aloft as long as possible!

Reinforce student understanding of compound machines by building a catapult! This compound machine consists of a lever and a wheel-and-axel. Catapults have been designed by engineers for a variety of purposes — from lifting boulders into the air for warfare to human beings for entertainment; the projectiles in this activity are grapes for a magic act.

This unique engineering activity explores helping animals that cannot help themselves. Students research prototypes for an animal to use for its survival and create habitats for their animals to live in using model 3D prosthetics or modeling clay.

Working in teams of four, students build tetrahedral kites following specific instructions and using specific materials. They use the basic processes of manufacturing systems – cutting, shaping, forming, conditioning, assembling, joining, finishing, and quality control – to manufacture complete tetrahedral kites within a given time frame.

Build simple piezoelectric generators to power LEDs! In this activity, students incorporate into a circuit a piezoelectric element that converts movements they make into electrical energy, which is stored in a capacitor. Once enough energy is stored, they flip a switch to light up an LED. Students also learn how much (surprisingly little) energy can be converted using the current state of technology for piezoelectric materials.

Studying the motion of pendulums helps students gain an understanding of the use of timing and intervals in engineering. In this activity student groups conduct an experiment and collect and graph data based on their findings. The test different weights and make predictions about the period of time in which their pendulums swing.

Discover the primary relationships to engineering that exist between bench scale and full scale in this activity, where students investigate how citric acid and sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) react to form sodium citrate, water, and carbon dioxide. By analyzing the test matrix data, they determine the optimum quantities to use in their own production companies to minimize material cost and maximize carbon dioxide production.

How conductive is saltwater compared to freshwater, if at all? In this activity, students investigate the conductivity of saltwater and develop an understanding of how the amount of salt in a solution impacts how much electrical current flows through the circuit. They learn about one real-world application of a saltwater circuit — as a desalination plant tool to test for the removal of salt from ocean water.

Breathe in... breathe out... ahhh! In this activity, students explore the inhalation/exhalation process that occurs in the lungs during respiration. Using everyday materials, each student team designs a lung model.

By studying how bees and flowers interact with one another, we can also understand engineering practices related to our environment! In this activity, students engineer a model of a flower to test different materials’ ability to pollinate another flower.

Create a sure-to-impress flashing birthday card or design a light-up holiday card—all with paper circuits! In this activity, students are guided through the process to create simple paper circuitry using only copper tape, a coin cell battery, a light-emitting diode (LED) and small electronic components such as a LilyPad Button Board.

Design a Mars exploratory rover, with a tasty twist! In this activity, students evaluate rover equipment options and determine what edible parts fit in a NASA budget that the teacher provides. With a parts list, teams use these constraints to design for their rover. The students build and display their edible rover at a concluding design review.

Learn how to design an amazing engineering marvel from the ancient world: the pyramid! In this activity, students work in engineering teams to perform calculations to determine the area of the pyramid base, stone block volumes, and the number of blocks required for their pyramid base. Students also make a scaled drawing of the pyramid using graph paper.

What's the difference between temperature and thermal energy? Have your students explore these concept as they use the engineering design process to create thermometers using simple materials and to develop their own scales for measuring temperature. They compare their thermometers to a commercial thermometer, and get a sense for why engineers need to understand the properties of thermal energy.

Keep cool this summer with a student-driven cooler design! In this activity, students work through the engineering design process and brainstorm a design of their cooler and its attributes. They then choose from the materials provided to create a prototype. Students have the opportunity to test their prototype by measuring the room temperature, the starting temperature of the water and graphing, and monitoring the change in temperature over increments time in comparison to the room temperature water.

Students work through the engineering design process to design and create their own nano-polymer smartphone or tablet case. Students choose their design, mix their nano-polymer (based in silicone) with starch and add coloring of their choice. While thinking critically about their design, students embed strings in the nano-polymer to optimize both case strength and flexibility.

Make sense of the problem of drinking water contamination. In this activity, students explore how substances such as prescription medication, pesticides and hormones are found in municipal drinking water sources. Using chlorine as a proxy for pharmaceuticals found in water, student groups design and test prototype devices that remove the contamination as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Why do some objects float while others sink? Students make sense of this phenomenon by engaging in the science and engineering practices of asking questions and defining problems, using models, and designing solutions. Students then apply what they discover to solve everyday situations, such as preventing a car from sinking.

Element, mixture, or compound? In this classic activity, students gain a better understanding of the different types of materials engineers use, such as pure substances and mixtures. They also learn to distinguish between homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures by discussing an assortment of example materials they use and encounter in their daily lives.

A classic TeachEngineering activity! Using spaghetti and marshmallows, students experiment with different structures to determine which ones are able to handle the greatest amount of load. Their experiments help them to further understand the effects that compression and tension forces have with respect to the strength of structures

What are the properties of electromagnets? In this activity, students create their own small electromagnets and experiment with ways to change their strength to pick up paper clips. Learn about ways that engineers use electromagnets in everyday applications!

What might make a bandage better? In this challenge, students follow the engineering design process and use water-absorbing crystals to create a bandage that may be used in a traumatic situation, like a car accident or hiking accident. Students first observe how water-absorbing crystals work and then consider how their function could be applied in a medical setting

What can roller coasters teach us about math and physics? In this activity, students apply high school-level differential calculus and physics to the design of two-dimensional roller coasters while considering frictional forces. In a challenge the mirrors real-world engineering, the roller coaster must be made from at least five differentiable functions. Teams build and test small-sized prototype models of the exact designs using foam pipe wrap insulation as the roller coaster track channel and using marbles as the ride "carts."

In a time when creating clean energy is essential to the future health of our planet, engineers are looking for every way possible to produce carbon-free power. In this activity, students design and build a model city powered by the sun! They learn about the benefits of solar power, and how architectural and building engineers integrate photovoltaic panels into the design of buildings.

Taking on the role of structural engineers. students learn about forces and load distributions as they follow the steps of the engineering design process to design and build small-scale bridges using wooden tongue depressors and glue. Teams brainstorm ideas that meet the size and material design constraints and create prototype bridges of the most promising solutions. They test their bridges to see how much weight they can hold until they break and then determine which have the highest strength-to-weight ratios.

What can bungee cords teach us about engineering? Have your students learn about the role engineers might play in developing the perfect bungee cord length by simulating and experimenting with bungee jumping using washers and rubber bands. Students work as if they are engineers for an amusement park in order to develop a show-stopping (and safe) bungee jumping ride!

In this challenge, students research simple mechanisms as they learn to make Rube Goldberg machines! Working in teams, students use the engineering design process to design and build their own Rube Goldberg devices with 10 separate steps—and they must incorporate the six classic simple machines.

Engage in the engineering practice of asking questions and use balloons to perform simple experiments to make sense of the phenomena of static electricity and charge polarization! Students attract and repel objects with their charged balloons, and explore the disciplinary core idea of electronic and magnetic forces and the crosscutting concept of cause and effect.

Teach about the advantages and disadvantages of the greenhouse effect! In this hands-on activity, students construct their own miniature greenhouses and explore how their designs take advantage of heat transfer processes to create controlled environments. They record and graph measurements, comparing the greenhouse indoor and outdoor temperatures over time. Students also consider global issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and their relationship to global warming.