Recently Added Curriculum

Students design, build, and program a device that detects and measures light from multiple sources. Using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit different wavelengths of light (such as infrared, visible, and ultraviolet), students develop code that enables their device to selectively identify and respond only to the wavelength containing the desired information. Through iterative testing and refinement, students integrate programming, electronics, and optics to create a functional sensing system. This activity models real-world challenges in optical communication and remote sensing, helping students explore how engineers design systems to transmit and detect information using electromagnetic radiation.

Students take on the role of engineers designing a “Mars Thermos,” similar to how NASA engineers create insulation systems to protect spacecraft components and scientific samples from extreme temperature changes on Mars. Student teams use the engineering design process and everyday materials to design and build an insulator that keeps a small amount of water from changing more than 5°F over 10 minutes. After conducting a control experiment using uninsulated cups, students investigate the insulating properties of materials to inform their designs. Teams measure temperature at regular intervals, graph and analyze their results, and compare the performance of their designs to the control. Through this process, students explore heat transfer and basic thermodynamics while building scientific inquiry, data collection, and mathematical analysis skills.

Students work as part of an engineering team to help complete a simulated Mars Sample Return mission. Like real engineers at NASA, each group designs and codes a microdevice to accomplish one essential task, such as loading samples, generating power, sending signals, checking systems, or launching the return rocket. Groups may use multiple coding languages simultaneously, allowing students at all experience levels to participate meaningfully. After building their individual systems, the class collaborates to integrate all components into one fully functioning mission.

Students explore capacitance and capacitors through hands-on experiments and design challenges. They construct and test capacitors with common materials, measuring how changes in plate area, separation, and electrolyte affect capacitance. Using their results, students design, build, and optimize a capacitor prototype, reflect on performance, and propose improvements. Throughout the process, they apply the engineering design process, make predictions, and compare outcomes to their expectations. This activity helps students understand how capacitors store electrical energy, how design choices influence performance, and how these principles apply to real-world electronics and engineering applications.

Students work as teams of engineers to design solutions to one of six real-world problems by creating functional logic gates. They learn how transistors serve as the fundamental hardware that allows computational logic to produce outcomes based on inputs, and apply this knowledge by building their own gates on notecards using transistors, resistors, copper tape, masking tape, LEDs, and 9V batteries. Students plan and test their designs using truth tables, integrate individual gates into Boolean circuits, and write corresponding Boolean expressions. Along the way, they engineer compact circuit pathways, troubleshoot issues such as short circuits, and explore vertical layering and vias, similar to microchip and PCB design.

Students take on the roles of product designers, chemists, and problem solvers to create an eco-friendly, nontoxic cleaning product for a community co-op. Students investigate how cleaners work, explore the effectiveness of natural ingredients, and examine the health and environmental impacts of traditional chemical-based products. Working collaboratively in teams, they use the engineering design process to research, design, test, and refine their own cleaning formulations using safe, natural materials. To complete the challenge, students design sustainable packaging and develop branding elements, including a product name, logo, and label, to effectively communicate the benefits and environmental responsibility of their cleaner.

Students use real data from the Perseverance Mars rover to create a system that monitors and tests the functioning of the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) instrument, which converts carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into breathable oxygen. Students analyze temperature, pressure, and gas flow data to determine whether MOXIE is operating properly. To do this, they apply chemistry concepts such as balanced chemical equations and gas laws alongside coding and data analysis techniques. Working in small teams, students break the problem into manageable parts, test their code using subsets of real mission data, and refine their solutions. The activity emphasizes engineering design, systems thinking, and the critical role computer science plays in enabling advanced technologies for space exploration.

Students simulate the photolithography process used in semiconductor manufacturing by using gel nail polish as a UV-sensitive photoresist. They design a simple opaque mask using materials such as construction paper or foil, then place it over the coated disc. Using an overhead UV light, they expose the disc for varying times to simulate under-, proper-, and over-exposure. Uncured gel is removed with acetone, revealing a hardened pattern that mimics how microchips are fabricated. Students analyze the results, compare them to their original mask design, and discuss the effects of exposure time and resolution. This activity connects to NGSS standards in physical science and engineering design by exploring light–matter interactions, energy transfer, and real-world applications in microfabrication.

Students explore the natural phenomenon of surface tension and learn how it is applied in industry, such as food science, and in medical contexts, including disease progression from vaping-related lung injury. Students design and test candy-coating techniques as a model to investigate how surfactants affect liquid spreading and adhesion. They then connect this model to biology by examining how natural lung surfactants function in respiration and how vaping additives can disrupt alveolar coating efficiency, linking engineering design to real-world health challenges.

Students learn about polymers, plastics, and bioplastics by exploring both natural polymers (e.g., hair, DNA, and cotton) and synthetic polymers found in everyday items (e.g., clothing, toothbrushes, and carpets). They begin by modeling polymer chains from paper clips, starting with simple chains and then modifying their structures to observe how changes affect flexibility, rigidity, and strength. Students also consider the environmental impacts of synthetic plastics, including their persistence in the environment for hundreds of years, and the challenges of recycling, such as high energy costs. They explore how bioplastics (i.e., materials with plastic-like properties that are biodegradable) could offer a more sustainable alternative. Using a guided recipe, students design their first bioplastic piece and then modify the recipe to achieve a different outcome, applying the engineering design process and analyzing how changes in ingredients influence material properties.

Students explore the concept of surface tension and how additives such as surfactants can alter it. Students investigate how substances like surfactants change the surface tension of water and relate this to lung function. Students will then connect their observations to real-world concerns, examining how vaping additives may interfere with lung surfactants and potentially impact breathing over time.

Students are introduced to logic gates and problem solving through a real-world scenario in which delivery trucks must be efficiently routed through a congested downtown area. Students adjust gate types (AND, OR, NOT, Buffer, etc.) and inputs (colored delivery trucks) to produce desired outputs and ensure correct deliveries. Students progress from a simple road map to a more complex system as they build and apply their skills. In a final design challenge, students research additional logic gates and create their own optimized map, aiming to design the simplest and most efficient gate system possible.

Students are introduced to ethics and engineering ethics through a short, engaging case study that prompts discussion about how engineers should respond to difficult choices. They explore ethical questions and learn about professional codes of ethics. After researching the code of ethics for an engineering discipline of their choice, students analyze case studies based on real engineering experiences. They identify normative claims and evaluate possible actions using ethical frameworks such as virtue ethics, duty ethics, and utilitarianism. Finally, students complete a case study analysis, applying ethical reasoning to situations from the provided cases or from their own independent research.

Students act as engineers as they design, build, and test a smart prosthetic grip system using Arduino, a force-sensitive resistor (FSR), and a servo motor. Students construct a prosthetic finger or hand from materials of their choice and program it to move through different angles of motion, modeling how real-world assistive technologies function. As they test their designs, students collect data to investigate how the angle of the prosthetic joint affects the force applied at the fingertip. They use this data to create and analyze a quadratic model, identify the angle that produces maximum grip force, and interpret key features of the function such as the vertex and intercepts. Using their mathematical analysis, students refine and optimize their prosthetic designs to improve performance.

Students use the engineering design process to build and refine a low-cost, light-based diagnostic prototype that simulates real-world biomedical tools. Students learn how light interacts with matter through spectrometry and explore how photonics technologies are used in point-of-care devices such as pulse oximeters to assess blood flow and cardiovascular health. Using everyday materials to model scattering “blood” samples, students test and compare how light transmission changes, analyzing brightness and clarity rather than precise absorbance.