Recently Added Curriculum

Materials that absorb light are useful in engineering design, especially if they can be in place of chemicals. In this maker challenge, students are tasked with using a photocatalyst—a material which provide energy through light absorption and makes a substance react—to rid stagnant water sources of organic pollutants such as algae. Student teams engineer an application method for delivering photocatalysts to water surfaces, such as pools, ponds, and other water sources. Students will also consider the use of photocatalysts in a variety of settings and how useful they might be in their own communities.

Introduce students to the concepts of climate change and how cars can contribute to it. In this activity, students work together to understand how various forms of transportation have costs and benefits, and which modes of transportation are better for the environment by making decisions for a commuter.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of climate change and how cars can contribute to climate change. Students learn the basics of the greenhouse effect and the carbon cycle. They also learn how transportation affects our atmosphere. Students work together to understand how various forms of transportation have costs and benefits, and which modes of transportation are better for the environment.

This activity introduces students to the concepts of climate change and what affects it. Students work together to understand how various forms of transportation have costs and benefits, and which modes of transportation are better for the environment.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of climate change and what affects it. By the end of the lesson, students should have a basic understanding of the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, global warming, and how transportation can contribute to global warming. Students work together to understand how various forms of transportation have costs and benefits, and which modes of transportation are better for the environment.

Students will explore the pattern between air pollution levels and weather conditions in this activity. Students work together to learn about the color-coded Air Quality Index (AQI) chart that describes levels of air pollution for two main transportation-sourced air pollutants—particulate matter (PM) and ozone—and action to take on high pollution days. Student teams design a Wind Streamer, a prototype for collecting particulate matter (PM) particles outdoors. Over a period of 1-week or more, student teams will record daily particulate matter (PM) and ozone levels using AirNow.gov and weather conditions (wind speed, wind direction data, air temperature) using and Weather.gov at their school location (or nearest town or city). When finished collecting data, the class will analyze the data to see if a pattern exists between air pollution levels and weather conditions. They will also compare the relative AREN Wind Streamer data with the AirNow.gov and Weather.gov data. Ways to stay safe on high air pollution days are also presented.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution from transportation and related health effects, plus vehicle solutions to help reduce air pollution and improve air quality. First, students watch a video of vehicles in traffic and reflect on what they observed. Next, they learn about particulate matter (PM), a primary air pollutant, and do basic visual air quality and PM health effects assessments. Finally, students compare and contrast gas-powered and electric vehicles in relation to their energy sources and impacts on air quality. This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution and air quality. Students learn about the basic effects of gas-powered and electric vehicle emissions on air quality. Students work together to learn about the color-coded Air Quality Index chart, and what each chart level means in terms of the level of ground-level ozone pollution and its corresponding air quality rating. The source of ground-level ozone and its effects, and ways to reduce ozone pollution and stay safe on high-level ozone days are also presented.

This activity introduces students to the relationship between air quality and wind. Students work together to learn about the color-coded Air Quality Index (AQI) chart that describes levels of air pollution for a primary transportation-sourced air pollutant—particulate matter (PM)— and what to do during high pollution days. Student teams design and build a PM Catcher, a prototype for collecting wind-blown PM 10 particles outdoors. Over a week, student teams will record the daily PM levels using AirNow.gov at their school location (or nearest town or city). Concurrently, student teams will leave their PM Catchers in the same vicinity to collect any wind-blown PM 10 particles. The class will then review the PM AQI data and observe their PM Catchers and count the number of PM 10 particles attached to the surface. Ways to stay safe on high air pollution days are also presented.

This lesson introduces students to the concepts of air pollution from transportation and related health effects, plus vehicle solutions to help reduce air pollution and improve air quality. First, students watch a video of vehicles in traffic and reflect on what they observed. Next, they learn about particulate matter (PM), a primary air pollutant, and do basic visual air quality and PM health effects assessments. Finally, students compare and contrast gas-powered and electric vehicles in relation to their energy sources and impacts on air quality.

Machine learning is an exciting method that engineers can use to understand large data sets. In this hands-on activity, students put on their computer science hats to tackle a real-world problem: designing a machine learning model that can predict whether a patient has diabetes. Students first learn about the diabetes epidemic and the relationship between machine learning and healthcare. They design a simple program using machine learning that can predict whether a patient has diabetes depending on various symptoms and measurements. The goal is not just to expose students to machine learning, but the realities of the diabetes epidemic.

The traditional plaster cast we use to heal a broken bone needs an overhaul! This cast design is over 250 years old and is heavy, stinky, and cumbersome. Students design a new device for a client with a broken ankle as they engineer a better cast. This activity mimics what a biomedical or materials engineer needs to consider when they must meet medical “must-haves” and address client needs.

How can we design and employ simple sensors to give us accurate information about the human body? In this activity, students make sense of how the human heart works and heart health by using the engineering design process to create a model of a human heart and then use sensors to determine their success. Students will know their heart model is successful if the Arduino Nano Gesture, Proximity, Light & RGB sensor can classify if the student's model has a right atrium (blue) and a left atrium (red).

Understanding the layers of the atmosphere and their effects on aerospace designs helps engineers design explore the skies—and beyond! In this activity, students make sense of and use real world data to investigate a variety of phenomena including the speed of sound, waves, air pressure, humidity, and temperature at high altitude. Using data collected with payload sensors attached to a high-altitude balloon students examine, interpret, verify theoretical speed of sound equations. By graphing these data against other measurements such as air pressure, humidity, and temperature, students conclude that the speed of sound varies as a function of temperature, but not air pressure and humidity. Moreover, students determine that the speed of sound data loses accuracy at high altitude and low temperature, highlighting limitations of the data and challenges that engineers face when designing an experiment.

Understanding watersheds can help engineers design systems that deliver or protect key sources of water. In this activity, students become civil engineers as they use topographic maps to delineate watersheds. Watersheds show the path water travels over land in a particular area on its way to a river, lake, or stream. Defining the boundaries of a watershed is important for determining the amount of runoff that can come from that area into the river, lake, or stream. The boundaries also help to identify sources of pollution that could mix in with that runoff as it passes over the land area.

Preventing coastal erosion and loss of land due to storms is an important component of civil engineering, specifically among coastal engineers. In this activity, students become coastal engineers as they use their knowledge of storm/beach erosion to create seawalls out of recycled materials. In small groups, students use the engineering design process to consider the costs of materials and determine the best way to use their budget and their knowledge of each material to build a seawall to withstand erosion under storm conditions. After they develop their prototype, each team then takes measurements and observations about the effects of weathering upon their simulated beach. Students not only observe the effects of weathering, but they also use their knowledge of rocks and minerals to determine how to best construct their design.