Most Shared Curriculum

One way to conserve energy in a building is to use adequate insulation to help keep hot or cool air inside or outside of the structure. Inefficient heating and cooling of buildings is a leading residential and industrial source of wasteful energy use. In this activity, student groups conduct a scientific experiment to help an engineering team determine which type of insulation conserves the most energy—a comparison of newspaper, wool, aluminum foil and thin plastic. They learn about different kinds of insulation materials and that insulation prevents the transfer of heat, electricity or sound. Student teams collect data and make calculations, then compare and discuss their results. A student worksheet is provided.

Students learn about biomimicry and how engineers often imitate nature in the design of innovative new products. They demonstrate their knowledge of biomimicry by practicing brainstorming and designing a new product based on what they know about animals and nature.

Kindergartners measure each others' heights using large building blocks as the unit of measure. For their measurement technique, they tally how many blocks high each student is. Then they display the collected data in bar graphs made from from paper cut-outs of miniature building blocks glued on paper, which helps them see how bar graphs look like the various student heights they observe. Doing this establishes an important foundation for both creating and interpreting graphs in future years, as well as prepares students for the associated activity when they visit a second- and a fourth-grade class to measure those older students' heights. They also measure adults in the school community. Creating bar graphs from this additional data enables students to compare the different age groups to foresee how they may grow taller. Through this introduction to graphing lesson and its associated activity, students develop the concepts and vocabulary to describe, in a non-ambiguous way, how height changes as children age.

Students continue to explore the story of building a pyramid, learning about the simple machine called a pulley. They learn how a pulley can be used to change the direction of applied forces and move/lift extremely heavy objects, and the powerful mechanical advantages of using a multiple-pulley system. Students perform a simple demonstration to see the mechanical advantage of using a pulley, and they identify modern day engineering applications of pulleys. In a hands-on activity, they see how a pulley can change the direction of a force, the difference between fixed and movable pulleys, and the mechanical advantage gained with multiple / combined pulleys. They also learn the many ways engineers use pulleys for everyday purposes.

Students begin to make sense of the phenomenon of electricity through learning about circuits. Students use the disciplinary core idea of using evidence to construct an explanation as they learn that charge movement through a circuit depends on the resistance and arrangement of the circuit components. Students also explore the disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts of energy and energy transfer in the context of energy from a battery. In one associated hands-on activity, students build and investigate the characteristics of series circuits. In another activity, students design and build flashlights.

Students test whether the color of a material affects how much heat it absorbs. They leave ice cubes placed in boxes made of colored paper (one box per color; white, yellow, red and black) in the sun, and predict in which colored box ice cubes melt first. They record the order and time required for the ice cubes to melt.

Students learn about civil engineers and work through each step of the engineering design process in two mini-activities that prepare them for a culminating challenge to design and build the tallest straw tower possible, given limited time and resources. First they examine the profiles of the tallest 20 towers in the world. Then in the first mini-activity (one-straw tall tower), student pairs each design a way to keep one straw upright with the least amount of tape and fewest additional straws. In the second mini-activity (no "fishing pole"), the pairs determine the most number of straws possible to construct a vertical straw tower before it bends at 45 degrees—resembling a fishing pole shape. Students learn that the taller a structure, the more tendency it has to topple over. In the culminating challenge (tallest straw tower), student pairs apply what they have learned and follow the steps of the engineering design process to create the tallest possible model tower within time, material and building constraints, mirroring the real-world engineering experience of designing solutions within constraints. Three worksheets are provided, for each of two levels, grades K-2 and grades 3-5. The activity scales up to school-wide, district or regional competition scale.

Students observe teacher-led demonstrations, and build and evaluate simple models to understand the greenhouse effect, the role of increased greenhouse gas concentration in global warming, and the implications of global warming for engineers, themselves and the Earth. In an associated literacy activity, students learn how a bill becomes law and they research global warming legislation.

This unique engineering activity explores helping animals that cannot help themselves. Students perform research and design prosthetic prototypes for an animal to use for its survival. First, students choose an animal from a set of task cards. These cards have descriptions of animals that have injuries that keep them from getting what they need in the wild. Next, students work in pairs to research these animals and their habitats. They then create habitats for their animals to live and model 3D prosthetics for the animals to use with modeling clay. Finally, students share their habitats with their peers.

This interdisciplinary activity combines art, science, literature, cultural competency, and the engineering design process to engage young students in creative exploration. After listening to a read-aloud of Hieroglyphs A–Z, by Peter Der Manuelian, students are challenged to design a unique set of hieroglyphs to help a lost explorer navigate the school in search of treasure and cultural artifacts. Using limited materials, students harness the power of the sun, paper, and natural objects to create cyanotype-style prints that serve as maps and clues. They collaborate to design, test, and revise their prints, sharing feedback and improving their work. Along the way, students gain foundational knowledge in hieroglyphics, cyanotype printing, and map-making, while also developing critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork skills using the engineering design process.

Students learn the two main methods to measure earthquakes, the Richter Scale and the Mercalli Scale. Students are challenged by the associated activities to make a model of a seismograph—a measuring device that records an earthquake on a seismogram. As well as to investigate which structural designs are most likely to survive an earthquake. And, they illustrate an informational guide to the Mercalli Scale.

Who can engineer the best slime? Beginning with a preset recipe, students make slime, observe it, and then decide on what and how they want to improve it, such as making it stickier or less sticky. Students then make their updated slime by implementing the changes they want to make. They are introduced to product optimization, material science and polymer engineering.

Simple machines are devices with few or no moving parts that make work easier. Students are introduced to the six types of simple machines — the wedge, wheel and axle, lever, inclined plane, screw, and pulley — in the context of the construction of a pyramid, gaining high-level insights into tools that have been used since ancient times and are still in use today. In two hands-on activities, students begin their own pyramid design by performing materials calculations, and evaluating and selecting a construction site. The six simple machines are examined in more depth in subsequent lessons in this unit.

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.

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.