![preview of 'Creating an Electromagnet' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/creating_an_electromagnet.png)
Creating an Electromagnet Elementary School Activity
Student teams investigate the properties of electromagnets. They create their own small electromagnets and experiment with ways to change their strength to pick up more paperclips. Students learn about ways that engineers use electromagnets in everyday applications.
![preview of 'Potato Power' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_energy2_lesson04_activity2.jpg)
Potato Power Elementary School Activity
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.
![preview of 'Make Some Waves' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_soundandlight_lesson1_activity1.jpg)
Make Some Waves Elementary School Activity
In this activity, students use their own creativity (and their bodies) to make longitudinal and transverse waves. Through the use of common items, they will investigate the difference between longitudinal and transverse waves.
![preview of 'Design a Solar City' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_solarcity_activity1.jpg)
Design a Solar City Elementary School 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.
![preview of 'Humans Are Like Robots' CurricularUnit](/content/images/SquareImages/umo_robotsandhumans.jpg)
Humans Are Like Robots Elementary School CurricularUnit
Four lessons related to robots and people present students with life sciences concepts related to the human body (including brain, nervous systems and muscles), introduced through engineering devices and subjects (including computers, actuators, electricity and sensors), via hands-on LEGO® robot activities. Students learn what a robot is and how it works, and then the similarities and differences between humans and robots. For instance, in lesson 3 and its activity, the human parts involved in moving and walking are compared with the corresponding robot components so students see various engineering concepts at work in the functioning of the human body. This helps them to see the human body as a system, that is, from the perspective of an engineer. Students learn how movement results from 1) decision making, such as deciding to walk and move, and 2) implementation by conveying decisions to muscles (human) or motors (robot).
![preview of 'Fun with Air-Powered Pneumatics' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/umn_pneumatics_activity01.jpg)
Fun with Air-Powered Pneumatics Middle School Activity
Working as engineering teams in this introductory pneumatics lab, students design and build working pneumatic (air-powered) systems. The goal is to create systems that launch balls into the air. They record and analyze data from their launches.
![preview of 'The Dirty Water Project: Design-Build-Test Your Own Water Filters' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_environ_lesson06_activity2.jpg)
The Dirty Water Project: Design-Build-Test Your Own Water Filters Elementary School Activity
In this hands-on activity, students investigate different methods—aeration and filtering—for removing pollutants from water. Working in teams, they design, build and test their own water filters—essentially conducting their own "dirty water projects." A guiding data collection worksheet is provided.
![preview of 'Doing the Math: Analysis of Forces in a Truss Bridge' Lesson](/content/images/SquareImages/ind-2472-analysis-forces-square.jpg)
Doing the Math: Analysis of Forces in a Truss Bridge High School Lesson
In this lesson, students learn the basics of the analysis of forces engineers perform at the truss joints to calculate the strength of a truss bridge. This method is known as the “method of joints.” Finding the tensions and compressions using this method will be necessary to solve systems of linear equations where the size depends on the number of elements and nodes in the truss. The method of joints is the core of a graphic interface created by the author in Google Sheets that students can use to estimate the tensions-compressions on the truss elements under given loads, as well as the maximum load a wood truss structure may hold (depending on the specific wood the truss is made of) and the thickness of its elements.
![preview of 'What Is Energy?' Lesson](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_energy2_lesson01.jpg)
What Is Energy? Elementary School Lesson
With an introduction to the ideas of energy, students discuss specific energy types and practical energy sources. Associated hands-on activities help them identify energy types in their surroundings and enhance their understanding of the concept of energy.
![preview of 'Swinging on a String' Lesson](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_mechanics_lesson09.jpg)
Swinging on a String Middle School Lesson
Students explore how pendulums work and why they are useful in everyday applications. In a hands-on activity, they experiment with string length, pendulum weight and angle of release. In an associated literacy activity, students explore the mechanical concept of rhythm, based on the principle of oscillation, in a broader biological and cultural context — in dance and sports, poetry and other literary forms, and communication in general.
![preview of 'Operation Build a Bridge and Get Over It ' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/ucd_bridge_activity1.jpg)
Operation Build a Bridge and Get Over It Middle School Activity
Students act as structural engineers and 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. They examine the prototype failures to identify future improvements. This activity is part of a unit in which multiple activities are brought together for an all-day school/multi-school concluding “engineering field day” competition.
![preview of 'Creating Model Working Lungs: Just Breathe ' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_human_lesson09_activity1.jpg)
Creating Model Working Lungs: Just Breathe Elementary School Activity
Students explore the inhalation/exhalation process that occurs in the lungs during respiration. Using everyday materials, each student team creates a model pair of lungs.
![preview of 'DNA Build' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_biomed_lesson09_activity2.jpg)
DNA Build Middle School Activity
Students reinforce their knowledge that DNA is the genetic material for all living things by modeling it using toothpicks and gumdrops that represent the four biochemicals (adenine, thiamine, guanine, and cytosine) that pair with each other in a specific pattern, making a double helix. They investigate specific DNA sequences that code for certain physical characteristics such as eye and hair color. Student teams trade DNA "strands" and de-code the genetic sequences to determine the physical characteristics (phenotype) displayed by the strands (genotype) from other groups. Students extend their knowledge to learn about DNA fingerprinting and recognizing DNA alterations that may result in genetic disorders.
![preview of 'Testing Model Structures: Jell-O Earthquake in the Classroom' Activity](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_natdis_lesson03_activity1.jpg)
Testing Model Structures: Jell-O Earthquake in the Classroom Elementary School Activity
Students make sense of the design challenges engineers face that arise from earthquake phenomena. Students work as engineering teams to explore concepts of how engineers design and construct buildings to withstand earthquake damage by applying elements of the engineering design process by building their own model structures using toothpicks and marshmallows. The groups design, build, and test their model buildings and then determine how earthquake-proof their designs are by testing them on an earthquake simulator pan of Jell-O®.
![preview of 'Water Cycle' CurricularUnit](/content/images/SquareImages/cub_water_cycle_unit_image.jpg)
Water Cycle Elementary School CurricularUnit
Water is essential to life. Understanding how the water cycle works, the importance of water as a natural resource, and how our household water cycle functions is essential knowledge for everyone. Through a range of water-based explorations and the engineering design process, students learn about the water cycle and how engineers manage it.
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